Bible Strands

Exodus 40:17

So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrative records Moses’ fulfillment of prior commands as he completes the erection of the tabernacle. The verse marks the chronological endpoint of the construction phase before the subsequent consecration rites.

The words — The temporal sequence בְּ/אֶחָד לַ/חֹ֑דֶשׁ הָ/רִאשׁ֛וֹן בַּ/שָּׁנָ֥ה הַ/שֵּׁנִ֖ית (be./'e.Chad la./Cho.desh ha./ri.Shon ba./sha.Nah ha./she.Nit) literally renders “on [day] one of the month the first in the year the second.” The verb הוּקַ֖ם (hu.Kam) states “it was set up” in the passive form.

The thread — The chronological marker appears in Exodus 40:17 and Numbers 9:1 to date the wilderness period. Numbers 7:1 references the completion of the tabernacle’s erection but omits the specific month-and-year formula.

Why it lands — The text records a precise date for the tabernacle’s erection without adding commentary on its significance. A reader notes the historical anchor and observes the structural transition from construction to consecration.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיְהִ֞יva/y.Hiand/ it wasבַּחֹ֧דֶשׁba./Cho.deshin the/ monthהָרִאשׁ֛וֹןha./ri.Shon<the>/ firstבַּשָּׁנָ֥הba./sha.Nahin the/ yearהַשֵּׁנִ֖יתha./she.Nit<the>/ secondבְּאֶחָ֣דbe./'e.Chadon/ [day] oneלַחֹ֑דֶשׁla./Cho.deshof the/ monthהוּקַ֖םhu.Kamit was set upהַמִּשְׁכָּֽן׃ha./mish.Kanthe/ tabernacle

King James Version

And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

Cross-references