Text -- Exodus 37:9-29 (NET)

37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the atonement lid.

The Making of the Table

37:10 He made the table of acacia wood; its length was three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 37:13 He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings at the four corners where its four legs were. 37:14 The rings were close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 37:15 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. 37:16 He made the vessels which were on the table out of pure gold, its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.

The Making of the Lampstand

37:17 He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece. 37:18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 37:19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the next branch, and the same for the six branches that were extending from the lampstand. 37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 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 37:9

¹ tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings” – “spreaders of wings.”

² tn “The cherubim” has been placed here instead of in the second clause to produce a smoother translation.

³ tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”

⁴ tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”

NET Notes: Exo 37:16

¹ tn The suffixes on these could also indicate the indirect object (see Exod 25:29).

NET Notes: Exo 37:17

¹ tn Heb “from it”; the referent (“the same piece” of wrought metal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Exo 37:19

¹ tn Heb “the one branch.” But the repetition of “one…one” means here one after another, or the “first” and then the “next.”

² tn Heb “thus for six branches….”

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.”