Exodus 25:28-30

25:28 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them. ¹  25:29 You are to make its plates, ²  its ladles, ³  its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; ⁴  you are to make them of pure gold. 25:30 You are to set the Bread of the Presence ⁵  on the table before me continually.

¹ tn The verb is a Niphal perfect with vav consecutive, showing here the intended result: “so that [the table] might be lifted up [by them].” The noun “the table” is introduced by what looks like the sign of the accusative, but here it serves to introduce or emphasize the nominative (see GKC 365 §117.i).

² tn Or “a deep gold dish.” The four nouns in this list are items associated with the table and its use.

³ tn Or “cups” (NAB, TEV).

⁴ tn The expression “for pouring out offerings” represents Hebrew אֲשֶׁר יֻסַּךְ בָּהֵן (’asher yussakh bahen). This literally says, “which it may be poured out with them,” or “with which [libations] may be poured out.”

⁵ sn The name basically means that the bread is to be set out in the presence of Yahweh. The custom of presenting bread on a table as a thank offering is common in other cultures as well. The bread here would be placed on the table as a symbol of the divine provision for the twelve tribes – continually, because they were to express their thanksgiving continually. Priests could eat the bread after certain times. Fresh bread would be put there regularly.