Exodus 40:15

Summary

The verse instructs that Aaron's sons be anointed in the same manner as their father Aharon ("father", H0001G), so that they may serve as priests. This anointing is declared to establish a perpetual priesthood for their descendants.

Key words

• ma.shach.Ta ("you will anoint", H4886) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the chain of instructions begun earlier in the chapter; the same root appears again in the perfect (ma.Shach.ta) to describe the prior anointing of the father.
• khi.ha.Nu ("they will serve as priests", H3547) — piel (intensive) sequential perfect, third person plural; the intensive stem marks the specialized cultic function of priesthood rather than a simple action.
• ma.she.cha.Ta ("anointing of", H4888A) — feminine singular construct noun with the suffix "their" (ma.she.cha.Tam, "their anointing"), functioning as the subject of the clause describing what will happen.
• kh.hu.Nat ("a priesthood of", H3550) — feminine singular construct, bound to o.Lam ("perpetuity", H5769G), forming the phrase "priesthood of perpetuity."
• do.ro.Tam ("their generations", H1755 + H9028) — plural construct noun with possessive suffix, marking the temporal scope ("for their generations") of the preceding clause.

What the text says

The verse is built from a chain of sequential perfects (u.ma.shach.Ta, ve.khi.ha.Nu, ve.ha.ye.tah) that continue a narrative sequence of divine instruction, each verb picking up the temporal thread from what precedes. The comparative clause ka.'a.Sher ma.Shach.ta 'et-'a.vi.Hem ("just as you anointed their father") uses the relative particle 'a.Sher ("as", H0834D) to establish an explicit parallel between the anointing about to occur and one already completed, marked by the shift from sequential perfect to simple perfect tense.

The final clause turns on a construct chain: ma.she.cha.Tam ("their anointing") is stated li.hе.yot ("to be", infinitive of H1961) li.khе.hu.Nat 'o.Lam ("into a priesthood of perpetuity"), with the infinitive construction expressing purpose or result — the anointing is presented as the means by which the priesthood becomes established. The phrase le.do.ro.Tam ("to their generations") extends this scope across time, using a construct noun rather than a finite verb, which ties the perpetuity directly to successive generations without specifying further limits within the Hebrew grammar itself.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew, RV1909, BSB, and SBLIBRE all correspond to the same content — anointing, priesthood, and perpetuity across generations. However, the LXXSWETE and VULCLEM texts provided do not match this content; they describe the erection of the tabernacle in the first month of the second year, which corresponds to different material in Exodus 40 (verses concerning the tabernacle's setup date) rather than the anointing instruction found in the Hebrew of verse 15.