Revelation 11:19

11:19 Then ¹  the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, ²  crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. ³ 

Exodus 25:21

25:21 You are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you.

Numbers 1:50

1:50 But appoint ⁴  the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, ⁵  over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry ⁶  the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they ⁷  must attend to it and camp around it. ⁸ 

Numbers 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ⁹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ¹⁰  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Matthew 27:51

27:51 Just then ¹¹  the temple curtain ¹²  was torn in two, from top to bottom. The ¹³  earth shook and the rocks were split apart.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence on events within the vision.

² tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

³ tn Although BDAG 1075 s.v. χάλαζα gives the meaning “hail” here, it is not clear whether the adjective μεγάλη (megalh) refers to the intensity of the storm or the size of the individual hailstones, or both.

⁴ tn The same verb translated “number” (פָּקַד, paqad) is now used to mean “appoint” (הַפְקֵד, hafqed), which focuses more on the purpose of the verbal action of numbering people. Here the idea is that the Levites were appointed to take care of the tabernacle. On the use of this verb with the Levites’ appointment, see M. Gertner, “The Masorah and the Levites,” VT 10 (1960): 252.

⁵ tn The Hebrew name used here is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan ha’edut). The tabernacle or dwelling place of the Lord was given this name because it was here that the tablets of the Law were kept. The whole shrine was therefore a reminder (הָעֵדוּת, a “warning sign” or “testimony”) of the stipulations of the covenant. For the ancient Near Eastern customs of storing the code in the sanctuaries, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King, 14-19, and idem, The Structure of Biblical Authority, 35-36. Other items were in the ark in the beginning, but by the days of Solomon only the tablets were there (1 Kgs 8:9).

⁶ tn The imperfect tense here is an obligatory imperfect telling that they are bound to do this since they are appointed for this specific task.

⁷ tn The addition of the pronoun before the verb is emphatic – they are the ones who are to attend to the tabernacle. The verb used is שָׁרַת (sharat) in the Piel, indicating that they are to serve, minister to, attend to all the details about this shrine.

⁸ tn Heb “the tabernacle.” The pronoun (“it”) was used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.

⁸ tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.

¹⁰ tn Grk “And behold.”

¹¹ tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.