Exodus 35:1-13

Sabbath Regulations

35:1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ¹  35:2 In six days ²  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ³  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ⁴  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 35:3 You must not kindle a fire ⁵  in any of your homes ⁶  on the Sabbath day.” ⁷ 

Willing Workers

35:4 ⁸ Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 35:5 ‘Take ⁹  an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart ¹⁰  bring ¹¹  an offering to the Lord: ¹²  gold, silver, bronze, 35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, ¹³  acacia wood, 35:8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 35:9 onyx stones, and other gems ¹⁴  for mounting ¹⁵  on the ephod and the breastpiece. 35:10 Every skilled person ¹⁶  among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 35:11 the tabernacle with ¹⁷  its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 35:12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 35:13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence;

[35:1]  ¹ tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[35:2]  ² tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ³ tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”

[35:2]  ⁴ sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.

[35:3]  ⁵ sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17.

[35:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.”

[35:3]  ⁷ sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7).

[35:4]  ⁸ sn The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1-11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4-19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20-29); the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30-35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1-7).

[35:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “from with you.”

[35:5]  ¹⁰ tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.

[35:5]  ¹¹ tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”

[35:5]  ¹² tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.

[35:7]  ¹³ tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

[35:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and stones.”

[35:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “filling.”

[35:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.

[35:11]  ¹⁷ tn In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this.