Exodus 40:3

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וְסַכֹּתָ֥

çâkak

H5526

“and · to cover”

Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 24× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 25:20

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1475 , 1492 , 2259 , 2260

(Qal) to hedge, fence about, shut in - to block, overshadow, screen, stop the approach, shut off, cover - (Qal) - to screen, cover - to cover oneself - protector (participle) - (Hiphil) - to screen, cover - to cover, defecate (euphemism) - (Qal) to cover, lay over - to weave together - (Qal) to weave together - (Pilpel) to weave, weave together

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 →

10: words
9: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וְסַכֹּתָ֥ to cover H5526 — appearing just 24 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וְסַכֹּתָ֥ to cover H5526 occurs in 24 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
4 nouns
2 prepositions
1 adverb
1 particle

Verb forms

וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְסַכֹּתָ֥ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

אֲר֣וֹן ark H727 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 19 words from the Hebrew and 19 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 10 Hebrew tokens and 12 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 40:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 35:12 the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen;
Numbers 4:5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
Revelation 11:19 God's temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord's covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.
Exodus 25:22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
Exodus 40:20–21 He took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark.
Leviticus 16:14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
Exodus 25:10 "They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
Exodus 26:31 "You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made.

Exodus 26:33–34 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
Exodus 36:35–36 He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman.
Exodus 37:1–9 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.

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 40:3 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ שָׁ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֲר֣וֹן הָעֵד֑וּת וְסַכֹּתָ֥ עַל הָאָרֹ֖ן אֶת הַפָּרֹֽכֶת

You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Exodus 40:3 Septuagint · lemma form

καί τίθημι ὁ κιβωτός ὁ μαρτύριον καί σκεπάζω ὁ κιβωτός ὁ καταπέτασμα

and you shall place in it the ark of the testimony, and shall cover the ark with the veil,

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). 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)

וּתְשַׁוֵי תַמָן יַת אֲרוֹנָא דְסַהֲדוּתָא וְתַטֵּל עַל אֲרוֹנָא יָת פָּרֻכְתָּא:

(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)

וּתְשַׁוֵּי תַּמָּן יַת אֲרוֹנָא דְסַהֲדוּתָא וְתַטְלֵיל עַל אֲרוֹנָא יַת כַּפּוּרְתָּא

And thou shalt set there the ark of the testimony, and overlay the ark with the mercy seat.

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 40:3 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 →

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) Thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony.—The most precious of the objects which the tabernacle was to contain was to be placed in it; first. Then immediately it was to be covered up with the vail.

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

3. See Exo_26:33.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And thou shall put therein the ark of the testimony,.... The ark or chest where the law was, a testimony of the divine will, and which was to be put into the most holy place of the tabernacle:

and cover the ark with the vail; not with the propitiatory or mercy seat, as the Targum of Jonathan; for though that was a covering or lid to the ark, yet not a vail; this was the vail that divided between the holy place and the most holy, and so covered or hid the ark from the sight even of the priests that went into the holy place.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

The first thing to be placed within the tabernacle was the ark of the testimony, as containing the foundation of the covenant between God and Israel, and being the special token of God"s presence with his people. See the comment on Exo_25:10. The "two tables" were placed within the ark before it was brought into the tabernacle (vers. 20, 21). Cover the ark with the veili.e. , "hang up the veil in front of the ark, so as to cover or conceal it."

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

Yahweh continues to tell Moses what the people must do.

place the ark of the testimony in it

"place the ark of the covenant decrees in the sacred chest"

shield the ark with the curtain

"put the ark behind the curtain"

translationWords

ark of the covenant

lampstand

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

וסכת על הארן means AND THOU SHALT SCREEN THE ARK — וסכת denotes screening and it is the correct term to use, for it (the veil) formed a partition (cf. Rashi on Exodus 35:12).

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.

Ramban (Nachmanides)

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides)

AND THOU SHALT SCREEN ‘AL’ THE ARK. The word al (upon) is in place of the word el (to), for the word v’sakotha (and thou shalt screen) is derived from the term masach (curtain, screen). Similarly, and he set up the veil of the screen, and screened ‘al’ the ark of the Testimony [carries the same interpretation as the verse before us].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (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 10 words (9 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is çâkak (“to cover”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to cover” (çâkak) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Exodus 25:20, which shares the word «to cover», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “ark” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וְשַׂמְתָּ֣» is a Qal Sequential Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 10 Hebrew ↔ 12 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 14 words in this verse.
“ark” occurs 2× in this single verse.
9 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 10 words in this verse.