Exodus 25:23-30

The Table for the Bread of the Presence

25:23 ¹ “You are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. 25:24 You are to overlay it with ²  pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it. 25:25 You are to make a surrounding frame ³  for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 25:26 You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach ⁴  the rings at the four corners where its four legs are. ⁵  25:27 The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places ⁶  for the poles to carry the table. 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. ⁷  25:29 You are to make its plates, ⁸  its ladles, ⁹  its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; ¹⁰  you are to make them of pure gold. 25:30 You are to set the Bread of the Presence ¹¹  on the table before me continually.

Exodus 37:10-16

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 ¹²  plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.

Exodus 37:1

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches.

Exodus 7:1

7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God ¹³  to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 25:6

25:6 The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. ¹⁵ 

At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine –

tender meat and choicest wine. ¹⁶ 

Ezekiel 44:16

44:16 They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge.

Malachi 1:12

1:12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings ¹⁷  despicable.

Malachi 1:1

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. ¹⁸  The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: ¹⁹ 

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²⁰  minds ²¹  as expressed through ²²  your evil deeds,

[25:23]  ¹ sn The Table of the Bread of the Presence (Tyndale’s translation, “Shewbread,” was used in KJV and influenced ASV, NAB) was to be a standing acknowledgment that Yahweh was the giver of daily bread. It was called the “presence-bread” because it was set out in his presence. The theology of this is that God provides, and the practice of this is that the people must provide for constant thanks. So if the ark speaks of communion through atonement, the table speaks of dedicatory gratitude.

[25:24]  ² tn “Gold” is an adverbial accusative of material.

[25:25]  ³ sn There is some debate as to the meaning of מִסְגֶּרֶת (misgeret). This does not seem to be a natural part of the table and its legs. The drawing on the Arch of Titus shows two cross-stays in the space between the legs, about halfway up. It might have been nearer the top, but the drawing of the table of presence-bread from the arch shows it half-way up. This frame was then decorated with the molding as well.

[25:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “give.”

[25:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “which [are] to four of its feet.”

[25:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “houses”; NAB, NASB “holders.”

[25:28]  ⁷ 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).

[25:29]  ⁸ tn Or “a deep gold dish.” The four nouns in this list are items associated with the table and its use.

[25:29]  ⁹ tn Or “cups” (NAB, TEV).

[25:29]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[25:30]  ¹¹ 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.

[37:16]  ¹² tn The suffixes on these could also indicate the indirect object (see Exod 25:29).

[7:1]  ¹³ tn The word “like” is added for clarity, making explicit the implied comparison in the statement “I have made you God to Pharaoh.” The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is used a few times in the Bible for humans (e.g., Pss 45:6; 82:1), and always clearly in the sense of a subordinate to GOD – they are his representatives on earth. The explanation here goes back to 4:16. If Moses is like God in that Aaron is his prophet, then Moses is certainly like God to Pharaoh. Only Moses, then, is able to speak to Pharaoh with such authority, giving him commands.

[7:1]  ¹⁴ tn The word נְבִיאֶךָ (nÿvi’ekha, “your prophet”) recalls 4:16. Moses was to be like God to Aaron, and Aaron was to speak for him. This indicates that the idea of a “prophet” was of one who spoke for God, an idea with which Moses and Aaron and the readers of Exodus are assumed to be familiar.

[25:6]  ¹⁵ sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”

[25:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will make for all the nations on this mountain a banquet of meats, a banquet of wine dregs, meats filled with marrow, dregs that are filtered.”

[1:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ’okhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “The burden.” The Hebrew term III מַשָּׂא (massa’), usually translated “oracle” or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא), is a technical term in prophetic literature introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content. The grammatical structure here suggests that the term stands alone (so NAB, NRSV) and is not to be joined with what follows, “the burden [or “revelation”] of” (so KJV, NASB, ESV).

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.” There is some question as to whether מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi) should be understood as a personal name (so almost all English versions) or as simply “my messenger” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew). Despite the fact that the word should be understood in the latter sense in 3:1 (where, however, it refers to a different person), to understand it that way here would result in the book being of anonymous authorship, a situation anomalous among all the prophetic literature of the OT.

[1:21]  ²⁰ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²¹ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²² tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.