Exodus 40:23

Summary

The verse reports that Moses arranged bread in a set order on the table, positioned before Yehovah, executing this action exactly as Yehovah had previously commanded him.

Key words

• ya'arokh ("he arranged", H6186A) — qal verb in narrative sequence, indicating a discrete completed action that follows the prior steps of the tabernacle's assembly.
• 'erekh ("an arrangement of", H6187) — construct noun, meaning it must attach to what follows (lechem, "bread"); it denotes not just placement but a structured row or order.
• lechem ("bread", H3899H) — the object being arranged; construct chain with 'erekh produces the sense "a row/arrangement of bread."
• lifnei ("before", H6440G construct + preposition) — literally "to the face of," a spatial idiom placing the bread in the immediate presence of Yehovah.
• tzivah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, marking a completed prior command that the current action fulfills; the piel stem intensifies the directive force of the verb.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative va- prefix on ya'arokh, signaling this action as the next link in a chain of tabernacle-furnishing events. The verb takes a suffixed prepositional phrase, 'alav ("on it," H5921A + suffix), pointing back to the table mentioned earlier in the chapter, so the placement is spatially anchored before the object noun appears. The construct pair 'erekh lechem ("an arrangement of bread") functions almost adverbially, describing the manner of placement — not a single loaf but a patterned row — rather than simply naming an object being set down.

The phrase lifnei Yehovah ("before Yehovah," H6440G + H3068G) uses the idiom "to the face of," which in Biblical Hebrew marks a location of ritual or relational proximity rather than literal facial orientation. The final clause repeats a formula common in this chapter: ka'asher tzivah Yehovah 'et-Mosheh ("just as Yehovah had commanded Moses"), where the piel perfect tzivah denotes an action completed before the narrative moment — the command predates the arranging, and the sentence closes by affirming exact correspondence between command and execution.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text specifies lechem ("bread", H3899H) as the object arranged on the table. The LXX (Swete) instead reads τοὺς λύχνους ("the lamps"), and the Vulgate similarly reads lucernis ("lamps"), both diverging from the Hebrew noun. The Spanish RV1909 and SBLIBRE follow the Hebrew tradition, rendering "panes" ("breads/loaves").