Exodus 26:7-8

26:7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair ¹  for a tent over the tabernacle; ²  you are to make ³  eleven curtains. 26:8 The length of each ⁴  curtain is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet – the same size for the eleven curtains.

Numbers 4:25

4:25 They must carry the curtains for the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is over it, the curtains for the entrance of the tent of meeting,

Numbers 4:2

4:2 “Take a census ⁵  of the Kohathites from among the Levites, by their families and by their clans,

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ⁶  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ⁷  the numbering.

Numbers 7:1

The Leader’s Offerings

7:1 ⁸ When Moses had completed setting up the tabernacle, ⁹  he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and he anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils.

Numbers 17:1

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17:1 ¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses:

[26:7]  ¹ 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]  ² sn This curtain will serve “for a tent over the tabernacle,” as a dwelling place.

[26:7]  ³ tn Heb “you will make them”

[26:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “one”

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “lift up the head.” The form נָשֹׂא (naso’) is the Qal infinitive absolute functioning here as a pure verb form. This serves to emphasize the basic verbal root idea (see GKC 346 §113.bb).

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[7:2]  ⁷ tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.

[7:1]  ⁸ sn This long and repetitious chapter has several parts to it: the introduction (vv. 1-3), the assigning of gifts (vv. 4-9), the time of presentation (vv. 10-11), and then the tribes (vv. 12-83), and then a summary (vv. 84-89).

[7:1]  ⁹ tn The construction of this line begins with the temporal indicator (traditionally translated “and it came to pass”) and then after the idiomatic “in the day of” (= “when”) uses the Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah). The infinitive is governed by the subjective genitive, “Moses,” the formal subject of the clause. The object of the infinitive is the second infinitive, “to set up” (לְהָקִים, lÿhaqim). This infinitive, the Hiphil, serves as the direct object, answering the question of what it was that Moses completed. The entire clause is an adverbial clause of time.

[17:1]  ¹⁰ sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.