Leviticus 24:4

Summary

The verse instructs that the lamps be arranged upon the pure lampstand, positioned before Yehovah, on a continual basis. It specifies the object tended (the lamps), the location (the pure lampstand), the orientation (before Yehovah), and the frequency (continually).

Key words

• me.no.Rah ("lampstand", H4501) — feminine singular noun, marked definite by the preceding article ha (H9009), identifying a specific, known lampstand.
• te.ho.Rah ("pure", H2889) — feminine singular adjective agreeing with me.no.Rah, also carrying the definite article, describing the lampstand's quality of purity.
• ya.'a.Rokh ("he will arrange", H6186A) — qal imperfect third person, denoting an action that is ongoing or to be repeated, the main verb of the clause.
• ne.Rot ("lamps", H5216A) — feminine plural noun, the direct object marked by 'et (H0853), the items being arranged.
• ta.Mid ("continually", H8548) — masculine singular noun functioning adverbially, placed at the very end of the verse to emphasize the ongoing nature of the action.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause opens with the prepositional phrase 'al ha-menorah ha-tehorah ("on the pure lampstand"), placing the location before the verb — a common Hebrew structure that foregrounds the setting of the action. The verb ya'arokh ("he will arrange") follows, in the qal imperfect, a form that in Biblical Hebrew often expresses habitual, repeated, or future action rather than a single completed event. The subject of this verb is not stated explicitly in this verse (it is a third-person masculine singular form embedded in the verb itself), and grammar alone does not specify who "he" is within this clause.

The direct object, 'et ha-nerot ("the lamps"), is marked by the untranslated object marker 'et (H0853), a grammatical particle indicating that "the lamps" are what receives the verb's action. The phrase lifnei YHWH ("before Yehovah") uses the construct noun fnei ("face of", H6440G) to express spatial or relational proximity — literally "to the face of Yehovah" — a common Hebrew idiom for standing in someone's presence. The final word, tamid ("continually", H8548), sits outside the main clause structure as an adverbial modifier, closing the sentence with emphasis on the perpetual repetition of the arranging action.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the verb as "you will burn" (καύσετε, plural), where the Hebrew has a singular imperfect verb "he will arrange" (ya'arokh). The LXX also adds a temporal phrase "until morning" (ἕως τὸ πρωί) not present in the Hebrew text supplied. The Vulgate uses a passive construction "they will be placed" (ponentur), differing from the active Hebrew verb form. The BSB and SBLIBRE both supply "Aaron" as the explicit subject, though no proper name appears in the Hebrew of this verse itself.