Exodus 27:9-19

The Courtyard

27:9 “You are to make the courtyard ¹  of the tabernacle. For the south side ²  there are to be hangings ³  for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long for one side, ⁴  27:10 with ⁵  twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 27:11 Likewise ⁶  for its length on the north side, there are to be ⁷  hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands ⁸  on the posts. 27:12 The width of the court on the west side is to be seventy-five feet with hangings, with their ten posts and their ten bases. 27:13 The width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, is to be seventy-five feet. 27:14 The hangings on one side ⁹  of the gate are to be ¹⁰  twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 27:15 On the second side ¹¹  there are to be ¹²  hangings twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 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; ¹³  their hooks are to be ¹⁴  silver, and their bases bronze. 27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet ¹⁵  and the width seventy-five feet, ¹⁶  and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings ¹⁷  is to be ¹⁸  seven and a half feet, with their bronze bases. 27:19 All ¹⁹  the utensils of the tabernacle used ²⁰  in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze. ²¹ 

Exodus 40:8

40:8 You are to set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard.

Exodus 40:33

40:33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.

Exodus 40:1

Setting Up the Sanctuary

40:1 ²² Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²³ 

Exodus 6:1

6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, ²⁴  for compelled by my strong hand ²⁵  he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” ²⁶ 

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ²⁷ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ²⁸ 

My heart and my entire being ²⁹  shout for joy

to the living God.

Psalms 84:10

84:10 Certainly ³⁰  spending just one day in your temple courts is better

than spending a thousand elsewhere. ³¹ 

I would rather stand at the entrance ³²  to the temple of my God

than live ³³  in the tents of the wicked.

Psalms 89:7

89:7 a God who is honored ³⁴  in the great angelic assembly, ³⁵ 

and more awesome than ³⁶  all who surround him?

Psalms 92:13

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

Psalms 100:4

100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give him thanks!

Praise his name!

[27:9]  ¹ tn Or “enclosure” (TEV).

[27:9]  ² tn Heb “south side southward.”

[27:9]  ³ tn Or “curtains.”

[27:9]  ⁴ sn The entire courtyard of 150 feet by 75 feet was to be enclosed by a curtain wall held up with posts in bases. All these hangings were kept in place by a cord and tent pegs.

[27:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and.”

[27:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “and thus.”

[27:11]  ⁷ tn Here the phrase “there will be” has been supplied.

[27:11]  ⁸ sn These bands have been thought by some to refer to connecting rods joining the tops of the posts. But it is more likely that they are bands or bind rings surrounding the posts at the base of the capitals (see 38:17).

[27:14]  ⁹ tn The word literally means “shoulder.” The next words, “of the gate,” have been supplied here and in v. 15. The east end would contain the courtyard’s entry with a wall of curtains on each side of the entry (see v. 16).

[27:14]  ¹⁰ tn Here “will be” has been supplied.

[27:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “shoulder.”

[27:15]  ¹² tn Here the phrase “there will be” has been supplied.

[27:17]  ¹³ tn The text uses the passive participle here: they are to “be filleted with silver” or “bound round” with silver.

[27:17]  ¹⁴ tn Here the phrase “are to be” has been supplied.

[27:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a hundred cubits.”

[27:18]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Here “hangings” has been supplied.

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

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

[27:19]  ²⁰ tn Here “used” has been supplied.

[27:19]  ²¹ 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.

[40:1]  ²² sn All of Exod 39:32-40:38 could be taken as a unit. The first section (39:32-43) shows that the Israelites had carefully and accurately completed the preparation and brought everything they had made to Moses: The work of the Lord builds on the faithful obedience of the people. In the second section are the instruction and the implementation (40:1-33): The work of the Lord progresses through the unifying of the work. The last part (40:34-38) may take the most attention: When the work was completed, the glory filled the tabernacle: By his glorious presence, the Lord blesses and directs his people in their worship.

[40:1]  ²³ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying.”

[6:1]  ²⁴ sn The expression “I will do to Pharaoh” always refers to the plagues. God would first show his sovereignty over Pharaoh before defeating him.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn The expression “with a strong hand” (וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה, uvÿyad khazaqah) could refer (1) to God’s powerful intervention (“compelled by my strong hand”) or (2) to Pharaoh’s forceful pursuit (“he will forcefully drive them out”). In Exod 3:20 God has summarized what his hand would do in Egypt, and that is probably what is intended here, as he promises that Moses will see what God will do. All Egypt ultimately desired that Israel be released (12:33), and when they were released Pharaoh pursued them to the sea, and so in a sense drove them out – whether that was his intention or not. But ultimately it was God’s power that was the real force behind it all. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 74) considers that it is unlikely that the phrase would be used in the same verse twice with the same meaning. So he thinks that the first “strong hand” is God’s, and the second “strong hand” is Pharaoh’s. It is true that if Pharaoh acted forcefully in any way that contributed to Israel leaving Egypt it was because God was acting forcefully in his life. So in an understated way, God is saying that when forced by God’s strong hand, Pharaoh will indeed release God’s people.”

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “and he will forcefully drive them out of his land,” if the second occurrence of “strong hand” refers to Pharaoh’s rather than God’s (see the previous note).

[84:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[84:10]  ³⁰ tn Or “for.”

[84:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].”

[84:10]  ³² tn Heb “I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.” The verb סָפַף (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun סַף (saf, “threshold”). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean “lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple” (see HALOT 765 s.v. ספף).

[84:10]  ³³ tn The verb דּוּר (dur, “to live”) occurs only here in the OT.

[89:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “feared.”

[89:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”

[89:7]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps “feared by.”