Exodus 40:21

Summary

The verse describes Moses bringing the ark into the tabernacle, positioning the screening curtain (parokhet), and using it to cover the ark of the testimony, in accordance with a command attributed to Yehovah. The action is narrated in three successive steps linked by consecutive verb forms.

Key words

• va-yaVe' ("he brought", H0935P) — hiphil narrative form, causative: the subject causes the ark to enter, not merely walks with it.
• ha-'aRon ("the ark", H0727) — definite noun, marking a specific, previously-introduced object.
• paRoket ("curtain of...", H6532) — feminine singular construct, meaning it must be joined to what follows (ha-maSakh, "the screen") to form the phrase "curtain of the screen."
• va-yaSekh ("he covered", H5526B) — hiphil narrative, causative: the subject actively causes the covering to happen, distinct from the simple qal used for "he set up" (va-Yasem).
• tzivVah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect: a completed action prior to the main narrative sequence, introduced by the relative ka'aSher ("as", H0834D), subordinating the whole verse to a prior divine instruction.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of three narrative verbs (va-yaVe', va-Yasem, va-yaSekh), each attached by the narrative vav (H9001), which in Biblical Hebrew signals sequential action: "and then... and then... and then." This creates a tight cause-and-effect sequence: bringing the ark in, setting up the parokhet curtain, and covering the ark with it. The construct chain paRoket ha-maSakh ("curtain of the screen") and 'aRon ha-'eDut ("ark of the testimony", H0727 + H5715) both use the construct state, binding two nouns into a single compound idea rather than presenting them as separate items.

The final clause shifts from narrative sequence to a subordinate temporal/causal clause using ka'aSher ("as") plus the piel perfect tzivVah ("he had commanded"), which describes an action completed before the main narrative — the instruction preceded its execution. The object marker 'et (H0853) appears three times (before "the ark," before "curtain," before "Moses") but carries no independent meaning; it simply flags the definite direct object of each verb.

Differences between versions

The LXX text supplied here (Exodus 40, Swete numbering) speaks of "loaves of the presentation" (ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως) placed "before the Lord," and the Vulgate parallel text refers to "the loaves of proposition" (propositionis panibus) — content that does not match the Hebrew verse given, which concerns the ark and the curtain, not bread. This reflects a difference in versification/content alignment between the Hebrew verse cited and the Greek/Latin texts supplied, rather than a translation choice within the same verse.