Exodus 39:22

Summary

The verse describes the making of the robe belonging to the ephod, specifying that it was produced by a weaver's craft and made entirely of violet (blue) material. The sentence is a single narrative clause continuing the account of the tabernacle garments' construction.

Key words

• va.Ya'as ("and he made", H6213) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action in the construction account; the subject ("he") is grammatically implied, not named in this clause.
• me'il ("robe of", H4598) — masculine singular noun in construct state, linking to ha'efod ("the ephod") to form "the robe of the ephod."
• ma'aseh ("work of", H4639) — masculine singular construct noun, opening a second construct chain that describes the manner of production.
• 'oreg ("a weaver", H0707) — qal participle, functioning as a noun ("one who weaves"); combined with ma'aseh it yields "work of a weaver," i.e., a woven work.
• kelil ("entirety of", H3632) — adjective in construct state, governing tekhelet to express totality: "all of it violet."

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is built on two chained construct phrases. The first, me'il ha'efod, identifies the object being made — the robe associated with the ephod, the definite article on 'efod (ha-, H9009) marking it as a previously introduced item. The second construct phrase, ma'aseh 'oreg, does not name a material but a technique: literally "work of a weaver," describing the robe as a woven product rather than, for instance, embroidered or cut cloth. The final phrase, kelil tekhelet, uses the construct adjective kelil ("entirety of") followed by the noun tekhelet ("violet stuff", H8504) to state that the garment was uniformly of this one material, with no mixture indicated in the text. The verse thus stacks three descriptive layers onto a single object — identity (robe of the ephod), production method (weaver's work), and material extent (entirely violet) — without any adjectival modification of tekhelet itself; the totality is expressed through the construct noun kelil, not through a separate adverb.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate and Septuagint texts supplied for this reference do not correspond in content to the Hebrew clause. The Vulgate text given describes pomegranates on a hem with hyacinth, purple, and scarlet thread, while the Septuagint text given describes the sons of Israel executing "all the baggage" according to what the Lord commanded Moses. Neither addresses the robe of the ephod or its weaving, indicating a mismatch in verse alignment between the sources as provided here.