Exodus 40:6

Summary

Exodus 40:6 instructs the placement of the altar of burnt offering, positioning it before the entrance to the tabernacle structure known as the Tent of Meeting. The verse consists of a single verbal command followed by a chain of construct nouns specifying the exact location.

Key words

• va-natattah ("and you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the sequence of instructions begun in preceding verses; the sequential form links this action to the prior commands as part of one ordered procedure.
• mizbach ("altar of", H4196) — masculine singular construct, grammatically bound to ha-'olah, forming the phrase "altar of the burnt offering."
• ha-'olah ("the burnt offering", H5930A) — feminine singular noun with definite article, the item to which the altar is dedicated.
• liphnei ("before", H6440G) — construct form of "face," used prepositionally to mean "in front of"; it governs the following chain of construct nouns.
• ohel mo'ed ("tent of meeting", H0168G + H4150I) — construct chain naming the structure, literally "tent of appointed meeting."

What the text says

The verse is built around one main verb, va-natattah ("and you will put", H5414H), a qal sequential perfect form. This verb form ties the action to the sequence of tabernacle-assembly instructions running through the chapter — each new object is "given" or "placed" in turn. The direct object is marked by 'et (H0853, untranslated), followed by mizbach ha-'olah ("altar of the burnt offering"), a construct chain where mizbach (H4196) is bound to the definite noun ha-'olah (H5930A).

The location is expressed through a long construct chain: liphnei ("before", H6440G) governs petach ("entrance of", H6607), which is itself in construct with mishkan ("tabernacle of", H4908), which is in construct with ohel mo'ed ("tent of meeting", H0168G + H4150I). This produces a nested genitive structure literally rendered as "before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting." Hebrew construct chains allow multiple nouns to stack in a possessive-like relationship without additional prepositions, a feature that flattens into simpler prepositional phrases in English translations such as the BSB ("in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting").

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) preserves only a fragment — "et ante illud altare holocausti" ("and before it, the altar of burnt offering") — omitting the full construct chain naming the tabernacle and tent of meeting found in the Hebrew. The LXX (Swete) renders mizbach ha-'olah as "τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῶν καρπωμάτων" ("the altar of the fruits/offerings"), using a plural genitive noun (καρπωμάτων) rather than a direct equivalent to the singular 'olah ("burnt offering", H5930A), and adds material about anointing and consecrating "all its things" (πάντα τὰ αὐτῆς ἁγιάσεις) not present in the Hebrew of this specific verse.