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| Q: | I hope you might be able to shed some light on Moses' song in Exodus 15. Verse 17 reads as follows: "You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established." (NASB) Why does the verse read as if the sanctuary had already been built in Jerusalem? | ||||||
| A: | You are to be commended for your alert and accurate attention to the Bible phrases used. The NASB way of translating this verse is accurate and your question quite understandable. The verb forms in the Hebrew for "you have made" and "you have established" are both so-called "perfect" forms--to give the idea of "completed" action or activity. In the Hebrew language, however, there is the use of the perfect verb forms that the Lord likes to use when giving special assurances of things that still lie in the future. Hebrew language grammars often refer to this as the "prophetic perfect" verb form--speaking of things that lie in the future as though they were already accomplished. This is a strong way of saying, "You can be sure of this; it is as good as done since God has determined this and it shall be so." Perhaps the best known example of this use of the prophetic perfect is in Isaiah 53, where we have the promised Messiah's work spoken of as already completed even though historically it wouldn't take place until 700 years later. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities . . . ." I believe that the words of Exodus 15:17 are best understood as the use of the prophetic perfect along with the so-called "imperfect" verb forms that speak of incomplete (present or future) activity. They are blended is such a way that the Israelites look to the future fulfillments of God's promises of a central sanctuary in the land they will inherit (see Deuteronomy 12:1-7 for more on that) and know that it will most certainly be done. | ||||||
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