Exodus 38
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“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
CHAPTER 38
Ex 38:1-31. Furniture of the Tabernacle.
1. the altar of burnt offering--The repetitions are continued, in which may be traced the exact conformity of the execution to the order.
2And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
3And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
THE FURTHER PROGRESS OF THE WORK—THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FURNITURE FOR THE COURT.—Exo_38:9-20.—AND OF THE COURT ITSELF. On the completion of the tabernacle, Bezaleel and his assistants turned their attention to the court and its furniture; and constructed, first, the altar of burnt offering (Exo_38:1-7); secondly, the bronze laver (Exo_38:8); and thirdly, the hangings, pillars, connecting-rods, hooks and pins for the circuit of the court (Exo_38:9-20). Exo_38:1-7 correspond to Exo_38:1-8 of Exo_27:1-21.; Exo_27:8 corresponds to Exo_27:18 of Exo_30:1-38.; and Exo_30:9-20 correspond to Exo_30:9-19 of Exo_27:1-21.
The pots. This translation is better than that of Exo_27:3, which is "pans." Buckets or scuttles to convey the ashes from the altar to the ash-heap (Le Exo_1:16) are intended.
4And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
5And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
6And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
7And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
8And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8. laver of brass ... of the looking glasses of the women--The word mirrors should have been used, as those implements, usually round, inserted into a handle of wood, stone, or metal, were made of brass, silver, or bronze, highly polished [Wilkinson]. It was customary for the Egyptian women to carry mirrors with them to the temples; and whether by taking the looking glasses of the Hebrew women Moses designed to put it out of their power to follow a similar practice at the tabernacle, or whether the supply of brass from other sources in the camp was exhausted, it is interesting to learn how zealously and to a vast extent they surrendered those valued accompaniments of the female toilet.
of the women assembling ... at the door--not priestesses but women of pious character and influence, who frequented the courts of the sacred building (Lu 2:37), and whose parting with their mirrors, like the cutting the hair of the Nazarites, was their renouncing the world for a season [Hengstenberg].
Of the looking-glasses of the women. This interesting fact has not been previously mentioned. Bronze plates, circular or oval, admitting of a high polish, were used by the Egyptian women as mirrors from a very early date, and may be seen in the Egyptian collection of the British Museum. They have handles like those of our fire-screens, generally also of bronze. It was natural that the Hebrew women should possess similar articles, and should have taken care to bring them with them out of Egypt. The sacrifice of them for a sacred purpose is rather to be ascribed to their own serf-denying piety than to any command issued by Moses (Spencer). Which assembled. Literally, "who came by troops." Women assembled themselves by troops at the entrance of the "tent of meeting" set up lay. Moses (Exo_33:7), as at a later date we find Hannah (1Sa_1:9-12) and other women who were less worthy (1Sa_2:22) doing. The women who showed this zeal were those that made the sacrifice of their mirrors for God's service. There is no reason to suppose (with Hengstenberg and others) that they constituted a regular "order."
9And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:
9. the court--It occupied a space of one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five, and it was enclosed by curtains of fine linen about eight feet high, suspended on brazen or copper pillars. Those curtains were secured by rods fastened to the top, and kept extended by being fastened to pins stuck in the ground.
10Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
10. hooks--The hooks of the pillars in the court were for hanging up the carcasses of the sacrificial beasts--those on the pillars at the entry of the tabernacle were for hanging the sacerdotal robes and other things used in the service.
Their fillets. Rather, "their connecting-rods," as in Exo_27:10.
11And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
11. sockets--mortices or holes in which the end of the pillars stood.
12And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
13And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
17And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
17. chapiters--or capitals of the pillars, were wooden posts which ran along their top, to which were attached the hooks for the hangings.
The overlaying of their chapiters of silver. This is additional to what is recorded in Exo_27:1-21; and is parallel to what we find related of the tabernacle pillars in Exo_36:38. Filleted with silver. Rather, "connected with silver rods." Compare Exo_27:17.
18And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
18. the height in the breadth--or, "in the measure." The sense is that the hangings of the court gate, which was twenty cubits wide, were of the same height as the hangings all round the court [Wall].
The height in the breadth was five cubits. The height of the hangings all round the court was required to be five cubits, or seven and a half feet (Exo_27:18). It appears by the expression here used—"in the breadth"—that the material was woven of exactly this width.
19And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
Their chapiters. This again is additional to the directions given Compare the comment on Exo_38:17.
THE SUM OF THE TABERNACLE, OR WEIGHT OF THE METALS EMPLOYED IN IT. Before dismissing the subject of the construction of the tabernacle, Moses places on record the sum of the gold, silver and bronze contributed and consumed in the work. At the same time he informs us who was the accountant by whom the sum was made up (Exo_38:21), and what were the portions of the work formed of each metal (Exo_38:24, Exo_38:27, Exo_38:28, Exo_38:30, Exo_38:31). Incidentally he mentions the number of the congregation at this period (Exo_38:26), and the weight of the "sockets" or "bases" (Exo_38:27).
20And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
21This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
21. This is the sum of the tabernacle--Having completed his description of the component parts of the tabernacle, the inspired historian digresses into a statement respecting the gold and silver employed in it, the computation being made according to an order of Moses--by the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son.
This is the sum. Or "numbering" (as in Num_26:63). The tabernacle of testimony. The tabernacle, i.e; of which the great glory was that it contained "the testimony" or "Two Tables." Compare Exo_25:16. For the service of the Levites. Literally "a service of the Levites by the hand of Ithamar," etc.—i.e. "a service which was performed by the Levites at the command of Ithamar." It is somewhat remarkable that the direction of the Levites should be assigned to Ithamar, rather than to Nadab or Abihu.
22And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
Bezaleel made all. The direction of the whole work by Bezaleel is here asserted more definitely and decidedly than elsewhere. Compare Exo_31:2-6; Exo_36:1, Exo_36:2.
23And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
Aholiab's special gifts are here pointed out. He was
1. An artificer (a general term with no special application);
2. A skilled weaver; and
3. An embroiderer.
Altogether, his business was with the textile fabrics—not with the wood-work or the metal-work—of the sanctuary.
24All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
24. twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels--equivalent to £150,00 sterling.
The gold. The value of the gold has been estimated by Canon Cook at £175,075 13s. 0d. of our money; by Thenius at 877,300 Prussian thalers, or about £131,595. It was certainly under £200,000. De Wette and others have argued that the possession of so large a sum in gold at this time by the Hebrew nation is inconceivable. But most critics are of a different opinion. Gold was very abundant in Egypt at the period, being imported from Ethiopia, a rich gold-producing country (Herod. 3.23; Diod. Sic. 3.11), as well as taken in tribute from the nations of Asia. The wealth of Rhampsinitus (Rameses III.), a little later than the exodus, was enormous. According to the preceding narrative (Exo_12:35, Exo_12:36) much of the wealth of Egypt had, at the moment of their quitting the country, passed from the Egyptians to the Hebrews. If they numbered two millions of souls, their gold ornaments are likely to have been worth very much more than £200,000 of our money. On the shekel of the sanctuary, see the comment upon Exo_30:13.
25And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
25. the silver of them that were numbered--603,550 men at half a shekel each would contribute 301,775 shekels; which at 2s. 4d. each, amounts to £35,207 sterling. It may seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered that they were enriched first by the spoils of the Egyptians, and afterwards by those of the Amalekites. Besides, it is highly probable that during their sojourn they traded with the neighboring nations who bordered on the wilderness [Hewlett].
The silver. The silver seems to have amounted to about four times the weight of the gold; but the value of it was very much less, not exceeding £40,000 of our money (Cook). It may seem surprising that this should have been so; but there are grounds for believing that both in Africa and in Asia gold was more plentiful than silver in the early ages. And it is certainly much more suitable for ornaments. Of them that were numbered. See above, Exo_30:12-16. The silver for the sanctuary was collected by a compulsory tax, of the nature of a church-rate. This produced the amount here given, No estimate is made of the weight of the silver freewill offerings (Exo_35:24), nor is any account given of their application. It has been suggested that they were returned to the donors as superfluous, which is certainly possible,
26A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
A bekah for every man. Literally, "for every head." From twenty years old and upward. Compare Num_1:3, Num_1:22, etc. Six hundred thousand, etc. It is remarkable that this number agrees exactly with the sum total of the numbering in Num_2:32, which took place about six months later, and was exclusive of 22,000 Levites. Perhaps the number was lost in this place, and restored from Num_2:32, without its being recollected that the Levites were not included in that reckoning.
27And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
The sockets of the sanctuary and of the veil See above, Exo_36:24, Exo_36:26, Exo_36:30, and Exo_36:36. The numbers given are 40, 40, 16, and 4, making exactly the hundred.
28And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
Hooks for the pillars. See above, Exo_38:10, Exo_38:12, Exo_38:17, and Exo_38:19. Chapiters. See Exo_38:19. Filleted them. Rather, "connected them with rods"
29And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
The brass of the offering—i.e; the bronze which had been brought by the people in answer to the invitation of Moses (Exo_35:24).
Exo_38:30, Exo_38:31
The sockets. See Exo_36:38. The brazen altar and the brazen grate. See Exo_36:1 and Exo_36:4. The vessels. See Exo_36:3. The sockets of the court. See above, Exo_36:11, Exo_36:14, Exo_36:15, Exo_36:17, and Exo_36:19. The pins of the tabernacle and of the court. See above, Exo_36:20.
30And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
31And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.
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