11 `The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its hooks, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets,
`And thou dost make the tabernacle: ten curtains of twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; `with' cherubs, work of a designer, thou dost make them; the length of the one curtain `is' eight and twenty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit, one measure `is' to all the curtains; five of the curtains are joining one unto another, and five curtains are joining one to another. `And thou hast made loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain, at the end in the joining; and so thou makest in the edge of the outermost curtain, in the joining of the second. fifty loops thou dost make in the one curtain, and fifty loops thou dost make in the edge of the curtain which `is' in the joining of the second, causing the loops to take hold one unto another; and thou hast made fifty hooks of gold, and hast joined the curtains one to another by the hooks, and the tabernacle hath been one. `And thou hast made curtains of goats' `hair', for a tent over the tabernacle; thou dost make eleven curtains: the length of the one curtain `is' thirty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit; one measure `is' to the eleven curtains; and thou hast joined the five curtains apart, and the six curtains apart, and hast doubled the six curtains over-against the front of the tent. `And thou hast made fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, the outermost in the joining, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is joining the second; and thou hast made fifty hooks of brass, and hast brought in the hooks into the loops, and hast joined the tent, and it hath been one. `And the superfluity in the curtains of the tent -- the half of the curtain which is superfluous -- hath spread over the hinder part of the tabernacle; and the cubit on this side, and the cubit on that, in the superfluity in the length of the curtains of the tent, is spread out over the sides of the tabernacle, on this and on that, to cover it; and thou hast made a covering for the tent, of rams' skins made red, and a covering of badgers' skins above. `And thou hast made the boards for the tabernacle, of shittim wood, standing up; ten cubits `is' the length of the board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of the one board; two handles `are' to the one board, joined one unto another; so thou dost make for all the boards of the tabernacle; and thou hast made the boards of the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side southward; and forty sockets of silver thou dost make under the twenty boards, two sockets under the one board for its two handles, and two sockets under the other board for its two handles. `And for the second side of the tabernacle, for the north side, `are' twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under the one board, and two sockets under another board. And for the sides of the tabernacle westward, thou dost make six boards. And two boards thou dost make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. And they are pairs beneath, and together they are pairs above its head unto the one ring; so is it for them both, they are for the two corners. And they have been eight boards, and their sockets of silver `are' sixteen sockets, two sockets under the one board, and two sockets under another board. `And thou hast made bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle at the two sides, westward; and one hath caused the middle bar in the midst of the boards to reach from end unto end; and the boards thou dost overlay `with' gold, and their rings thou dost make of gold places for bars, and hast overlaid their bars with gold; and thou hast raised up the tabernacle according to its fashion which thou hast been shewn in the mount. `And thou hast made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; he maketh it `with' cherubs; and thou hast put it on four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid `with' gold, their pegs `are' of gold, on four sockets of silver. `And thou hast put the vail under the hooks, and hast brought in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony; and the vail hath made a separation for you between the holy and the holy of holies. `And thou hast put the mercy-seat on the ark of the testimony, in the holy of holies. `And thou hast set the table at the outside of the vail, and the candlestick over-against the table on the side of the tabernacle southward, and the table thou dost put on the north side. `And thou hast made a covering for the opening of the tent, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; and thou hast made for the covering five pillars of shittim `wood', and hast overlaid them `with' gold, their pegs `are' of gold, and thou hast cast for them five sockets of brass.
`The tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy-seat which `is' on it, and all the vessels of the tent, and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick and all its vessels, and the altar of the perfume, and the altar of the burnt-offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base,
And all the wise-hearted ones among the doers of the work make the tabernacle; ten curtains of twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, `with' cherubs, work of a designer, he hath made them. The length of the one curtain `is' eight and twenty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit; one measure `is' to all the curtains. And he joineth the five curtains one unto another, and the `other' five curtains he hath joined one unto another; and he maketh loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain, at the end, in the joining; so he hath made in the edge of the outmost curtain, in the joining of the second; fifty loops he hath made in the one curtain, and fifty loops hath he made in the end of the curtain which `is' in the joining of the second; the loops are taking hold one on another. And he maketh fifty hooks of gold, and joineth the curtains one unto another by the hooks, and the tabernacle is one. And he maketh curtains of goats' `hair' for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he hath made them; the length of the one curtain `is' thirty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain `is' four cubits; one measure `is' to the eleven curtains; and he joineth the five curtains apart, and the six curtains apart. And he maketh fifty loops on the outer edge of the curtain, in the joining; and fifty loops he hath made on the edge of the curtain which is joining the second; and he maketh fifty hooks of brass to join the tent -- to be one; and he maketh a covering for the tent of rams' skins made red, and a covering of badgers' skins above. And he maketh the boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up; ten cubits `is' the length of the `one' board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of the `one' board; two handles `are' to the one board, joined one unto another; so he hath made for all the boards of the tabernacle. And he maketh the boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward; and forty sockets of silver he hath made under the twenty boards, two sockets under the one board for its two handles, and two sockets under the other board for its two handles. And for the second side of the tabernacle, for the north side, he hath made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under the one board, and two sockets under the other board; and for the sides of the tabernacle, westward, hath he made six boards; and two boards hath he made for the corners of the tabernacle, in the two sides; and they have been twins below, and together they are twins at its head, at the one ring; so he hath done to both of them at the two corners; and there have been eight boards; and their sockets of silver `are' sixteen sockets, two sockets under the one board. And he maketh bars of shittim wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle, for the sides westward; and he maketh the middle bar to enter into the midst of the boards from end to end; and the boards he hath overlaid with gold, and their rings he hath made of gold, places for bars, and he overlayeth the bars with gold.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 35
Commentary on Exodus 35 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Preliminaries to the Work. - Ex 35:1-29. After the restoration of the covenant, Moses announced to the people the divine commands with reference to the holy place of the tabernacle which was to be built. He repeated first of all (Exodus 35:1-3) the law of the Sabbath according to Exodus 31:13-17, and strengthened it by the announcement, that on the Sabbath no fire was to be kindled in their dwelling, because this rule was to be observed even in connection with the work to be done for the tabernacle. (For a fuller comment, see at Exodus 20:9.). Then, in accordance with the command of Jehovah, he first of all summoned the whole nation to present freewill-offerings for the holy things to be prepared (Exodus 35:4, Exodus 35:5), mentioning one by one all the materials that would be required (Exodus 35:5-9, as in Exodus 25:3-7); and after that he called upon those who were endowed with understanding to prepare the different articles, as prescribed in ch. 25-30, mentioning these also one by one (Exodus 35:11-19), even down to the pegs of the dwelling and court (Exodus 27:19), and “their cords,” i.e., the cords required to fasten the tent and the hangings round the court to the pegs that were driven into the ground, which had not been mentioned before, being altogether subordinate things. (On the “cloths of service,” Exodus 35:19, see at Exodus 31:10.) In Exodus 35:20-29 we have an account of the fulfilment of this command. The people went from Moses, i.e., from the place where they were assembled round Moses, away to their tents, and willingly offered the things required as a heave-offering for Jehovah; every one “whom his heart lifted up,” i.e., who felt himself inclined and stirred up in his heart to do this. The men along with ( על as in Genesis 32:12; see Ewald , §217) the women brought with a willing heart all kinds of golden rings and jewellery: chak , lit., hook, here a clasp or ring; nezem , an ear or nose-ring (Genesis 35:4; Genesis 24:47); tabbaath , a finger-ring; cumaz , globulus aureus , probably little golden balls strung together like beads, which were worn by the Israelites and Midianites (Numbers 31:50) as an ornament round the wrist and neck, as Diod. Sic. relates that they were by the Arabians (3, 44). “ All kinds of golden jewellery, and every one who had waved (dedicated) a wave (offering) of gold to Jehovah, ” sc., offered it for the work of the tabernacle. The meaning is, that in addition to the many varieties of golden ornaments, which were willingly offered for the work to be performed, every one brought whatever gold he had set apart as a wave-offering (a sacrificial gift) for Jehovah. הניף to wave , lit., to swing or move to and fro, is used in connection with the sacrificial ritual to denote a peculiar ceremony, through which certain portions of a sacrifice, which were not intended for burning upon the altar, but for the maintenance of the priests (Numbers 18:11), were consecrated to the Lord, or given up to Him in a symbolical manner (see at Leviticus 7:30). Tenuphah , the wave-offering, accordingly denoted primarily those portions of the sacrificial animal which were allotted to the priests as their share of the sacrifices; and then, in a more general sense, every gift or offering that was consecrated to the Lord for the establishment and maintenance of the sanctuary and its worship. In this wider sense the term tenuphah (wave-offering) is applied both here and in Exodus 38:24, Exodus 38:29 to the gold and copper presented by the congregation for the building of the tabernacle. So that it does not really differ from terumah , a lift of heave-offering, as every gift intended for the erection and maintenance of the sanctuary was called, inasmuch as the offerer lifted it off from his own property, to dedicate it to the Lord for the purposes of His worship. Accordingly, in Exodus 35:24 the freewill-offerings of the people in silver and gold for the erection of the tabernacle are called terumah ; and in Exodus 36:6, all the gifts of metal, wood, leather, and woven materials, presented by the people for the erection of the tabernacle, are called קדשׁ תּרוּמת . (On heaving and the heave-offering, see at Exodus 25:2 and Leviticus 2:9.)
All the women who understood it (were wise-hearted, as in Exodus 28:3) spun with their hands, and presented what they spun, viz., the yarn required for the blue and red purple cloth, the crimson and the byssus; from which it is evident that the coloured cloths were dyed in the yarn or in the wool, as was the case in Egypt according to different specimens of old Egyptian cloths (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses , p. 144). Other women spun goats' hair for the upper or outer covering of the tent (Exodus 26:7.). Spinning was done by the women in very early times ( Plin. hist. n. 8, 48), particularly in Egypt, where women are represented on the monuments as busily engaged with the spindle (see Wilkinson, Manners ii. p. 60; iii. p. 133, 136), and at a later period among the Hebrews (Proverbs 31:19). At the present day the women in the peninsula of Sinai spin the materials for their tents from camels' and goats' hair, and prepare sheep's wool for their clothing ( Rppell , Nubien , p. 202); and at Neswa, in the province of Omהn , the preparation of cotton yarn is the principal employment of the women ( Wellstedt , i. p. 90). Weaving also was, and still is to a great extent, a woman's work (cf. 2 Kings 23:7); it is so among the Arab tribes in the Wady Gharandel, for example ( Russegger , iii. 24), and in Nubia ( Burckhardt , Nub. p. 211); but at Neswa the weaving is done by the men ( Wellstedt ). The woven cloths for the tabernacle were prepared by men, partly perhaps because the weaving in Egypt was mostly done by the men ( Herod . 2, 35; cf. Hengstenberg, p. 143), but chiefly for this reason, that the cloths for the hangings and curtains were artistic works, which the women did not understand, but which the men had learned in Egypt, where artistic weaving was carried out to a great extent (Wilkinson, iii. pp. 113ff.).
(Note: For drawings of the Egyptian weaving-stool, see Wilkinson, iii. p. 135; also Hartmann , die Hebräerinn am Putztisch i. Taf. 1.)
The precious stones for the robes of the high priest, and the spices for the incense and anointing oil, were presented by the princes of the congregation, who had such costly things in their possession.
Moses then informed the people that God had called Bezaleel and Aholiab as master-builders, to complete the building and all the work connected with it, and had not only endowed them with His Spirit, that they might draw the plans for the different works and carry them out, but “had put it into his (Bezaleel's) heart to teach” (Exodus 35:34), that is to say, had qualified him to instruct labourers to prepare the different articles under his supervision and guidance. “ He and Aholiab ” (Exodus 35:34) are in apposition to “his heart:” into his and Aholiab's heart (see Ges. §121, 3; Ewald , §311 a). The concluding words in Exodus 35:35 are in apposition to אתם ( them ): “ them hath He filled with wisdom...as performers of every kind of work and inventors of designs,” i.e., that they may make every kind of work and may invent designs. In Exodus 36:1, ועשׂה with vav consec . is dependent upon what precedes, and signifies either, “and so will make,” or, so that he will make (see Ewald , §342 b). The idea is this, “Bezaleel, Aholiab, and the other men who understand, into whom Jehovah has infused ( בּ נתן ) wisdom and understanding, that they may know how to do, shall do every work for the holy service (worship) with regard to ( ל as in Exodus 28:38, etc.) all that Jehovah has commanded.”