Discovery BoxExodus 35:4--38:31
Context35:4 1 Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 35:5 ‘Take 2 an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart 3 bring 4 an offering to the Lord: 5 gold, silver, bronze, 35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, 6 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 7 for mounting 8 on the ephod and the breastpiece. 35:10 Every skilled person 9 among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 35:11 the tabernacle with 10 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; 35:14 the lampstand for 11 the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 35:15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 35:16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 35:17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 35:18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 35:19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”
35:20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 35:21 Everyone 12 whose heart stirred him to action 13 and everyone whose spirit was willing 14 came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 15 35:22 They came, men and women alike, 16 all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, 17 and everyone came who waved 18 a wave offering of gold to the Lord.
35:23 Everyone who had 19 blue, purple, or 20 scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather 21 brought them. 22 35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as 23 an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood 24 for any work of the service brought it. 25 35:25 Every woman who was skilled 26 spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 35:26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled 27 spun goats’ hair.
35:27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted 28 for the ephod and the breastpiece, 35:28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
35:29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through 29 Moses had commanded them 30 to do.
35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen 31 Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 35:31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 35:32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 35:33 and in cutting stones for their setting, 32 and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft. 33 35:34 And he has put it in his heart 34 to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35:35 He has filled them with skill 35 to do all kinds of work 36 as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are 37 craftsmen in all the work 38 and artistic designers. 39 36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person 40 in whom the Lord has put skill 41 and ability 42 to know how 43 to do all the work for the service 44 of the sanctuary are to do the work 45 according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
36:2 Moses summoned 46 Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom 47 the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him 48 to volunteer 49 to do the work, 36:3 and they received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do 50 the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning. 51 36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work 52 they were doing 36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than 53 is needed for the completion 54 of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!” 55
36:6 Moses instructed them to take 56 his message 57 throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. 58 36:7 Now the materials were more than enough 59 for them to do all the work. 60
36:8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer. 36:9 The length of one curtain was forty-two feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – the same size for each of the curtains. 36:10 He joined 61 five of the curtains to one another, and the other 62 five curtains he joined to one another. 36:11 He made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 36:12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another. 36:13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit. 63
36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 64 36:15 The length of one curtain was forty-five feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – one size for all eleven curtains. 36:16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 36:17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set. 36:18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit. 65 36:19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. 66
36:20 He made the frames 67 for the tabernacle of acacia wood 68 as uprights. 69 36:21 The length of each 70 frame was fifteen feet, the width of each 71 frame was two and a quarter feet, 36:22 with 72 two projections per frame parallel one to another. 73 He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 36:24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise 74 two bases under the next frame for its two projections, 36:25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 36:26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next 75 frame. 36:27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames. 36:28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 36:29 At the two corners 76 they were doubled at the lower end and 77 finished together at the top in one ring. So he did for both. 36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.
36:31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle 36:32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west. 36:33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames. 36:34 He overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places 78 for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.
36:35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made 79 it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, 80 and he cast for them four silver bases.
36:37 He made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, 36:38 and its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their tops 81 and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze. 82
37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border 83 of gold for it. 37:3 He cast four gold rings for it that he put 84 on its four feet, with 85 two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 37:4 He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, 37:5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.
37:6 He made 86 an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches. 37:7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid, 37:8 one cherub on one end 87 and one cherub on the other end. 88 He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. 37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings 89 upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim 90 faced each other, 91 looking toward the atonement lid. 92
37:10 He made the table of acacia wood; its length was three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 37:13 He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings at the four corners where its four legs were. 37:14 The rings were close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 37:15 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. 37:16 He made the vessels which were on the table out of pure gold, its 93 plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.
37:17 He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece. 94 37:18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 37:19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the next 95 branch, and the same 96 for the six branches that were extending from the lampstand. 37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it. 97 37:22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece; 98 all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold. 37:23 He made its seven lamps, its trimmers, and its trays of pure gold. 37:24 He made the lampstand 99 and all its accessories with seventy-five pounds of pure gold.
37:25 He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half – a square – and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it. 100 37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold – its top, 101 its four walls, 102 and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 103 37:27 He also made 104 two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, 105 as places 106 for poles to carry it with. 37:28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
37:29 He made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.
38:1 He made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood seven feet six inches long and seven feet six inches wide – it was square – and its height was four feet six inches. 38:2 He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it, 107 and he overlaid it with bronze. 38:3 He made all the utensils of the altar – the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans – he made all its utensils of bronze. 38:4 He made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom. 38:5 He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, to provide places for the poles. 38:6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 38:7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar 108 hollow, out of boards.
38:8 He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served 109 at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
38:9 He made the courtyard. For the south side 110 the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long, 38:10 with 111 their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:11 For the north side the hangings were 112 one hundred fifty feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:12 For the west side there were 113 hangings seventy-five feet long, with 114 their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:13 For the east side, toward the sunrise, it was seventy-five feet wide, 115 38:14 with hangings on one side 116 of the gate that were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases, 38:15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, 117 the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 38:16 All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen. 38:17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. 118 38:18 The curtain 119 for the gate of the courtyard was of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was thirty feet long, and like the hangings in the courtyard, it was seven and a half feet high, 38:19 with four posts and their four bronze bases. Their hooks and their bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 38:20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze.
38:21 This is the inventory 120 of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted 121 by the order 122 of Moses, being the work 123 of the Levites under the direction 124 of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 38:22 Now Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses; 38:23 and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, a designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.
38:24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary 125 (namely, 126 the gold of the wave offering) was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, 127 according to the sanctuary shekel.
38:25 The silver of those who were numbered of the community was one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, 128 according to the sanctuary shekel, 38:26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, 129 according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, 130 603,550 in all. 131 38:27 The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base. 38:28 From the remaining 1,775 shekels 132 he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them.
38:29 The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. 133 38:30 With it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar, 38:31 the bases for the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around. 134
[35:4] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “from with you.”
[35:5] 3 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] 4 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] 5 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] 6 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
[35:10] 9 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] 10 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.
[35:14] 11 tn “for” has been supplied.
[35:21] 13 tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.
[35:21] 14 tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).
[35:21] 15 tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
[35:22] 16 tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).
[35:22] 17 tn Heb “all gold utensils.”
[35:22] 18 tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.
[35:23] 19 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] 20 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] 21 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
[35:23] 22 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
[35:24] 23 tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said.
[35:24] 24 sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents.
[35:24] 25 tn Here “it” has been supplied.
[35:25] 26 tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
[35:26] 27 tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.
[35:27] 28 tn Heb “and stones of the filling.”
[35:29] 29 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
[35:29] 30 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
[35:30] 31 tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4.
[35:33] 33 tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.
[35:34] 34 sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work.
[35:35] 35 tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling.
[35:35] 36 tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”
[35:35] 37 tn Here “They are” has been supplied.
[35:35] 38 tn Heb “doers of all work.”
[35:35] 39 tn Heb “designers of designs.”
[36:1] 40 tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”
[36:1] 42 tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”
[36:1] 43 tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.
[36:1] 44 tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”
[36:1] 45 tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.
[36:2] 46 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.
[36:2] 47 tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”
[36:2] 48 tn Or “whose heart was willing.”
[36:2] 49 sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.
[36:3] 50 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive “to do it” comes after “sanctuary”; it makes a smoother rendering in English to move it forward, rather than reading “brought for the work.”
[36:3] 51 tn Heb “in the morning, in the morning.”
[36:4] 52 tn Heb “a man, a man from his work”; or “each one from his work.”
[36:5] 53 tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim lÿhavi’) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply…to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.
[36:5] 54 tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).
[36:5] 55 tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object – “to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.
[36:6] 56 tn The verse simply reads, “and Moses commanded and they caused [a voice] to cross over in the camp.” The second preterite with the vav may be subordinated to the first clause, giving the intent (purpose or result).
[36:6] 58 tn The verse ends with the infinitive serving as the object of the preposition: “from bringing.”
[36:7] 59 tn This part of the sentence comes from the final verb, the Hiphil infinitive – leave over, meaning, have more than enough (see BDB 451 s.v. יָתַר).
[36:7] 60 tn Heb “for all the work, to do it.”
[36:10] 61 tn The verb is singular since it probably is referring to Bezalel, but since he would not do all the work himself, it may be that the verbs could be given a plural subject: “they joined.”
[36:10] 62 tn The words “the other” have been supplied.
[36:14] 64 tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”
[36:18] 65 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct from the verb “to be” to express this purpose clause: “to be one,” or, “so that it might be a unit.”
[36:19] 66 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
[36:20] 67 tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqÿrashim) means “boards” or “frames” or “planks” (see Ezek 27:6) or “beams,” given the size of them. The literature on this includes M. Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 192; B. A. Levine, “The Description of the Tabernacle Texts of the Pentateuch,” JAOS 85 (1965): 307-18; J. Morgenstern, “The Ark, the Ephod, and the Tent,” HUCA 17 (1942/43): 153-265; 18 (1943/44): 1-52.
[36:20] 68 tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.
[36:20] 69 tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).
[36:21] 70 tn Heb “the frame.”
[36:22] 72 tn Heb “two hands to the one frame.”
[36:22] 73 tn Heb “joined one to one.”
[36:24] 74 tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”
[36:26] 75 tn Heb “under the one frame” again.
[36:29] 76 tn This is the last phrase of the verse, moved forward for clarity.
[36:29] 77 tn This difficult verse uses the perfect tense at the beginning, and the second clause parallels it with יִהְיוּ (yihyu), which has to be taken here as a preterite without the consecutive vav (ו). The predicate “finished” or “completed” is the word תָּמִּים (tammim); it normally means “complete, sound, whole,” and related words describe the sacrifices as without blemish.
[36:34] 78 tn Literally “houses”; i.e., places to hold the bars.
[36:35] 79 tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.
[36:36] 80 tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”
[36:38] 81 tn The word is “their heads”; technically it would be “their capitals” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The bands were bands of metal surrounding these capitals just beneath them. These are not mentioned in Exod 26:37, and it sounds like the posts are to be covered with gold. But the gradation of metals is what is intended: the posts at the entrance to the Most Holy Place are all of gold; the posts at the entrance to the tent are overlaid with gold at the top; and the posts at the entrance to the courtyard are overlaid with silver at the top (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 387, citing Dillmann without reference).
[36:38] 82 sn For a good summary of the differences between the instruction section and the completion section, and the reasons for the changes and the omissions, see B. Jacob, Exodus, 1022-23.
[37:3] 84 tn “that he put” has been supplied.
[37:3] 85 tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.
[37:6] 86 tn Heb “and he made.”
[37:8] 87 tn Heb “from/at [the] end, from this.”
[37:8] 88 tn The repetition of the expression indicates it has the distributive sense.
[37:9] 89 tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings” – “spreaders of wings.”
[37:9] 90 tn “The cherubim” has been placed here instead of in the second clause to produce a smoother translation.
[37:9] 91 tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”
[37:9] 92 tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”
[37:16] 93 tn The suffixes on these could also indicate the indirect object (see Exod 25:29).
[37:17] 94 tn Heb “from it”; the referent (“the same piece” of wrought metal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[37:19] 95 tn Heb “the one branch.” But the repetition of “one…one” means here one after another, or the “first” and then the “next.”
[37:19] 96 tn Heb “thus for six branches….”
[37:21] 97 tn As in Exod 26:35, the translation of “first” and “next” and “third” is interpretive, because the text simply says “under two branches” in each of three places.
[37:22] 98 tn Heb “were from it.”
[37:24] 99 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the lampstand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[37:25] 100 tn Heb “from it were its horns,” meaning that they were made from the same piece.
[37:26] 102 tn Heb “its walls around.”
[37:26] 103 tn Heb “and he made for it border gold around.”
[37:27] 104 tn Heb “and he made.”
[37:27] 105 sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second mention of their location clarifies that they should be on the sides, the right and the left, as one approached the altar.
[37:27] 106 tn Heb “for houses.”
[38:2] 107 tn Heb “its horns were from it,” meaning from the same piece.
[38:7] 108 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the altar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[38:8] 109 sn The word for “serve” is not the ordinary one. It means “to serve in a host,” especially in a war. It appears that women were organized into bands and served at the tent of meeting. S. R. Driver thinks that this meant “no doubt” washing, cleaning, or repairing (Exodus, 391). But there is no hint of that (see 1 Sam 2:22; and see Ps 68:11 [12 Hebrew text]). They seem to have had more to do than what Driver said.
[38:9] 110 tn Heb “south side southward.”
[38:10] 111 tn While this verse could be translated as an independent sentence, it is probably to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause in line with Exod 27:10-12, as well as v. 12 of this passage.
[38:11] 112 tn Here the phrase “the hangings were” has been supplied.
[38:12] 113 tn The phrase “there were” has been supplied.
[38:12] 114 tn The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.
[38:13] 115 tn The text simply says “seventy-five feet.”
[38:14] 116 tn The word literally means “shoulder.” The next words, “of the gate,” have been supplied here. The east end contained the courtyard’s entry with a wall of curtains on each side of the entry (see v. 15).
[38:15] 117 tn Heb “from this and from this” (cf, 17:12; 25:19; 26:13; 32:15; Josh 8:22, 33; 1 Kgs 10:19-20; Ezek 45:7).
[38:17] 118 tn Heb “they were banded with silver.”
[38:18] 119 tn This word is different from the word for hangings; it has more of the idea of a screen, shielding or securing the area.
[38:21] 120 tn The Hebrew word is פְּקוּדֵי (pÿqude), which in a slavishly literal way would be “visitations of” the tabernacle. But the word often has the idea of “numbering” or “appointing” as well. Here it is an accounting or enumeration of the materials that people brought, so the contemporary term “inventory” is a close approximation. By using this Hebrew word there is also the indication that whatever was given, i.e., appointed for the tabernacle, was changed forever in its use. This is consistent with this Hebrew root, which does have a sense of changing the destiny of someone (“God will surely visit you”). The list in this section will also be tied to the numbering of the people.
[38:21] 121 tn The same verb is used here, but now in the Pual perfect tense, third masculine singular. A translation “was numbered” or “was counted” works. The verb is singular because it refers to the tabernacle as a unit. This section will list what made up the tabernacle.
[38:21] 122 tn Heb “at/by the mouth of.”
[38:21] 123 tn The noun is “work” or “service.” S. R. Driver explains that the reckonings were not made for the Levites, but that they were the work of the Levites, done by them under the direction of Ithamar (Exodus, 393).
[38:21] 124 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
[38:24] 125 tn These words form the casus pendens, or independent nominative absolute, followed by the apodosis beginning with the vav (ו; see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 469).
[38:24] 126 tn Heb “and it was.”
[38:24] 127 sn There were 3000 shekels in a talent, and so the total weight here in shekels would be 87,730 shekels of gold. If the sanctuary shekel was 224 grs., then this was about 40,940 oz. troy. This is estimated to be a little over a ton (cf. NCV “over 2,000 pounds”; TEV “a thousand kilogrammes”; CEV “two thousand two hundred nine pounds”; NLT “about 2,200 pounds”), although other widely diverging estimates are also given.
[38:25] 128 sn This would be a total of 301,775 shekels (about 140,828 oz), being a half shekel exacted per person from 605,550 male Israelites 20 years old or more (Num 1:46). The amount is estimated to be around 3.75 tons.
[38:26] 129 sn The weight would be about half an ounce.
[38:26] 131 tn The phrase “in all” has been supplied.
[38:28] 132 tn Here the word “shekels” is understood; about 45 pounds.
[38:29] 133 sn The total shekels would have been 212,400 shekels, which would be about 108,749 oz. This would make about 2.5 to 3 tons.
[38:31] 134 sn The bronze altar is the altar for the burnt offering; the large bronze basin is not included here in the list.
