2 Chronicles 3:8

3:8 He made the most holy place; ¹  its length was 30 feet, ²  corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. ³  He plated it with 600 talents ⁴  of fine gold.

2 Chronicles 5:7

5:7 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned ⁵  place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place under the wings of the cherubs.

Exodus 26:33-34

26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. ⁶  The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. ⁷  26:34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.

Exodus 26:1

The Tabernacle

26:1 ⁸ “The tabernacle itself ⁹  you are to make with ¹⁰  ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; ¹¹  you are to make them with ¹²  cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer.

Exodus 6:19-20

6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.

6:20 Amram married ¹³  his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.)

Hebrews 9:2-8

9:2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one, ¹⁴  which contained ¹⁵  the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this ¹⁶  is called the holy place. 9:3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies. 9:4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark ¹⁷  were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 9:5 And above the ark ¹⁸  were the cherubim ¹⁹  of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. 9:6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent ²⁰  as they perform their duties. 9:7 But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, ²¹  and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. ²²  9:8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle ²³  was standing.

Hebrews 9:23-24

9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches ²⁴  of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, ²⁵  but the heavenly things themselves required ²⁶  better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ²⁷  of the true sanctuary ²⁸  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

[3:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of the holy place of holy places.”

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), this would give a length of 30 feet (9 m).

[3:8]  ³ tc Heb “twenty cubits.” Some suggest adding, “and its height twenty cubits” (see 1 Kgs 6:20). The phrase could have been omitted by homoioteleuton.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold plating was 40,380 lbs. (18,360 kg).

[5:7]  ⁵ tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[26:33]  ⁶ tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

[26:33]  ⁷ tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

[26:1]  ⁸ sn This chapter is given over to the details of the structure itself, the curtains, coverings, boards and walls and veil. The passage can be studied on one level for its function both practically and symbolically for Israel’s worship. On another level it can be studied for its typology, for the tabernacle and many of its parts speak of Christ. For this one should see the commentaries.

[26:1]  ⁹ tn The word order in Hebrew thrusts the direct object to the front for particular emphasis. After the first couple of pieces of furniture are treated (chap. 25), attention turns to the tabernacle itself.

[26:1]  ¹⁰ tn This is for the adverbial accusative explaining how the dwelling place is to be made.

[26:1]  ¹¹ sn S. R. Driver suggests that the curtains were made with threads dyed with these colors (Exodus, 280). Perhaps the colored threads were used for embroidering the cherubim in the curtains.

[26:1]  ¹² tn The construction is difficult in this line because of the word order. “Cherubim” is an adverbial accusative explaining how they were to make the curtains. And מַעֲשֵׂה חֹשֵׁב (ma’aseh khoshev) means literally “work of a designer”; it is in apposition to “cherubim.” The Hebrew participle means “designer” or “deviser” so that one could render this “of artistic designs in weaving” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 280-81). B. Jacob says that it refers to “artistic weavers” (Exodus, 789).

[6:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “took for a wife” (also in vv. 23, 25).

[9:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the first,” in order of approach in the ritual.

[9:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in which [were].”

[9:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “which,” describing the outer tent.

[9:4]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “above it”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁹ sn The cherubim (pl.) were an order of angels mentioned repeatedly in the OT but only here in the NT. They were associated with God’s presence, glory, and holiness. Their images that sat on top of the ark of the covenant are described in Exod 25:18-20.

[9:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the first tent.”

[9:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “the second tent.”

[9:7]  ²² tn Or perhaps “the unintentional sins of the people”; Grk “the ignorances of the people.” Cf. BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνόημα, “sin committed in ignorance/unintentionally.” This term seems to be simply a synonym for “sins” (cf. Heb 5:2) and does not pick up the distinction made in Num 15:22-31 between unwitting sin and “high-handed” sin. The Day of Atonement ritual in Lev 16 covered all the sins of the people, not just the unwitting ones.

[9:8]  ²³ tn Grk “the first tent.” The literal phrase “the first tent” refers to either (1) the outer chamber of the tabernacle in the wilderness (as in vv. 2, 6) or (2) the entire tabernacle as a symbol of the OT system of approaching God. The second is more likely given the contrast that follows in vv. 11-12.

[9:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

[9:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

[9:23]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

[9:24]  ²⁷ tn Or “prefiguration.”

[9:24]  ²⁸ tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.