Numbers 4:29-33

The Service of the Merarites

4:29 “As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their families and by their clans. 4:30 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting. 4:31 This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames ¹  of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets, 4:32 and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their sockets, tent pegs, and ropes, along with all their furnishings and everything for their service. You are to assign by names the items that each man is responsible to carry. ²  4:33 This is the service of the families of the Merarites, their entire service concerning the tent of meeting, under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

Numbers 7:8

7:8 and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their service required, under the authority ³  of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Exodus 26:15-29

26:15 “You are to make the frames ⁴  for the tabernacle out of ⁵  acacia wood as uprights. ⁶  26:16 Each ⁷  frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide, 26:17 with two projections ⁸  per frame parallel one to another. ⁹  You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 26:18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side, ¹⁰  26:19 and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise ¹¹  two bases under the next frame for its two projections; 26:20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, twenty frames, 26:21 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 26:22 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west ¹²  you will make six frames. 26:23 You are to make two frames for the corners ¹³  of the tabernacle on the back. 26:24 At the two corners ¹⁴  they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both. 26:25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.

26:26 “You are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 26:27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west. 26:28 The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. ¹⁵  26:29 You are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold.

Exodus 26:32

26:32 You are to hang it ¹⁶  with gold hooks ¹⁷  on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in ¹⁸  four silver bases.

Exodus 26:37

26:37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be ¹⁹  gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them. ²⁰ 

Exodus 27:9-19

The Courtyard

27:9 “You are to make the courtyard ²¹  of the tabernacle. For the south side ²²  there are to be hangings ²³  for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long for one side, ²⁴  27:10 with ²⁵  twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 27:11 Likewise ²⁶  for its length on the north side, there are to be ²⁷  hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands ²⁸  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 ²⁹  of the gate are to be ³⁰  twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 27:15 On the second side ³¹  there are to be ³²  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; ³³  their hooks are to be ³⁴  silver, and their bases bronze. 27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet ³⁵  and the width seventy-five feet, ³⁶  and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings ³⁷  is to be ³⁸  seven and a half feet, with their bronze bases. 27:19 All ³⁹  the utensils of the tabernacle used ⁴⁰  in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze. ⁴¹ 

Exodus 35:11

35:11 the tabernacle with ⁴²  its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases;

Exodus 35:18

35:18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes;

Exodus 36:20-34

36:20 He made the frames ⁴³  for the tabernacle of acacia wood ⁴⁴  as uprights. ⁴⁵  36:21 The length of each ⁴⁶  frame was fifteen feet, the width of each ⁴⁷  frame was two and a quarter feet, 36:22 with ⁴⁸  two projections per frame parallel one to another. ⁴⁹  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 ⁵⁰  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 ⁵¹  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 ⁵²  they were doubled at the lower end and ⁵³  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 ⁵⁴  for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.

Exodus 36:36

36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, ⁵⁵  and he cast for them four silver bases.

Exodus 38:17-20

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. ⁵⁶  38:18 The curtain ⁵⁷  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.

Exodus 39:33

39:33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases;

[4:31]  ¹ sn More recent studies have concluded that these “boards” were made of two long uprights joined by cross-bars (like a ladder). They were frames rather than boards, meaning that the structure under the tent was not a solid building. It also meant that the “boards” would have been lighter to carry.

[4:32]  ² tn Heb “you shall assign by names the vessels of the responsibility of their burden.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “hand.”

[26:15]  ⁴ tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqÿrashim) means “boards” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) or “frames” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV) 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.

[26:15]  ⁵ tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.

[26:15]  ⁶ tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).

[26:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “the frame.”

[26:17]  ⁸ sn Heb “hands,” the reference is probably to projections that served as stays or supports. They may have been tenons, or pegs, projecting from the bottom of the frames to hold the frames in their sockets (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 286).

[26:17]  ⁹ tn Or “being joined each to the other.”

[26:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “on the south side southward.”

[26:19]  ¹¹ tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”

[26:22]  ¹² tn Or “westward” (toward the sea).

[26:23]  ¹³ sn The term rendered “corners” is “an architectural term for some kind of special corner structure. Here it seems to involve two extra supports, one at each corner of the western wall” (N. M. Sarna, Exodus [JPSTC], 170).

[26:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they will be for the two corners.” This is the last clause of the verse, moved forward for clarity.

[26:28]  ¹⁵ sn These bars served as reinforcements to hold the upright frames together. The Hebrew term for these bars is also used of crossbars on gates (Judg 16:3; Neh 3:3).

[26:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “put it.”

[26:32]  ¹⁷ tn This clause simply says “and their hooks gold,” but is taken as a circumstantial clause telling how the veil will be hung.

[26:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “on four silver bases.”

[26:37]  ¹⁹ tn “will be” has been supplied.

[26:37]  ²⁰ sn In all the details of this chapter the expositor should pay attention to the overall message rather than engage in speculation concerning the symbolism of the details. It is, after all, the divine instruction for the preparation of the dwelling place for Yahweh. The point could be said this way: The dwelling place of Yahweh must be prepared in accordance with, and by the power of, his divine word. If God was to fellowship with his people, then the center of worship had to be made to his specifications, which were in harmony with his nature. Everything was functional for the approach to God through the ritual by divine provisions. But everything also reflected the nature of God, the symmetry, the order, the pure wood, the gold overlay, or (closer to God) the solid gold. And the symbolism of the light, the table, the veil, the cherubim – all of it was revelatory. All of it reflected the reality in heaven. Churches today do not retain the pattern and furnishings of the old tabernacle. However, they would do well to learn what God was requiring of Israel, so that their structures are planned in accordance with the theology of worship and the theology of access to God. Function is a big part, but symbolism and revelation instruct the planning of everything to be used. Christians live in the light of the fulfillment of Christ, and so they know the realities that the old foreshadowed. While a building is not necessary for worship (just as Israel worshiped in places other than the sanctuary), it is practical, and if there is going to be one, then the most should be made of it in the teaching and worshiping of the assembly. This chapter, then, provides an inspiration for believers on preparing a functional, symbolical, ordered place of worship that is in harmony with the word of God. And there is much to be said for making it as beautiful and uplifting as is possible – as a gift of freewill offering to God. Of course, the most important part of preparing a place of worship is the preparing of the heart. Worship, to be acceptable to God, must be in Christ. He said that when the temple was destroyed he would raise it up in three days. While he referred to his own body, he also alluded to the temple by the figure. When they put Jesus to death, they were destroying the temple; at his resurrection he would indeed begin a new form of worship. He is the tent, the curtain, the atonement, that the sanctuary foreshadowed. And then, believers also (when they receive Christ) become the temple of the Lord. So the NT will take the imagery and teaching of this chapter in a number of useful ways that call for more study. This does not, however, involve allegorization of the individual tabernacle parts.

[27:9]  ²¹ tn Or “enclosure” (TEV).

[27:9]  ²² tn Heb “south side southward.”

[27:9]  ²³ tn Or “curtains.”

[27:9]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and.”

[27:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and thus.”

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

[27:11]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Here “will be” has been supplied.

[27:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “shoulder.”

[27:15]  ³² tn Here the phrase “there will be” has been supplied.

[27:17]  ³³ tn The text uses the passive participle here: they are to “be filleted with silver” or “bound round” with silver.

[27:17]  ³⁴ tn Here the phrase “are to be” has been supplied.

[27:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “a hundred cubits.”

[27:18]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Here “hangings” has been supplied.

[27:18]  ³⁸ tn Here the phrase “is to be” has been supplied.

[27:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “to all”; for use of the preposition lamed (ל) to show inclusion (all belonging to) see GKC 458 §143.e.

[27:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Here “used” has been supplied.

[27:19]  ⁴¹ 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.

[35:11]  ⁴² 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.

[36:20]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.

[36:20]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the frame.”

[36:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the one.”

[36:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “two hands to the one frame.”

[36:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “joined one to one.”

[36:24]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “under the one frame” again.

[36:29]  ⁵² tn This is the last phrase of the verse, moved forward for clarity.

[36:29]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ tn Literally “houses”; i.e., places to hold the bars.

[36:36]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”

[38:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “they were banded with silver.”

[38:18]  ⁵⁷ tn This word is different from the word for hangings; it has more of the idea of a screen, shielding or securing the area.