Exodus 25:2

25:2 “Tell the Israelites to take ¹  an offering ²  for me; from every person motivated by a willing ³  heart you ⁴  are to receive my offering.

Exodus 29:24

29:24 You are to put all these ⁵  in Aaron’s hands ⁶  and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering ⁷  before the Lord.

Exodus 35:22

35:22 They came, men and women alike, ⁸  all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, ⁹  and everyone came who waved ¹⁰  a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

[25:2]  ¹ tn The verb is וְיִקְחוּ (vÿyiqkhu), the Qal imperfect or jussive with vav; after the imperative “speak” this verb indicates the purpose or result: “speak…that they may take” and continues with the force of a command.

[25:2]  ² tn The “offering” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah) is perhaps better understood as a contribution since it was a freewill offering. There is some question about the etymology of the word. The traditional meaning of “heave-offering” derives from the idea of “elevation,” a root meaning “to be high” lying behind the word. B. Jacob says it is something sorted out of a mass of material and designated for a higher purpose (Exodus, 765). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 263) corrects the idea of “heave-offering” by relating the root to the Hiphil form of that root, herim, “to lift” or “take off.” He suggests the noun means “what is taken off” from a larger mass and so designated for sacred purposes. The LXX has “something taken off.”

[25:2]  ³ tn The verb יִדְּבֶנּוּ (yiddÿvennu) is related to the word for the “freewill offering” (נְדָבָה, nÿdavah). The verb is used of volunteering for military campaigns (Judg 5:2, 9) and the willing offerings for both the first and second temples (see 1 Chr 29:5, 6, 9, 14, 17).

[25:2]  ⁴ tn The pronoun is plural.

[29:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “the whole” or “the all.”

[29:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “palms.”

[29:24]  ⁷ tn The “wave offering” is תְּנוּפָה (tÿnufah); it is, of course, cognate with the verb, but an adverbial accusative rather than the direct object. In Lev 23 this seems to be a sacrificial gesture of things that are for the priests – but they present them first to Yahweh and then receive them back from him. So the waving is not side to side, but forward to Yahweh and then back to the priest. Here it is just an induction into that routine, since this is the ordination of the priests and the gifts are not yet theirs. So this will all be burned on the altar.

[35:22]  ⁸ tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).

[35:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “all gold utensils.”

[35:22]  ¹⁰ tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.