Numbers 7:1
וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָיו וְאֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָיו וַיִּמְשָׁחֵם וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתָֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיְהִ֡י בְּיוֹם֩ כַּלּ֨וֹת מֹשֶׁ֜ה לְהָקִ֣ים אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן וַיִּמְשַׁ֨ח אֹת֜וֹ וַיְקַדֵּ֤שׁ אֹתוֹ֙ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָ֔יו וְאֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָ֑יו וַיִּמְשָׁחֵ֖ם וַיְקַדֵּ֥שׁ אֹתָֽם׃
Καὶ ἐγένετο ἧ ἡμέρα συνετέλεσεν Μωυσῆς ὥστε ἀναστῆσαι τὴν σκηνήν, καὶ ἔχρισεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτὴν καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη ἀυτῆς κὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔχρισεν ἀυτὰ καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτά·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Factum est autem in die qua complevit Moyses tabernaculum, et erexit illud, unxitque et sanctificavit cum omnibus vasis suis, altare similiter et omnia vasa ejus:
El día en que Moisés terminó de levantar el tabernáculo, lo ungió y lo consagró con todo su mobiliario; ungió y consagró también el altar con todos sus utensilios;
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y ACONTECIÓ, que cuando Moisés hubo acabado de levantar el tabernáculo, y ungídolo y santificádolo, con todos sus vasos; y asimismo ungido y santificado el altar, con todos sus vasos;
On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse opens a new narrative unit with a temporal formula: "on the day" Moses finished erecting the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it together with all its furnishings, and did the same for the altar and its utensils. The action is reported in four sequential verbs describing completion, anointing, and consecration of both the tabernacle and the altar.
Key words
- va-yeHi ("and it was", H1961) — qal narrative form opening the account; this construction typically introduces a new episode.
- kaLot ("finished", H3615) — piel infinitive construct of the root meaning "to complete," here indicating the action tied to the temporal phrase "on the day."
- ha-Kim ("to set up", H6965) — hiphil (causative) infinitive construct; the causative stem marks Moses as the one who causes the tabernacle to stand.
- yim-Shach ("he anointed", H4886) — qal narrative verb, repeated twice (once for the tabernacle with its vessels, once for the altar with its utensils).
- y.ka.Desh ("he consecrated", H6942) — piel narrative verb, intensive stem, also repeated twice, paired each time with the anointing verb.
What the text says
The verse is built around a temporal clause introduced by be-yom ("on the day", H3117) followed by the infinitive construct kaLot ("finished", H3615), a piel form of the verb meaning "to complete." This infinitive construction, "on the day of Moses' finishing," sets up the main action rather than narrating it directly. Within this temporal clause, a second infinitive, ha-Kim ("to set up", H6965), appears in the hiphil (causative) stem, expressing that Moses caused the tabernacle to be erected — the causative nuance distinguishes "causing to stand" from a simple "standing."
After the temporal clause, the main narrative resumes with four sequential qal/piel verbs marked by the narrative va- prefix: yim-Shach ("he anointed") and y.ka.Desh ("he consecrated"), each occurring twice. The repetition creates a parallel structure: first the tabernacle (mishKan, H4908) and "all its articles" (kol keLav, H3627) are anointed and consecrated, then the altar (mizBeach, H4196) and "all its articles" receive the same two actions. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) precedes each object without being translated, marking the tabernacle, the altar, and their vessels as grammatical objects of the verbs. The piel stem of y.ka.Desh carries an intensive nuance compared to a simple qal action, though English and Spanish translations render it simply as "consecrated."
Differences between versions
The Vulgate (VULCLEM) compresses the four Hebrew verbs (anointed/consecrated for the tabernacle, then again for the altar) into a single combined statement — "unxitque et sanctificavit cum omnibus vasis suis, altare similiter" — using "similiter" ("likewise") to cover the repeated action on the altar, rather than repeating the verbs as the Hebrew does. The LXX (LXXSWETE) preserves the fourfold repetition of "anointed" (ἔχρισεν) and "consecrated" (ἡγίασεν) matching the Hebrew's two-part parallel structure for tabernacle and altar.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.