24.8 People, or the pillars (v. 4) as their surrogates. Dashing blood, elsewhere an instrument of purification and atonement, on the two parties signifies somehow that the onus is on both; cf. Heb 9.18–22. There is a possible parallel in a periodic ceremony at Emar, in eastern Syria, in the mid-second millennium BCE.
24.9–11 A resumption of vv. 1–2.
24.10 Saw. See note on 19.4. Something like, more precisely “like the construction of” (e.g., Ezek 1.16). Sapphire, as in Ezek 1.26–28. God’s upper body is not directly perceived (cf. 33.20).
24.11 Lay his hand. The command in vv. 1–2 supersedes 19.24. Chief men, presumably the elders (v. 9). Beheld, elsewhere used of prophetic visions (e.g., Isa 1.1). Ate and drank. See note on 18.12.
24.12–18 Since Moses is already on the mountain, this resumes v. 8 or takes place after the others mentioned in v. 9 descend (see v. 14).
24.12 Wait, lit. “be,” the root of God’s name (see note on 3.14). And I will, rather “so that I may.” Tablets of stone. Cf. 31.18; 34.1; Deut 4.13; called “tablets of the covenant” in Deut 9.9. Law (Hebrew torah) is cognate to the verb translated instruction; see note on 18.16.
24.13 Joshua. See note on 17.9. Joshua appears to station himself partway up the mountain (cf. 32.17). Mountain of God. See 3.1.
24.14 Wait here. See Gen 22.5. The vagueness sets the stage for 32.1. Hur. See note on 17.10; Hur fulfills Moses’ judicial duties (18.26) along with Aaron. Dispute. See note on 18.16.
24.15–16 These verses anticipate 40.34–35.
24.15 Cloud. Cf. 19.9, 16; 20.21.
24.16 Glory. See note on 16.6–7. Settled, rendered dwell in 25.8, used of making the divine presence, in whatever form, immanent. Six days, double the period the people underwent sanctification merely to witness the divine presence (see 19.11).
24.17 Devouring fire. Cf. Isa 30.30; Ezek 1.4; note on 13.21.
24.18 Forty, a stereotypical number indicating a full period; cf. 34.28; Deut 9.9–11, 18, 25.
EXODUS 25
Offerings for the Tabernacle
1The LORD said to Moses: 2Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me. 3This is the offering that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen, goats’ hair, 5tanned rams’ skins, fine leather,a acacia wood, 6oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. 9In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
The Ark of the Covenant
10They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a molding of gold upon it all around. 12You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side. 13You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark. 15The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16You shall put into the ark the covenantb that I shall give you.
17Then you shall make a mercy seatc of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. 18You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat.d 19Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the mercy seate you shall make the cherubim at its two ends. 20The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seatf with their wings. They shall face one to another; the faces of the cherubim shall be turned toward the mercy seat.g 21You shall put the mercy seath on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenanti that I shall give you. 22There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat,j from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant,k I will deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites.
The Table for the Bread of the Presence
23You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. 24You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold around it. 25You shall make around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26You shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27The rings that hold the poles used for carrying the table shall be close to the rim. 28You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. 29You shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me always.
The Lampstand
31You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its cups, its calyxes, and its petals shall be of one piece with it; 32and there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34On the lampstand itself there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyxes and petals. 35There shall be a calyx of one piece with it under the first pair of branches, a calyx of one piece with it under the next pair of branches, and a calyx of one piece with it under the last pair of branches—so for the six branches that go out of the lampstand. 36Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it one hammered piece of pure gold. 37You shall make the seven lamps for it; and the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38Its snuffers and trays shall be of pure gold. 39It, and all these utensils, shall be made from a talent of pure gold. 40And see that you make them according to the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
c Or a cover
d Or the cover
e Or the cover
f Or the cover
g Or the cover
h Or the cover
i Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
j Or the cover
k Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
25.1–31.18 Moses learns how to set up a mobile dwelling (tabernacle) for the deity in the midst of the Israelite camp and to establish its priesthood. The dwelling serves as a shrine for worship and as an oracular source (29.43–44), the tent of meeting (27.21); cf. note on 33.7. The construction of the dwelling follows the golden calf incident (ch. 32) and consequent renewal of the covenant (chs. 33–34). It is uncertain whether the tabernacle described here corresponds to any historical edifice.
25.2 Offering, from the Hebrew for “to raise,” unrelated to the term for sacrificial offerings, a “donation” (Num 15.19–21; Deut 12.6, 11, 17) to the priests and cult. You, plural, Israel at large.
25.3 Gold…bronze. Like descriptions of the tabernacle and its paraphernalia generally, the three metals are presented in descending order of value. The holier the object (the more immediately it impinges upon the divine presence), the more valuable the materials of which it is made.
25.4 Blue, purple, dyes fit for royalty (Esth 1.6; 8.15), taken from the sea (Ezek 27.7), a staple of Canaanite industry. Fine linen, an Egyptian export (Ezek 27.7), worn by nobility (Gen 41.42).
25.5 Tanned, lit. “reddened.” Fine leather, cognate to Akkadian (Mesopotamian Semitic) “dyed sheep/goat leat
her.” Acacia, found locally.
25.6 Oil, of olives (27.20). Spices. See 30.23–38. Incense. See 30.34–38.
25.7 Onyx. Cf. Gen 2.12; Ezek 28.13. Ephod. See 28.6–14. Breastpiece. See 28.15–30.
25.8 Cf. 29.43–46.
25.9 Pattern, structural design, from the Hebrew “to build.” Ascribing a temple’s blueprint to its god is attested too in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
25.10–22 That the Lord sits between and above two cherubim in the manner of ancient Near Eastern kings indicates that the ark is the divine throne or its footstool; cf. Ps 99.1.
25.10 Ark, lit. “box, chest,” not the Hebrew term translated “ark” in Gen 6.14 (see note on 2.3).
25.11 Molding, an ornamented ridge.
25.12 Feet, bottom corners. Side, the shorter side, so that the divine presence always faces forward; the poles, which are never removed (v. 15), are perpendicular to the ark’s length (cf. 1 Kings 8.8).
25.15 Once the tablets of the covenant (vv. 16, 21) are deposited in it (40.20), the ark itself becomes too holy to handle (see 2 Sam 6.6–7).
25.16 Covenant, the Ten Commandments (31.18).
25.17 Pure gold, solid gold, not plated like the rest of the ark, because God sits directly above it (cf. note on 25.3).
25.18 Cherubim, winged sphinxes with the body of a bull or lion and a human head; representations of these creatures are abundant in the archaeological evidence. Cf. Ezek 1; 10; 41.18–20; cf. the size and position of the cherubim in 1 Kings 6.23–28. These hybrid creatures represent the various animal powers over which God has control; cf. Gen 3.24; Ps 18.10.
25.20 Spread, to support the divine presence; cf. Ezek 1.11. Overshadowing, “screening over,” so that the entire divine presence is seated above the lid (mercy seat).
25.22 Meet. See note on 25.1–31.18. I will…commands, lit. “I will speak with you all I will command you” cf. Num 7.89.
25.23 For the table ’s placement, see 26.35.
25.25 Rim, more precisely “frame” the area between it and the molding above it gives a sunken look, described by the historian Josephus and depicted on the Arch of Titus (70 CE).
25.27 That hold the poles, lit. “for houses for the poles,” a rhyming phrase in Hebrew.
25.29 For incense, added in translation, assuming that this is the purpose of the dishes (cf. Lev 24.7). With which, or “into which.” To pour, or “can be poured” in fact no liquid is poured into or out of these (cf. 30.9). Drink offerings, added in translation.
25.30 Bread, laid out for presentation but consumed by the priests (Lev 24.5–9; 1 Sam 21.1–6). Since the deity does not eat or drink, setting the table is a show of hospitality. Presence, lit. “face” (cf. note on 23.15). Always, rather “regularly” (as in 27.20), every sabbath (Lev 24.8; 1 Chr 9.32).
25.31 For the placement of the lampstand, see 26.35. Pure, solid. Calyxes, “capitals” in Am 9.1. Petals, “flowers.”
25.32 Branches, translated shaft in v. 31.
25.34 Itself, the center shaft.
25.37 Shall be set, lit. “he (Aaron) shall set,” every evening (30.8), treating the deity like a royal guest.
25.38 Snuffers, “tongs” for adjusting the wicks and removing their charred remains.
25.39 Talent, an “ingot” weighing 3, 000 shekels.
EXODUS 26
The Tabernacle
1Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and crimson yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be of the same size. 3Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. 4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be one whole.
7You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains. 8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall be of the same size. 9You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent. 10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.
11You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together, so that it may be one whole. 12The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13The cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. 14You shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather.a
The Framework
15You shall make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the width of each frame. 17There shall be two pegs in each frame to fit the frames together; you shall make these for all the frames of the tabernacle. 18You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; 19and you shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under the first frame for its two pegs, and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs; 20and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames, 21and their forty bases of silver, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame; 22and for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. 23You shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear; 24they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring; it shall be the same with both of them; they shall form the two corners. 25And so there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.
26You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 27and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 28The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall pass through from end to end. 29You shall overlay the frames with gold, and shall make their rings of gold to hold the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.
The Curtain
31You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, which have hooks of gold and rest on four bases of silver. 33You shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and bring the ark of the covenantb in there, within the curtain; and the curtain shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. 34You shall put the mercy seatc on the ark of the covenantd in the most holy place. 35You shall set the table outside the curtain, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the north side.
36You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth
c Or the cover
d Or treaty, or testi
mony; Heb eduth
26.1–14 Four layers cover the frame of the tabernacle, the “dwelling” proper (not including the courtyard and its altar).
26.1 Ten. Segmenting the curtain facilitates transport. Curtains, to be laid over the top of the structure along the shorter side. Cherubim. See note on 25.18. The design of the bottommost curtain is visible only on the inside. Skillfully worked into them, lit. “the work of a designer” (cf. 35.32), woven in.
26.2 Twenty-eight. This decorative curtain is a cubit off the ground on both ends. Four, making the total length of all ten 40, covering the 30-cubit length of the tabernacle and overlapping the front and back (vv. 12–13).
26.4 Set, in Hebrew cognate to join in v. 3.
26.6 Whole, added in translation.
26.7 The goats’ hair was woven into a heavy cloth, a practice still current among Bedouin. Tent, a cover for the curtain beneath. Eleven. The extra length (cf. v. 1) makes a portal (v. 9).
26.11 Bronze. See note on 25.3.
26.12 Part, more precisely “extension,” cognate to hang over.
26.14 Fine leather. See note on 25.6. The two outer layers are weatherproofing.
26.15 Upright frames, “planks,” which, placed side by side, form the 10-by-30-cubit structure.
26.17 Pegs, tenons on the bottom edge to be inserted into the bases (v. 19). To fit the frames together, rather “each (peg) parallel to the other,” perpendicular to the bottom edge of the plank.
26.18 South, lit. “toward the Negeb, southward,” an orientation assuming a setting in the land of Israel.
26.19 Bases, sockets. Silver. See note on 25.3.
26.22 Westward, lit. “toward the (Mediterranean) sea” see notes on 26.18; 10.19.
26.23 Corners, to enclose the open space left by the six planks in the rear, which cover only 9 cubits of the length.
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