Exodus 40:5

Summary

This verse instructs the placement of two furnishings for the tabernacle: the golden incense altar is to be set before the ark of the testimony, and a screen is to be placed at the entrance of the tabernacle. Two verbs in the same grammatical form ("you will put") govern each half of the verse, continuing a sequence of instructions.

Key words

• natattah ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; this form continues a chain of prior commands, functioning like "and then you shall put."
• mizbach ("altar of", H4196) — masculine singular construct, opening the phrase mizbach hazzahav ("altar of the gold"), i.e., the golden altar.
• liqtoret ("for incense", H7004) — noun with prefixed preposition li ("for"), marking the purpose of the altar rather than its material.
• aron ("ark of", H0727) — masculine singular construct, linked to ha'edut ("the testimony", H5715) to form "ark of the testimony."
• samta ("you will put", H7760A) — a second qal sequential perfect, parallel to natattah, introducing the second instruction about the screen.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel clauses, each opened by a sequential perfect verb (natattah, samta), both meaning "you will put/place." This repeated verbal form signals continuation within a longer list of instructions rather than an isolated command. The first clause names the object with a construct chain, mizbach hazzahav ("altar of the gold"), followed by the purpose marker li attached to qetoret ("incense"), so the phrase specifies not merely "the golden altar" but its function: an altar for incense. Its location is given by another construct chain, lifnei aron ha'edut ("before the ark of the testimony"), where edut ("testimony") qualifies the ark itself.

The second clause uses the same verb pattern with masakh ("screen of") in construct with happetach ("the entrance"), itself governed by la-mishkan ("of/for the tabernacle"). The double construct (masakh happetach la-mishkan) precisely locates the screen: it belongs to the entrance, and that entrance belongs to the tabernacle.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders the ark simply as τῆς κιβωτοῦ ("the ark"), without an equivalent for edut ("testimony") in that clause, while the Hebrew and Vulgate (arca testimonii) both attach "testimony" to the ark. Instead, the LXX places testimony language later, calling the tabernacle τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ("tent of the testimony"), where the Hebrew simply has mishkan ("tabernacle") without edut. The LXX also describes the screen with κάλυμμα καταπετάσματος ("covering of the veil"), a fuller phrase than the Hebrew masakh happetach ("screen of the entrance").