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 39:34

39:34 and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, ⁸  and the protecting ⁹  curtain;

Exodus 35:23

35:23 Everyone who had ¹⁰  blue, purple, or ¹¹  scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather ¹²  brought them. ¹³ 

Exodus 29:14

29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ¹⁴  outside the camp. ¹⁵  It is the purification offering. ¹⁶ 

Exodus 34:30

34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; ¹⁷  and they were afraid to approach him.

Exodus 22:27

22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. ¹⁸  What else can he sleep in? ¹⁹  And ²⁰  when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

Exodus 34:29

The Radiant Face of Moses

34:29 ²¹ Now when Moses came down ²²  from Mount Sinai with ²³  the two tablets of the testimony in his hand ²⁴  – when he came down ²⁵  from the mountain, Moses ²⁶  did not know that the skin of his face shone ²⁷  while he talked with him.

Exodus 34:35

34:35 When the Israelites would see ²⁸  the face of Moses, that ²⁹  the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord. ³⁰ 

[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.

[39:34]  ¹³ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[39:34]  ¹⁴ tn Or “shielding” (NIV); NASB “the screening veil.”

[35:23]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[35:23]  ¹⁹ tn Here “them” has been supplied.

[29:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ²⁰ sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ²¹ sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.

[34:30]  ²² tn This clause is introduced by the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh); it has the force of pointing to something surprising or sudden.

[22:27]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his skin.”

[22:27]  ²⁶ tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.

[22:27]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[34:29]  ²⁸ sn Now, at the culmination of the renewing of the covenant, comes the account of Moses’ shining face. It is important to read this in its context first, holding off on the connection to Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians. There is a delicate balance here in Exodus. On the one hand Moses’ shining face served to authenticate the message, but on the other hand Moses prevented the people from seeing more than they could handle. The subject matter in the OT, then, is how to authenticate the message. The section again can be subdivided into three points that develop the whole idea: I. The one who spends time with God reflects his glory (29-30). It will not always be as Moses; rather, the glory of the Lord is reflected differently today, but nonetheless reflected. II. The glory of Yahweh authenticates the message (31-32). III. The authentication of the message must be used cautiously with the weak and immature (33-35).

[34:29]  ²⁹ tn The temporal clause is composed of the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), followed by the temporal preposition, infinitive construct, and subjective genitive (“Moses”).

[34:29]  ³⁰ tn The second clause begins with “and/now”; it is a circumstantial clause explaining that the tablets were in his hand. It repeats the temporal clause at the end.

[34:29]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the hand of Moses.”

[34:29]  ³² tn The temporal clause parallels the first temporal clause; it uses the same infinitive construct, but now with a suffix referring to Moses.

[34:29]  ³³ tn Heb “and Moses.”

[34:29]  ³⁴ tn The word קָרַן (qaran) is derived from the noun קֶרֶן (qeren) in the sense of a “ray of light” (see Hab 3:4). Something of the divine glory remained with Moses. The Greek translation of Aquila and the Latin Vulgate convey the idea that he had horns, the primary meaning of the word from which this word is derived. Some have tried to defend this, saying that the glory appeared like horns or that Moses covered his face with a mask adorned with horns. But in the text the subject of the verb is the skin of Moses’ face (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 449).

[34:35]  ³¹ tn Now the perfect tense with vav consecutive is subordinated to the next clause, “Moses returned the veil….”

[34:35]  ³² tn Verbs of seeing often take two accusatives. Here, the second is the noun clause explaining what it was about the face that they saw.

[34:35]  ³³ tn Heb “with him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.