Numbers 4:7

Summary

Numbers 4:7 instructs how the table of the Presence is to be prepared for transport: it must be covered with a cloth, and its associated vessels and the regular bread offering placed upon it. The verse lists specific vessel types and specifies that the bread remains on the table itself.

Key words

• shulchan ("table of", H7979) — masculine singular construct, forming a bound phrase with the following noun, "table of the presence."
• panim ("presence", H6440H) — masculine plural noun; though plural in form, it functions as a single concept ("face/presence") that names the table.
• yifresu ("they will spread out", H6566) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural; the imperfect aspect marks this as a prescribed future/ongoing action within the ritual instructions.
• natenu ("they will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect; this form continues the action begun by the imperfect verb, linking the spreading of the cloth to the placing of the vessels as one procedural sequence.
• lechem ("bread of", H3899H) — masculine singular construct, forming the phrase "bread of continuity" with tamid (H8548), describing the regular/perpetual bread offering.

What the text says

The verse opens with a prepositional phrase, ve'al shulchan hapanim ("and over the table of the presence"), which sets the location before the verb yifresu ("they will spread out") appears. This word order — object of preparation before the verb — is typical of the procedural style in this chapter, emphasizing the item being handled before the action performed on it. The construct chain shulchan hapanim ("table of the presence") uses a plural noun, panim, in a construct relationship that Hebrew treats as a single referential unit rather than a literal plurality of faces.

The verbal sequence shifts from imperfect (yifresu) to sequential perfect (natenu), a common Hebrew narrative-legal device where the first verb sets the aspect and subsequent verbs in vav-consecutive perfect continue the same temporal frame. This creates a chain: spread the cloth, then place the dishes (qe'arot, H7086), the pans (kapot, H3709I), the bowls (menaqiyyot, H4518), and the jugs of the drink offering (qesot hanasekh, H7184 + H5262). Each vessel-list item is marked by the object marker 'et (H0853), which has no independent gloss but marks these nouns as direct objects of natenu. The final clause, lechem hatamid 'alav yihyeh ("the bread of continuity will be on it"), uses the imperfect yihyeh (H1961) to state a durative condition — the bread's continued presence on the table — rather than a single action.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew beged tekhelet ("a covering of violet stuff", H0899B + H8504) is rendered in the LXX as ἱμάτιον ὁλοπόρφυρον, "an entirely purple garment," shifting the color term from violet/blue to purple. The Vulgate's hyacinthino pallio ("hyacinth-colored cloak") aligns more closely with the Hebrew tekhelet. For the vessel list, the Hebrew names qe'arot, kapot, menaqiyyot, and qesot hanasekh; the LXX gives τρύβλια, θυίσκας, κυάθους, and σπονδεῖα; the Vulgate gives thuribula, mortariola, cyathos, and crateras. The three versions do not use equivalent terms for each vessel category, reflecting differing traditions of identifying these ritual objects.