Numbers 4:13

Summary

Numbers 4:13 gives instructions for handling the bronze altar during the Levites' transport duties: the ashes are to be removed from it, and a purple cloth is to be spread over it as a covering.

Key words

• dishenu ("they will remove the ashes", H1878) — piel stem, an intensive verbal form indicating the thorough removal of ash residue; sequential perfect continuing the narrative chain of instructions.
• mizbeach ("altar", H4196) — masculine singular noun with the definite article, referring to the specific bronze altar of the sanctuary.
• parsu ("they will spread out", H6566) — qal (simple) stem, sequential perfect, denoting the straightforward action of unfolding or laying out.
• beged ("covering of", H0899B) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it is grammatically bound to the following noun to form "a covering of purple cloth."
• 'argaman ("purple cloth", H0713) — the material specified for the covering.

What the text says

The verse is built on two sequential perfect verbs — dishenu and parsu — both continuing a chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage (marked by the narrative ve- prefix, H9001). This grammatical form functions like a future or procedural "then they shall..." in English, describing a fixed order of actions rather than a single past event. The first action, expressed through the piel stem of dishenu, is intensive: it does not simply mean "to remove" ashes but stresses the thorough clearing of them from the altar (H4196), marked with the direct object marker 'et (H0853), which itself carries no independent meaning in translation.

The second clause uses the construct phrase beged 'argaman ("a covering of purple cloth"), where beged (H0899B) is grammatically bound to 'argaman (H0713), producing a compound expression rather than two independent nouns. The pronominal suffix on 'alav ("over it", H5921A + H9033) refers back to the altar, confirming that the purple cloth is placed specifically over the altar's surface after the ashes are cleared.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) diverges notably from the Hebrew: it speaks of placing "τὸν καλυπτῆρα" ("the covering/lid") on the altar with a singular verb ("he shall place"), and only afterward mentions covering it with an all-purple garment — it does not explicitly render the ash-removal action found in the Hebrew dishenu. The Vulgate, by contrast, closely follows the Hebrew sense with "altare mundabunt cinere" ("they shall clean the altar of ash"), matching the piel verb's meaning, and continues with "involvent illud purpureo vestimento" ("they shall wrap it in a purple garment"), corresponding to the Hebrew's spreading of the purple cloth.