Exodus 27:16-21

27:16 For the gate of the courtyard there is to be a curtain of thirty feet, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four posts and their four bases. 27:17 All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands; ¹  their hooks are to be ²  silver, and their bases bronze. 27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet ³  and the width seventy-five feet, ⁴  and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings ⁵  is to be ⁶  seven and a half feet, with their bronze bases. 27:19 All ⁷  the utensils of the tabernacle used ⁸  in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze. ⁹ 

Offering the Oil

27:20 “You are to command the Israelites that they bring ¹⁰  to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps ¹¹  will burn ¹²  regularly. ¹³  27:21 In the tent of meeting ¹⁴  outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from evening ¹⁵  to morning before the Lord. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come. ¹⁶ 

[27:17]  ¹ tn The text uses the passive participle here: they are to “be filleted with silver” or “bound round” with silver.

[27:17]  ² tn Here the phrase “are to be” has been supplied.

[27:18]  ³ tn Heb “a hundred cubits.”

[27:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “fifty.” The text has “and the width fifty [cubits] with fifty.” This means that it is fifty cubits wide on the western end and fifty cubits wide on the eastern end.

[27:18]  ⁵ tn Here “hangings” has been supplied.

[27:18]  ⁶ tn Here the phrase “is to be” has been supplied.

[27:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “to all”; for use of the preposition lamed (ל) to show inclusion (all belonging to) see GKC 458 §143.e.

[27:19]  ⁸ tn Here “used” has been supplied.

[27:19]  ⁹ sn The tabernacle is an important aspect of OT theology. The writer’s pattern so far has been: ark, table, lamp, and then their container (the tabernacle); then the altar and its container (the courtyard). The courtyard is the place of worship where the people could gather – they entered God’s courts. Though the courtyard may not seem of much interest to current readers, it did interest the Israelites. Here the sacrifices were made, the choirs sang, the believers offered their praises, they had their sins forgiven, they came to pray, they appeared on the holy days, and they heard from God. It was sacred because God met them there; they left the “world” (figuratively speaking) and came into the very presence of God.

[27:20]  ¹⁰ tn The form is the imperfect tense with the vav showing a sequence with the first verb: “you will command…that they take.” The verb “take, receive” is used here as before for receiving an offering and bringing it to the sanctuary.

[27:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lamp,” which must be a collective singular here.

[27:20]  ¹² tn The verb is unusual; it is the Hiphil infinitive construct of עָלָה (’alah), with the sense here of “to set up” to burn, or “to fix on” as in Exod 25:37, or “to kindle” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 370).

[27:20]  ¹³ sn The word can mean “continually,” but in this context, as well as in the passages on the sacrifices, “regularly” is better, since each morning things were cleaned and restored.

[27:21]  ¹⁴ tn The LXX has mistakenly rendered this name “the tent of the testimony.”

[27:21]  ¹⁵ sn The lamps were to be removed in the morning so that the wicks could be trimmed and the oil replenished (30:7) and then lit every evening to burn through the night.

[27:21]  ¹⁶ sn This is the first of several sections of priestly duties. The point is a simple one here: those who lead the worship use the offerings of the people to ensure that access to God is illumined regularly. The NT will make much of the symbolism of light.