Exodus 39:24
וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ עַל־שׁוּלֵי הַמְּעִיל רִמּוֹנֵי תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי מָשְׁזָֽר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ֙ עַל־שׁוּלֵ֣י הַמְּעִ֔יל רִמּוֹנֵ֕י תְּכֵ֥לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֖ן וְתוֹלַ֣עַת שָׁנִ֑י מָשְׁזָֽר׃
—
Latin (Vulgate)
tintinnabulum autem aureum, et malum punicum, quibus ornatus incedebat pontifex quando ministerio fungebatur, sicut præceperat Dominus Moysi.
En todo el borde inferior del manto bordaron granadas de hilo azul, púrpura, escarlata y lino torcido.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
E hicieron en las orillas del manto las granadas de jacinto, y púrpura, y carmesí, y lino torcido.
They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely spun linen on the lower hem of the robe.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse describes the making of pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the lower hem of a robe, using threads of blue, purple, and scarlet material, twisted together. The sentence names the materials in a construct chain governed by "pomegranates" and closes with a participle describing how they were spun.
Key words
- va-ya'aSu — "and they made" (H6213H): qal verb with narrative vav, continuing the sequence of construction actions in the tabernacle account.
- shuLei — "skirts/hem of" (H7757): masculine plural construct noun, linking the hem to "the robe" that follows.
- rimoNei — "pomegranates of" (H7416): masculine plural construct, governing the list of materials (blue, purple, scarlet) that follows — grammatically these materials specify what the pomegranates were made from.
- tekhelet — "violet/blue material" (H8504): feminine singular noun, first item in the triad of dyed threads.
- masheZar — "twisted" (H7806): hophal passive participle, masculine singular, describing the process applied to the threads named just before it.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence is built on a double construct chain: shuLei ha-me'Il ("skirts of the robe") sets the location, and rimoNei ("pomegranates of") then governs a three-part list — tekhelet ("blue"), argaMan ("purple", H0713), and tola'at shaNi ("scarlat stuff of scarlet", H8438B + H8144). This construct-of-construct structure means the pomegranates are defined by the materials composing them, rather than being separate objects decorated with these colors.
The final word, masheZar ("twisted", H7806), is a hophal passive participle in the masculine singular. Its singular form does not agree grammatically with the preceding plural list of materials; in Biblical Hebrew such participles can function adverbially to describe a technical process (twisting/spinning) applied collectively to the threads just named, rather than agreeing with any one noun. This grammatical construction is common in the tabernacle-construction texts describing textile techniques.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew text of this verse concerns only the pomegranate ornaments and their twisted-thread materials on the robe's hem. The Vulgate text supplied here (tintinnabulum... et malum punicum, "a bell... and a pomegranate") describes bells and pomegranates on the priest's garment during ministry, invoking Moses' command — this corresponds to different content than what the Hebrew of Exodus 39:24 states, since the Hebrew here says nothing about a bell (tintinnabulum) or about priestly service. The BSB and SBLIBRE translations align with the Hebrew list of blue, purple, scarlet, and twisted linen, while the RV1909 also adds "lino torcido" ("twisted linen"), a material not present in the Hebrew word list for this specific verse.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.