Exodus 23:12

23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help ¹  may refresh themselves. ² 

Exodus 24:16

24:16 The glory of the Lord resided ³  on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. ⁴  On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.

Exodus 25:32

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 

Exodus 26:9

26:9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over ⁷  the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.

Exodus 26:25

26:25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.

Exodus 31:15

31:15 Six days ⁸  work may be done, ⁹  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ¹⁰  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

Exodus 35:2

35:2 In six days ¹¹  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ¹²  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ¹³  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.

Exodus 36:30

36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

Exodus 37:18

37:18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it.

[23:12]  ¹ tn Heb “alien,” or “resident foreigner.” Such an individual would have traveled out of need and depended on the goodwill of the people around him. The rendering “hired help” assumes that the foreigner is mentioned in this context because he is working for an Israelite and will benefit from the Sabbath rest, along with his employer.

[23:12]  ² tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[24:16]  ³ sn The verb is וַיִּשְׁכֹּן (vayyishkon, “and dwelt, abode”). From this is derived the epithet “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory (B. Jacob, Exodus, 749). The verb, according to U. Cassuto (Exodus, 316), also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan). The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them, a completion that is authenticated with the miraculous. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the NT the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds.

[24:16]  ⁴ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

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

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

[26:9]  ⁷ sn The text seems to describe this part as being in front of the tabernacle, hanging down to form a valence at the entrance (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 284).

[31:15]  ⁹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

[31:15]  ¹⁰ tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

[31:15]  ¹¹ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.

[35:2]  ¹¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ¹² tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”

[35:2]  ¹³ sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.