Exodus 39:27

Summary

This verse records the making of tunics from fine linen for Aaron and his sons, specifying that the material was worked by a weaver. It closes a sequence of priestly garment descriptions with a construct chain identifying both material and craftsmanship.

Key words

• vaya'aSu ("they made", H6213H) — qal verb with narrative vav, continuing the sequence of construction acts reported throughout the chapter.
• katenot ("tunics", H3801) — feminine plural noun in construct state, meaning "tunics of," linking directly to the following noun for material.
• shesh ("fine linen", H8336B) — masculine singular noun naming the material of the tunics.
• ma'aSeh ("work of", H4639G) — masculine singular noun in construct state, introducing a description of manufacturing technique.
• oreg ("a weaver", H0707) — qal participle, "one who weaves," functioning as an agent noun specifying who or what process produced the fabric.

What the text says

The clause opens with vaya'aSu ("and they made"), a finite qal verb carrying the narrative vav, which ties this statement to the preceding list of garments constructed for the priesthood. The object is marked by 'et (H0853), followed by the definite noun phrase ha-katenot ("the tunics"). Katenot stands in construct with shesh ("fine linen"), producing "tunics of fine linen" — a genitive-type relationship where the second noun specifies the material of the first.

The following phrase, ma'aSeh oreg ("work of a weaver"), is a second construct chain in apposition to the tunics: ma'aSeh ("work of") governs the participle oreg ("one weaving"), yielding "woven work" or "work of a weaver." This construction does not name a person but describes a process or technique, using the participle as if it were a noun denoting the craft.

The final portion, le-Aharon u-le-vanav ("for Aaron and for his sons"), uses the preposition le twice, marking the beneficiaries of the garments. The suffixed vanav ("his sons") attaches the pronominal -o ("his") to banim ("sons"), tying the sons back to Aaron as the referent.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the BSB/RV1909/SBLIBRE translations agree in describing "tunics" (katenot) of fine linen, woven work, for Aaron and his sons. The Vulgate text supplied, however, reads "feminalia quoque linea, byssina" ("linen breeches also, of fine linen"), naming a different garment (breeches rather than tunics). This suggests that in this chapter the Vulgate's verse arrangement diverges from the Hebrew ordering of garment descriptions, rather than offering an alternate translation of the same garment term.