Exodus 28:43

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don't bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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לְשָׁרֵ֣ת

shârath

H8334

“to minister”

Preposition + Verb, Piel, Infinitive Construct

Appears 98× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 39:4

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 2472

(Piel) to minister, serve, minister to

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

24: words
21: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

6 verbs
10 nouns
6 prepositions
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

וְהָיוּ֩ Qal · Sequential Perfect
בְּבֹאָ֣ם Qal · Infinitive Construct
בְגִשְׁתָּ֤ם Qal · Infinitive Construct
לְשָׁרֵ֣ת Piel · Infinitive Construct
יִשְׂא֥וּ Qal · Imperfect
וָמֵ֑תוּ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

עַל upon H5921 ×2
אֶל to H413 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In the original languages it is 24 Hebrew tokens and 43 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Exodus 28:43 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 27:21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Exodus 20:26 Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'
Leviticus 5:17 "If anyone sins, and does any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done; though he didn't know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
Leviticus 5:1 "'If anyone sins, in that he hears the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn't report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
Leviticus 17:7 They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.'
Leviticus 22:9 "'They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
Numbers 18:22 Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.
Leviticus 20:19–20 "'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister; for he has made naked his close relative: they shall bear their iniquity.

Numbers 9:13 But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn't offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
Matthew 22:12–13 and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Exodus 28:43 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְהָיוּ֩ עַל אַהֲרֹ֨ן וְעַל בָּנָ֜יו בְּבֹאָ֣ם אֶל אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֗ד א֣וֹ בְגִשְׁתָּ֤ם אֶל הַמִּזְבֵּ֨חַ֙ לְשָׁרֵ֣ת בַּקֹּ֔דֶשׁ וְלֹא יִשְׂא֥וּ עָוֺ֖ן וָמֵ֑תוּ חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֛ם ל֖וֹ וּלְזַרְע֥וֹ אַחֲרָֽיו

They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don't bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Exodus 28:43 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἔχω ααρων αὐτός καί ὁ υἱός αὐτός ὡς ἄν εἰςπορεύομαι εἰς ὁ σκηνή ὁ μαρτύριον ἤ ὅταν προςπορεύομαι λειτουργέω πρός ὁ θυσιαστήριον ὁ ἅγιος καί οὐ ἐπιἄγω πρός ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτία ἵνα μή ἀποθνήσκω νόμιμος αἰώνιος αὐτός καί ὁ σπέρμα αὐτός μετά αὐτός

No English rendering of this Greek verse — the small residue in the structurally divergent books.

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from a public-domain English Septuagint. How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וִיהוֹן עַל אַהֲרֹן וְעַל בְּנוֹהִי בְּמֵעַלְהוֹן לְּמַשְׁכַּן זִמְנָא אוֹ בְמִקְרָבְהוֹן לְמַדְבְּחָא לְשַׁמָשָׁא בְקוּדְשָׁא וְלָא יְקַבְּלוּן חוֹבָא וִימוּתוּן קְיָם עָלָם לֵהּ וְלִבְנוֹהִי בַתְרוֹהִי:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וִיהוֹן עַל אַהֲרן וְעַל בְּנוֹי בִּזְמַן מֵעַלְהוֹן לְמַשְׁכַּן זִימְנָא אוֹ בְּמִקְרָבֵיהוֹן לְמַדְבְּחָא לְשַׁמָשָׁא בְּקוּדְשָׁא וְלָא יְקַבְּלוּן חוֹבָא וְלָא יְמוּתוּן בְּאֵשָׁא מִצַלְהֲבָא קְיַים עֲלַם לֵיהּ וְלִבְנוֹי בַּתְרוֹי

And they shall be upon Aharon and upon his sons at the time when they enter the tabernacle of testimony, or when they approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary, that they may not receive the punishment of flaming fire. This is an everlasting statute for him and for his sons after him.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Exodus 28:43 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Exo 28:43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy [place]; that they bear not iniquity, and die: [it shall be] a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

Ver. 43. That they bear not the iniquity, and die,] sc., For not hiding their nakedness. See on Exo 20:26.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Exo 28:43. It shall be a statute for ever — That is, it is to continue as long as the priesthood continues. And it is to have its perpetuity in the substance of which these things were the shadow.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

In not hiding their nakedness.

Or, of witness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(43) The tabernacle of the congregation.—Heb., the tent of meeting.

The holy place seems to be here the court of the tabernacle, within which the altar was to be set up (Exo_40:6; Exo_40:29).

That they bear not iniquity, and die.—The death penalty is threatened against the sin of ministering without the garments needed for decency, as against the sin of neglecting to wear the robe of the ephod (Exo_28:35). In both cases a Divine vengeance, rather than a legal punishment, is probably intended.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

43. the altar] i.e. the altar of burnt-offering: cf. on Exo_27:1.

the holy place] i.e. the sanctuary in general (including the court), as Exo_36:1; Exo_36:3-4; Exo_36:6; not in the special sense of Exo_26:33; for the altar of burnt-offering did not stand in the Dwelling, but in the court (Exo_40:6). With to minister, as Exo_29:30, Exo_35:19 al. (P); Eze_44:27.

bear iniquity and die, cf. Lev_22:16 (H); and on v. 35 above.

a statute for ever] as Exo_30:21, Lev_6:18; Lev_6:22; Lev_7:34; Lev_10:15; Lev_24:9, Num_18:8; Num_18:11; Num_18:19 (all P): cf. on Exo_12:14 (where the Heb. is ḥuḳḳâh, the fem. of ḥôḳ, the word used here).

and … his seed after him] one of P’s standing expressions: Gen_9:9; Gen_17:7-10; Gen_17:19; Gen_35:12; Gen_48:4, Num_25:13.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation. Literally," when they go into the tent of meetingi.e. , the place where God and the high priest were to meet. The holy place. The "holy place" seems in this passage to include the court of the tabernacle, wherein the altar was situated. That they bear not iniquity. To "bear iniquity" is to incur guilt, or have sin imputed to one. If even through forgetfulness a priest entered the sanctuary without this necessary article of clothing, and so risked an unseemly, exposure of his person, he was to be accounted guilty, and punished by death. This was to be a "statute for ever," and to apply both to the high priest and the ordinary priests. Compare Exo_20:26.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

It shall be a statute forever - That is, It is to continue as long as the priesthood continues. And it is to have its perpetuity in the substance, of which these things were the shadows.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

והיו על אהרן AND THEY SHALL BE UPON AARON — “they” means all these garments (not only the breeches which are the last-mentioned garments); upon Aaron shall be those which are proper to him,

ועל בניו AND UPON HIS SONS, those prescribed for them.

בבאם אל אהל מועד WHEN THEY COME INTO THE APPOINTED TENT — into the Temple, and similarly when they come into the Tabernacle.

ומתו AND THEY DIE — thus you may learn that he who officiates lacking any of these garments is liable to death (Midrash Tanchuma, Achrei Mot 6).

חקת עולם לו AN ORDINANCE TO HIM FOR EVER — Wherever it is said “an ordinance forever” it is an enactment for the immediate present time and for future generations, and the phrase is used to make invalid thereby (through the fact that this phrase is used) any rite where the details prescribed are not fully carried out (cf. Menachot 19a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Exodus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 24 words (21 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is shârath (“to minister”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word shârath carries the sense “to minister.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Exodus 27:21, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “upon” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וְהָיוּ֩» is a Qal Sequential Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 24 Hebrew ↔ 43 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 19 words in this verse.
“upon” occurs 2× in this single verse.
21 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 24 words in this verse.