Exodus 25:4

25:4 blue, ¹  purple, ²  scarlet, ³  fine linen, ⁴  goat’s hair, ⁵ 

Exodus 35:6

35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair,

Exodus 12:5

12:5 Your lamb must be ⁶  perfect, ⁷  a male, one year old; ⁸  you may take ⁹  it from the sheep or from the goats.

Exodus 26:7

26:7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair ¹⁰  for a tent over the tabernacle; ¹¹  you are to make ¹²  eleven curtains.

Exodus 35:26

35:26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled ¹³  spun goats’ hair.

Exodus 36:14

36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. ¹⁴ 

Exodus 35:23

35:23 Everyone who had ¹⁵  blue, purple, or ¹⁶  scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather ¹⁷  brought them. ¹⁸ 

[25:4]  ¹ sn The blue refers to dye made from shellfish. It has a dark blue or purple-blue, almost violet color. No significance for the color is attached.

[25:4]  ² sn Likewise this color dye was imported from Phoenicia, where it was harvested from the shellfish or snail. It is a deep purple-red color.

[25:4]  ³ sn This color is made from the eggs and bodies of the worm coccus ilicus, which is found with the holly plant – so Heb “worm of brilliance.” The powder made from the dried maggots produces a bright red-yellow color (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:452). B. Jacob takes the view that these are not simply colors that are being introduced here, but fabrics dyed with these colors (Exodus, 765). At any rate, the sequence would then be metals, fabrics, and leathers (v. 5).

[25:4]  ⁴ sn This is generally viewed as a fine Egyptian linen that had many more delicate strands than ordinary linen.

[25:4]  ⁵ sn Goat’s hair was spun into yarn (35:26) and used to make the material for the first tent over the dwelling. It is ideal for tenting, since it is loosely woven and allows breezes to pass through, but with rain the fibers expand and prevent water from seeping through.

[12:5]  ⁶ tn The construction has: “[The] lamb…will be to you.” This may be interpreted as a possessive use of the lamed, meaning, “[the] lamb…you have” (your lamb) for the Passover. In the context instructing the people to take an animal for this festival, the idea is that the one they select, their animal, must meet these qualifications.

[12:5]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect” or “whole” or “complete” in the sense of not having blemishes and diseases – no physical defects. The rules for sacrificial animals applied here (see Lev 22:19-21; Deut 17:1).

[12:5]  ⁸ tn The idiom says “a son of a year” (בֶּן־שָׁנָה, ben shanah), meaning a “yearling” or “one year old” (see GKC 418 §128.v).

[12:5]  ⁹ tn Because a choice is being given in this last clause, the imperfect tense nuance of permission should be used. They must have a perfect animal, but it may be a sheep or a goat. The verb’s object “it” is supplied from the context.

[26:7]  ¹¹ sn This chapter will show that there were two sets of curtains and two sets of coverings that went over the wood building to make the tabernacle or dwelling place. The curtains of fine linen described above could be seen only by the priests from inside. Above that was the curtain of goats’ hair. Then over that were the coverings, an inner covering of rams’ skins dyed red and an outer covering of hides of fine leather. The movement is from the inside to the outside because it is God’s dwelling place; the approach of the worshiper would be the opposite. The pure linen represented the righteousness of God, guarded by the embroidered cherubim; the curtain of goats’ hair was a reminder of sin through the daily sin offering of a goat; the covering of rams’ skins dyed red was a reminder of the sacrifice and the priestly ministry set apart by blood, and the outer covering marked the separation between God and the world. These are the interpretations set forth by Kaiser; others vary, but not greatly (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:459).

[26:7]  ¹² sn This curtain will serve “for a tent over the tabernacle,” as a dwelling place.

[26:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “you will make them”

[35:26]  ¹⁶ tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.

[36:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”

[35:23]  ²⁶ tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.”

[35:23]  ²⁷ tn The conjunction in this verse is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had.

[35:23]  ²⁸ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[35:23]  ²⁹ tn Here “them” has been supplied.