Exodus 25:5

25:5 ram skins dyed red, ¹  fine leather, ²  acacia ³  wood,

Exodus 35:7

35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, ⁴  acacia wood,

Exodus 26:14

26:14 “You are to make a covering ⁵  for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. ⁶ 

Exodus 36:19

36:19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. ⁷ 

Exodus 35:23

35:23 Everyone who had ⁸  blue, purple, or ⁹  scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather ¹⁰  brought them. ¹¹ 

[25:5]  ¹ sn W. C. Kaiser compares this to morocco leather (“Exodus,” EBC 2:453); it was skin that had all the wool removed and then was prepared as leather and dyed red. N. M. Sarna, on the other hand, comments, “The technique of leather production is never described [in ancient Hebrew texts]. Hence, it is unclear whether Hebrew me’oddamim (מְאָדָּמִים), literally ‘made red,’ refers to the tanning or dyeing process” (Exodus [JPSTC], 157).

[25:5]  ² tn The meaning of the word תְּחָשִׁים (tÿkhashim) is debated. The Arabic tuhas or duhas is a dolphin, and so some think a sea animal is meant – something like a dolphin or porpoise (cf. NASB; ASV “sealskins”; NIV “hides of sea cows”). Porpoises are common in the Red Sea; their skins are used for clothing by the bedouin. The word has also been connected to an Egyptian word for “leather” (ths); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 265. Some variation of this is followed by NRSV (“fine leather”) and NLT (“fine goatskin leather”). Another suggestion connects this word to an Akkadian one that describes a precious stone that is yellow or ornge and also leather died with the color of this stone (N. M. Sarna, Exodus [JPSTC], 157-58).

[25:5]  ³ sn The wood of the acacia is darker and harder than oak, and so very durable.

[35:7]  ⁴ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[26:14]  ⁷ sn Two outer coverings made of stronger materials will be put over the tent and the curtain, the two inner layers.

[26:14]  ⁸ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[36:19]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[35:23]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[35:23]  ¹⁶ tn Here “them” has been supplied.