Text -- Exodus 37:21-29 (NET)

37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it. 37:22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece; all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold. 37:23 He made its seven lamps, its trimmers, and its trays of pure gold. 37:24 He made the lampstand and all its accessories with seventy-five pounds of pure gold.

The Making of the Altar of Incense

37:25 He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half– a square– and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it. 37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold– its top, its four walls, and its horns– and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:27 He also made two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, as places for poles to carry it with. 37:28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 37:29 He made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Exo 37:21

¹ tn As in Exod 26:35, the translation of “first” and “next” and “third” is interpretive, because the text simply says “under two branches” in each of three places.

NET Notes: Exo 37:22

¹ tn Heb “were from it.”

NET Notes: Exo 37:24

¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the lampstand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Exo 37:25

¹ tn Heb “from it were its horns,” meaning that they were made from the same piece.

NET Notes: Exo 37:26

¹ tn Heb “roof.”

² tn Heb “its walls around.”

³ tn Heb “and he made for it border gold around.”

NET Notes: Exo 37:27

¹ tn Heb “and he made.”

² sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second mention of their location clarifies that they should be on the sides, the right and the left, as one approached the altar.

³ tn Heb “for houses.”