Exodus 40:17

Summary

This verse dates the erection of the tabernacle precisely: it was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year (presumably counting from the exodus from Egypt, though the reference point is not stated in this verse itself). The Hebrew marks the action as completed by using a passive causative verb form.

Key words

• va-y'hi ("and it was", H1961) — narrative vav plus qal form of "to be," the standard formula opening a new temporal notice in Hebrew narrative.
• ha-rishon ("the first", H7223G) — ordinal number, masculine, agreeing with chodesh ("month," H2320G) to specify "the first month."
• ha-shenit ("the second", H8145) — ordinal number, feminine, agreeing with shanah ("year," H8141, feminine) to specify "the second year."
• be-'echad ("on [day] one", H0259) — cardinal number used idiomatically for "day one" of the month, feminine singular.
• huqam ("it was set up", H6965H) — hophal (causative passive) perfect: the tabernacle is the grammatical subject of a passive action, with the agent left unstated.

What the text says

The verse is built as a single temporal clause followed by the main clause. The temporal chain stacks four elements: ba-chodesh ha-rishon ("in the first month"), ba-shanah ha-shenit ("in the second year"), be-'echad la-chodesh ("on day one of the month"). Each noun (chodesh, "month," H2320G; shanah, "year," H8141) takes its own definite article and matching ordinal in gender, showing the precision of Hebrew calendrical notation — months are grammatically masculine, years feminine, and the ordinals inflect accordingly.

The main clause, huqam ha-mishkan ("the tabernacle was set up"), uses the hophal stem of qum ("to stand," H6965H), a verb form that expresses a passive action caused by an unnamed agent — the tabernacle "was made to stand" rather than "stood" on its own. This grammatical choice keeps the focus on the completed state of the structure without naming who performed the erection in this particular clause.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint text supplied here does not correspond to the Hebrew of Exodus 40:17; it describes stretching curtains over the tent and placing a covering over it, matching a different part of the tabernacle-erection narrative. The Vulgate text supplied likewise describes spreading a roof and placing a covering, not the dating formula found in the Hebrew. The Spanish (RV1909, SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) translations closely follow the Hebrew's temporal structure and the passive verb huqam, rendering it as "was set up" or "fue erigido/se levantó."