Exodus 25:31-39

The Lampstand

25:31 ¹ “You are to make a lampstand ²  of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, ³  its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece. ⁴  25:32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, ⁵  three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. ⁶  25:33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next ⁷  branch, and the same ⁸  for the six branches extending from the lampstand. 25:34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 25:35 with a bud under the first ⁹  two branches from it, and a bud under the next ¹⁰  two branches from it, and a bud under the third ¹¹  two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 25:36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece, ¹²  all of it one hammered piece of pure gold.

25:37 “You are to make its seven lamps, ¹³  and then set ¹⁴  its lamps up on it, so that it will give light ¹⁵  to the area in front of it. 25:38 Its trimmers and its trays ¹⁶  are to be ¹⁷  of pure gold. 25:39 About seventy-five pounds ¹⁸  of pure gold is to be used for it ¹⁹  and for all these utensils.

Exodus 25:1

The Materials for the Sanctuary

25:1 ²⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Exodus 7:1-2

7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God ²¹  to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ²²  7:2 You are to speak ²³  everything I command you, ²⁴  and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release ²⁵  the Israelites from his land.

Exodus 4:6-22

4:6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” ²⁶  So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand, ²⁷  leprous like snow! ²⁸  4:7 He said, “Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe – there it was, ²⁹  restored ³⁰  like the rest of his skin! ³¹  4:8 “If ³²  they do not believe you or pay attention to ³³  the former sign, then they may ³⁴  believe the latter sign. ³⁵  4:9 And if ³⁶  they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, ³⁷  then take ³⁸  some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” ³⁹ 

4:10 Then Moses said to the Lord, ⁴⁰  “O ⁴¹  my Lord, ⁴²  I am not an eloquent man, ⁴³  neither in the past ⁴⁴  nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” ⁴⁵ 

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ⁴⁶  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ⁴⁷  4:12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth ⁴⁸  and will teach you ⁴⁹  what you must say.” ⁵⁰ 

4:13 But Moses said, ⁵¹  “O ⁵²  my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!” ⁵³ 

4:14 Then the Lord became angry with ⁵⁴  Moses, and he said, “What about ⁵⁵  your brother Aaron the Levite? ⁵⁶  I know that he can speak very well. ⁵⁷  Moreover, he is coming ⁵⁸  to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. ⁵⁹ 

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth ⁶⁰  and with his mouth, ⁶¹  and I will teach you both ⁶²  what you must do. ⁶³  4:16 He ⁶⁴  will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if ⁶⁵  he ⁶⁶  were your mouth ⁶⁷  and as if you were his God. ⁶⁸  4:17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” ⁶⁹ 

The Return of Moses

4:18 ⁷⁰ So Moses went back ⁷¹  to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return ⁷²  to my relatives ⁷³  in Egypt and see ⁷⁴  if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 4:19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back ⁷⁵  to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ⁷⁶  4:20 Then Moses took ⁷⁷  his wife and sons ⁷⁸  and put them on a donkey and headed back ⁷⁹  to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 4:21 The Lord said ⁸⁰  to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, ⁸¹  see that you ⁸²  do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. ⁸³  But I will harden ⁸⁴  his heart ⁸⁵  and ⁸⁶  he will not let the people go. 4:22 You must say ⁸⁷  to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says ⁸⁸  the Lord, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, ⁸⁹ 

[25:31]  ¹ sn Clearly the point here is to provide light in the tent for access to God. He provided for his worshipers a light for the way to God, but he also wanted them to provide oil for the lamp to ensure that the light would not go out. Verses 31-36 describe the piece. It was essentially one central shaft, with three branches on either side turned out and upward. The stem and the branches were ornamented every so often with gold that was formed into the shape of the calyx and corolla of the almond flower. On top of the central shaft and the six branches were the lamps.

[25:31]  ² tn The word is מְנֹרָה (mÿnorah) – here in construct to a following genitive of material. The main piece was one lampstand, but there were seven lamps on the shaft and its branches. See E. Goodenough, “The Menorah among the Jews of the Roman World,” HUCA 23 (1950/51): 449-92.

[25:31]  ³ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 342-44) says that the description “the cups, knobs and flowers” is explained in vv. 32-36 as three decorations in the form of a cup, shaped like an almond blossom, to be made on one branch. Every cup will have two parts, (a) a knob, that is, the receptacle at the base of the blossom, and (b) a flower, which is called the corolla, so that each lamp rests on top of a flower.

[25:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be from/of it”; the referent (“the same piece” of wrought metal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the sides of it.”

[25:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the second side.”

[25:33]  ⁷ tn The text uses “one” again; “the one…the one” means “the one…and the next” in the distributive sense.

[25:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “thus.”

[25:35]  ⁹ tn For clarity the phrase “the first” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ¹⁰ tn For clarity the phrase “the next” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ¹¹ tn For clarity the phrase “the third” has been supplied.

[25:36]  ¹² tn Heb “will be from it.”

[25:37]  ¹³ tn The word for “lamps” is from the same root as the lampstand, of course. The word is נֵרוֹת (nerot). This probably refers to the small saucer-like pottery lamps that are made very simply with the rim pinched over to form a place to lay the wick. The bowl is then filled with olive oil as fuel.

[25:37]  ¹⁴ tn The translation “set up on” is from the Hebrew verb “bring up.” The construction is impersonal, “and he will bring up,” meaning “one will bring up.” It may mean that people were to fix the lamps on to the shaft and the branches, rather than cause the light to go up (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 277).

[25:37]  ¹⁵ tn This is a Hiphil perfect with vav consecutive, from אוֹר (’or, “light”), and in the causative, “to light, give light.”

[25:38]  ¹⁶ sn The first word refers to something like small tongs or tweezers used to pull up and trim the wicks; the second word refers to fire-pans or censers.

[25:38]  ¹⁷ tn “are to be” has been supplied.

[25:39]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a talent.”

[25:39]  ¹⁹ tn The text has “he will make it” or “one will make it.” With no expressed subject it is given a passive translation.

[25:1]  ²⁰ sn Now begin the detailed instructions for constructing the tabernacle of Yahweh, with all its furnishings. The first paragraph introduces the issue of the heavenly pattern for the construction, calls for the people to make willing offerings (vv. 2-7), and explains the purpose for these offerings (vv. 8-9). The message here is that God calls his people to offer of their substance willingly so that his sanctuary may be made.

[7:1]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.

[7:2]  ²³ tn The imperfect tense here should have the nuance of instruction or injunction: “you are to speak.” The subject is singular (Moses) and made emphatic by the presence of the personal pronoun “you.”

[7:2]  ²⁴ tn The phrase translated “everything I command you” is a noun clause serving as the direct object of the verb “speak.” The verb in the clause (אֲצַוֶּךָ, ’atsavvekha) is the Piel imperfect. It could be classified as a future: “everything that I will command you.” A nuance of progressive imperfect also fits well: “everything that I am commanding you.”

[7:2]  ²⁵ tn The form is וְשִׁלַּח (vÿshillakh), a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. Following the imperfects of injunction or instruction, this verb continues the sequence. It could be taken as equal to an imperfect expressing future (“and he will release”) or subordinate to express purpose (“to release” = “in order that he may release”).

[4:6]  ²⁶ tn The word חֵיק (kheq), often rendered “bosom,” refers to the front of the chest and a fold in the garment there where an item could be placed for carrying (see Prov 6:27; 16:33; 21:14). So “into your robe” should be understood loosely here and in v. 7 as referring to the inside of the top front of Moses’ garment. The inside chest pocket of a jacket is a rough modern equivalent.

[4:6]  ²⁷ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) points out the startling or amazing sight as if the reader were catching first glimpse of it with Moses.

[4:6]  ²⁸ sn This sudden skin disease indicated that God was able to bring such diseases on Egypt in the plagues and that only he could remove them. The whitening was the first stage of death for the diseased (Num 12:10; 2 Kgs 5:27). The Hebrew words traditionally rendered “leprous” or “leprosy,” as they are used in Lev 13 and 14, encompass a variety of conditions, not limited to the disease called leprosy and identified as Hansen’s disease in modern times.

[4:7]  ²⁹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) points out the startling or amazing sight as if the reader were catching first glimpse of it with Moses.

[4:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “it returned.”

[4:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “like his flesh.”

[4:8]  ³² tn Heb “and it will be if.”

[4:8]  ³³ tn Heb “listen to the voice of,” meaning listen so as to respond appropriately.

[4:8]  ³⁴ tn The nuance of this perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive will be equal to the imperfect of possibility – “they may believe.”

[4:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “believe the voice of the latter sign,” so as to understand and accept the meaning of the event.

[4:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and it will be if.”

[4:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “listen to your voice.”

[4:9]  ³⁸ tn The verb form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it functions then as the equivalent of the imperfect tense – here as an imperfect of instruction.

[4:9]  ³⁹ sn This is a powerful sign, for the Nile was always known as the source of life in Egypt, but now it will become the evidence of death. So the three signs were alike, each consisting of life and death. They would clearly anticipate the struggle with Egypt through the plagues. The point is clear that in the face of the possibility that people might not believe, the servants of God must offer clear proof of the power of God as they deliver the message of God. The rest is up to God.

[4:10]  ⁴⁰ sn Now Moses took up another line of argumentation, the issue of his inability to speak fluently (vv. 10-17). The point here is that God’s servants must yield themselves as instruments to God, the Creator. It makes no difference what character traits they have or what weaknesses they think they have (Moses manages to speak very well) if God is present. If the sovereign God has chosen them, then they have everything that God intended them to have.

[4:10]  ⁴¹ tn The word בִּי (bi) is a particle of entreaty; it seeks permission to speak and is always followed by “my lord” or “my Lord.” Often rendered “please,” it is “employed in petitions, complaints and excuses” (W. H. C. Propp, Exodus 1–18 [AB], 213).

[4:10]  ⁴² tn The designation in Moses’ address is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), a term of respect and deference such as “lord, master, sir” but pointed as it would be when it represents the tetragrammaton. B. Jacob says since this is the first time Moses spoke directly to Yahweh, he did so hesitatingly (Exodus, 87).

[4:10]  ⁴³ tn When a noun clause is negated with לֹא (lo’), rather than אֵין (’en), there is a special emphasis, since the force of the negative falls on a specific word (GKC 479 §152.d). The expression “eloquent man” is אִישׁ דְּבָרִים (’ish dÿvarim, “a man of words”). The genitive may indicate a man characterized by words or a man who is able to command or control words. Moses apparently is resigned to the fact that he can do the signs, but he knows the signs have to be explained.

[4:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “also from yesterday also from three days ago” or “neither since yesterday nor since before that” is idiomatic for “previously” or “in the past.”

[4:10]  ⁴⁵ tn The two expressions are כְבַד־פֶּה (khÿvad peh, “heavy of mouth”), and then כְבַד לָשׁוֹן (khÿvad lashon, “heavy of tongue”). Both use genitives of specification, the mouth and the tongue being what are heavy – slow. “Mouth” and “tongue” are metonymies of cause. Moses is saying that he has a problem speaking well. Perhaps he had been too long at the other side of the desert, or perhaps he was being a little dishonest. At any rate, he has still not captured the meaning of God’s presence. See among other works, J. H. Tigay, “‘Heavy of Mouth’ and ‘Heavy of Tongue’: On Moses’ Speech Difficulty,” BASOR 231 (1978): 57-67.

[4:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

[4:11]  ⁴⁷ sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

[4:12]  ⁴⁸ sn The promise of divine presence always indicates intervention (for blessing or cursing). Here it means that God would be working through the organs of speech to help Moses speak. See Deut 18:18; Jer 1:9.

[4:12]  ⁴⁹ sn The verb is וְהוֹרֵיתִיךָ (vÿhoretikha), the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. The form carries the instructional meaning because it follows the imperative “go.” In fact, there is a sequence at work here: “go…and/that I may teach you.” It is from יָרָה (yara), the same root behind תּוֹרָה (torah, “law”). This always referred to teaching either wisdom or revelation. Here Yahweh promises to teach Moses what to say.

[4:12]  ⁵⁰ tn The form is the imperfect tense. While it could be taken as a future (“what you will say”), an obligatory imperfect captures the significance better (“what you must say” or “what you are to say”). Not even the content of the message will be left up to Moses.

[4:13]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:13]  ⁵² tn The word בִּי (bi) is a particle of entreaty; it seeks permission to speak and is always followed by “Lord” or “my Lord.”

[4:13]  ⁵³ tn The text has simply שְׁלַח־נָא בְּיַד־תִּשְׁלָח (shÿlakh-na’ bÿyad tishlakh, “send by the hand you will send”). This is not Moses’ resignation to doing God’s will – it is his final attempt to avoid the call. It carries the force of asking God to send someone else. This is an example of an independent relative clause governed by the genitive: “by the hand of – whomever you will send” (see GKC 488-89 §155.n).

[4:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and the anger of Yahweh burned against.”

[4:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Is not” or perhaps “Is [there] not.”

[4:14]  ⁵⁶ sn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 29) suggests that the term “Levite” may refer to a profession rather than ancestry here, because both Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of Levi and there would be little point in noting that ancestry for Aaron. In thinking through the difficult problem of the identity of Levites, he cites McNeile as saying “the Levite” referred to one who had had official training as a priest (cf. Judg 17:7, where a member of the tribe of Judah was a Levite). If it was the duty of the priest to give “torah” – to teach – then some training in the power of language would have been in order.

[4:14]  ⁵⁷ tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive absolute and the Piel imperfect to express the idea that he spoke very well: דַבֵּר יְדַבֵּר (dabber yÿdabber).

[4:14]  ⁵⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle points to the imminent future; it means “he is about to come” or “here he is coming.”

[4:14]  ⁵⁹ sn It is unlikely that this simply means that as a brother he will be pleased to see Moses, for the narrative has no time for that kind of comment. It is interested in more significant things. The implication is that Aaron will rejoice because of the revelation of God to Moses and the plan to deliver Israel from bondage (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 93).

[4:15]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “I will help you speak.” The independent pronoun puts emphasis (“as for me”) on the subject (“I”).

[4:15]  ⁶¹ tn Or “and will help him speak.”

[4:15]  ⁶² tn The word “both” is supplied to convey that this object (“you”) and the subject of the next verb (“you must do”) are plural in the Hebrew text, referring to Moses and Aaron. In 4:16 “you” returns to being singular in reference to Moses.

[4:15]  ⁶³ tn The imperfect tense carries the obligatory nuance here as well. The relative pronoun with this verb forms a noun clause functioning as the direct object of “I will teach.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁴ tn The word “he” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[4:16]  ⁶⁵ tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity.

[4:16]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and it will be [that] he, he will be to you for a mouth,” or more simply, “he will be your mouth.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “he will be to you for a mouth.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁸ tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity. The word “you” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[4:17]  ⁶⁹ sn Mention of the staff makes an appropriate ending to the section, for God’s power (represented by the staff) will work through Moses. The applicable point that this whole section is making could be worded this way: The servants of God who sense their inadequacy must demonstrate the power of God as their sufficiency.

[4:18]  ⁷⁰ sn This last section of the chapter reports Moses’ compliance with the commission. It has four parts: the decision to return (18-20), the instruction (21-23), the confrontation with Yahweh (24-26), and the presentation with Aaron (27-31).

[4:18]  ⁷¹ tn The two verbs form a verbal hendiadys, the second verb becoming adverbial in the translation: “and he went and he returned” becomes “and he went back.”

[4:18]  ⁷² tn There is a sequence here with the two cohortative forms: אֵלְכָה נָּא וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elÿkhah nna’ vÿ’ashuva) – “let me go in order that I may return.”

[4:18]  ⁷³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[4:18]  ⁷⁴ tn This verb is parallel to the preceding cohortative and so also expresses purpose: “let me go that I may return…and that I may see.”

[4:19]  ⁷⁵ tn The text has two imperatives, “Go, return”; if these are interpreted as a hendiadys (as in the translation), then the second is adverbial.

[4:19]  ⁷⁶ sn The text clearly stated that Pharaoh sought to kill Moses; so this seems to be a reference to Pharaoh’s death shortly before Moses’ return. Moses was forty years in Midian. In the 18th dynasty, only Pharaoh Thutmose III had a reign of the right length (1504-1450 b.c.) to fit this period of Moses’ life. This would place Moses’ returning to Egypt near 1450 b.c., in the beginning of the reign of Amenhotep II, whom most conservatives identify as the pharaoh of the exodus. Rameses II, of course, had a very long reign (1304-1236). But if he were the one from whom Moses fled, then he could not be the pharaoh of the exodus, but his son would be – and that puts the date of the exodus after 1236, a date too late for anyone. See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 62.

[4:20]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “And Moses took.”

[4:20]  ⁷⁸ sn Only Gershom has been mentioned so far. The other son’s name will be explained in chapter 18. The explanation of Gershom’s name was important to Moses’ sojourn in Midian. The explanation of the name Eliezer fits better in the later chapter (18:2-4).

[4:20]  ⁷⁹ tn The verb would literally be rendered “and returned”; however, the narrative will record other happenings before he arrived in Egypt, so an ingressive nuance fits here – he began to return, or started back.

[4:21]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[4:21]  ⁸¹ tn The construction may involve a verbal hendiadys using the two infinitive forms: “when you go to return” (בְּלֶכְתְּךָ לָשׁוּב, bÿlekhtÿkha lashuv). The clause is temporal, subordinated to the instruction to do the signs. Therefore, its focus cannot be on going to return, i.e., preparing or beginning to return.

[4:21]  ⁸² tn The two verb forms in this section are the imperative (רְאֵה, rÿ’eh) followed by the perfect with the vav (וַעֲשִׂיתָם, va’asitam). The second could be coordinated and function as a second command: “see…and [then] do”; or it could be subordinated logically: “see…so that you do.” Some commentators who take the first option suggest that Moses was supposed to contemplate these wonders before doing them before Pharaoh. That does not seem as likely as the second interpretation reflected in the translation.

[4:21]  ⁸³ tn Or “in your power”; Heb “in your hand.”

[4:21]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “strengthen” (in the sense of making stubborn or obstinate). The text has the expression וַאֲנִי אֲחַזֵּק אֶת־לִבּוֹ (va’ani ’akhazzeq ’et-libbo), “I will make strong his will,” or “I will strengthen his resolve,” recognizing the “heart” as the location of decision making (see Prov 16:1, 9).

[4:21]  ⁸⁵ sn Here is the first mention of the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh. God first tells Moses he must do the miracles, but he also announces that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, as if working against Moses. It will help Moses to know that God is bringing about the resistance in order to bring a greater victory with greater glory. There is a great deal of literature on this, but see among the resources F. W. Danker, “Hardness of Heart: A Study in Biblical Thematic,” CTM 44 (1973): 89-100; R. R. Wilson, “The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart,” CBQ 41 (1979): 18-36; and R. B. Chisholm Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34.

[4:21]  ⁸⁶ tn Or “so that.”

[4:22]  ⁸⁷ tn The sequence of the instruction from God uses the perfect tense with vav (ו), following the preceding imperfects.

[4:22]  ⁸⁸ tn The instantaneous use of the perfect tense fits well with the prophetic announcement of what Yahweh said or says. It shows that the words given to the prophet are still binding.

[4:22]  ⁸⁹ sn The metaphor uses the word “son” in its connotation of a political dependent, as it was used in ancient documents to describe what was intended to be a loyal relationship with well-known privileges and responsibilities, like that between a good father and son. The word can mean a literal son, a descendant, a chosen king (and so, the Messiah), a disciple (in Proverbs), and here, a nation subject to God. If the people of Israel were God’s “son,” then they should serve him and not Pharaoh. Malachi reminds people that the Law said “a son honors his father,” and so God asked, “If I am a father, where is my honor?” (Mal 1:6).