1Directions what the Israelites are to offer for the making of the tabernacle. 10The form of the ark. 17The mercy seat with the cherubims. 23The table with its furniture and shewbread. 31The candlestick with the instruments thereof.
1AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, that they 1bring 2me 3an offering: ofa every man that giveth it willingly with his heart 4ye shall take my offering.
1 He wants to say: that they take an offering, and give it Me.
2 That is, for My service and worship.
3 That is, an offering which they used to elevate at the giving, or presenting thereof unto God. Hebr. an elevating, or lifting up, or separating, severing; it being a gift separated, or set apart from the rest, and consecrated to the Lord.
a Exod. 35:5; 1 Chron. 29:3, 5, 9, 14; Ezra 2:68; 3:5; Neh. 11:2.
4 Ye, namely, thou Moses and the rest of the men, whom I have commanded, above Exod. 24:1, to come up on the mount.
3And this is the offering which ye shall 5take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
5 Namely, for the making and setting up of the tabernacle, and what belongs to it.
4And 6blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and 7goats’ hair,
6 Hereby are understood certain materials, as silk, cotton, wool, flax, or the like.
7 Whereof was made a cover or curtain to be spread over the tabernacle, Exod. 26:7, 13, and here one must understand hair of he-goats as well as hair of she-goats.
5And rams' skins dyed red, and 8badgers’ skins, and 9shittimb wood,
8 Of these skins the uppermost cover of the tabernacle was made, Exod. 26:14.
9 It is perceived that this is a kind of cedar wood, not subject to decay. See Isa. 41:19, and Joel 3:18.
b thorny acacia tree
610Oil for the light, 11spices for anointing oil, and for 12sweet incense,
10 For the use of the lights that were to burn thereon, verse 37.
11 Wherewith the holy things, the tabernacle, and things pertaining to it, were to be anointed, as also the priests themselves.
12 Other, precious herbs for perfumes.
7Onyxc stones, and 13stones to be set 14in the ephod, and in the 15breastplate.
c Exod. 28:4.
13 That is, those which were set in their ouches and which filled them. Hebr. stones of fulfillings, or, fillings in, fillings up.
14 This is rendered by some as body-coat, it being the principal and most sumptuous priestly upper garment, unto which was fastened the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim.
15 This was made of silk, gold, and precious stones, and covered the breast of the high priest.
8And let them make me 16a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
16 That is, an holy habitation, commonly called the tabernacle, which was the place where the public worship of God was to be exercised, as afterwards in the temple of Solomon.
9According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
10¶And 17they shall make an ark of shittimd wood: two 18cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
17 Namely, the artificers, or carpenters.
d Exod. 37:1; Heb. 9:1.
18 See Gen. 6:15.
11And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a 19crown of gold round about.
19 Or, border, molding, crown.
12And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for 20it, and 21put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
20 Namely, the ark.
21 Hebr. give them.
13And thou shalt make 22staveseof shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
22 Other, bearing, or, supporting staves.
e poles, staffs*
14And thou shalt 23put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, 24that the ark may be borne with them.
23 There were two rings on the one side of the ark, and two rings on the other side, through which the staves were to be put.
24 The Levites, and none else, were to carry the ark upon their shoulders, Num. 7:9; 2 Chron. 35:3. See also 1 Chron. 13:7, 10, 11, and 15:12, 15.
15Thef staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
f 1 Kings 8:8.
16And thou shaltg put into the ark 25the testimony which I shall give thee.
g Heb. 9:4.
25 Namely, the two tables of stones on which the Ten Commandments were written, being an express testimony of the will of God, wherefore the ark was called, the ark of the testimony, below verse 22, and elsewhere frequently.
17And thouh shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
h Exod. 37:6.
18And thoui shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, 26in the two ends of the mercy seat.
i Heb. 9:5.
26 As if He said: The cherubims shall be coming forth at both ends of the cover, as if they were growing forth; so that the cherubims and the cover were to be all of one piece, not being inlaid or soldered together.
19And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, coveringj the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look 27one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
j Heb. 9:5.
27 Hebr. the man to his neighbor.
21And thouk shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; 28and in the ark thou shalt put 29the testimony that I shall give thee.
k Heb. 9:4, 5.
28 To the end that the ark would not be opened afterwards, the LORD commands that the testimony should be put into the ark before He commands the making of the cover, verse 16.
29 That is, the tables of the covenant.
22And therel I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
l Num. 7:89.
23¶Thou shalt also make 30a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
30 This table stood in the holy place, that is, within the tabernacle before the veil.
24And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
25And thou shalt make 31unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
31 Namely, unto the said table. Hebr. to it.
26And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
27Over against the border shall the rings be 32for places of the staves to bear the table.
32 Hebr. for houses.
28And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
29And thou shalt make the 33dishes 34thereof, and 35spoons thereof, and 36covers thereof, and 37bowls thereof, to 38cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
33 There were twelve dishes according to the twelve showbreads, Lev. 24:5.
34 Namely, of the table.
35 The Hebrew word signifies all manner of hollowness or concavities, or vessels which are hollow, as the palm of the hand. These vessels served to put in perfumes, see Lev. 24:7.
36 Understand, covers, or covering-plates, as they are called in Num. 4:7. Hebr. plates of coverings, or, sprinklings.
37 Other, besoms, serving to keep the table clean.
38 Namely, the table, which was to be decked with all these vessels.
30And thou shalt set upon the table 39shewbread before me alway.
39 These loaves of bread were to lie a week upon this table; they were changed every Sabbath day, Lev. 24:8. Hebr. bread of the countenance; as lying there before the face of the Lord.
31¶And thoum shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: 40of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his 41branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, 42shall be of the same.
m Exod. 37:17.
40 That is, it shall neither be cast, nor pieced and soldered together, but it shall be beaten out of one piece or lump with the hammer. This candlestick weighed a talent, verse 39.
41 That is, arms or branches; and so likewise in the sequel.
42 See the 40th annotation.
32And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
33Three bowls made 43like unto almonds, with a knopn and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds 44in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
43 That is, in the shape or form of almonds.
n knob, model of flower bud*
44 That is, they shall all six of them be alike the one to the other, as is declared in verse 35.
34And 45in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
45 That is, on the shaft, stem, or body of it.
35And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches 46of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
46 Namely, the candlestick.
36Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
3747And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall 48light the lamps thereof, that they may give light 49over against it.
47 Hebr. thou shalt likewise make his seven lamps.
48 Hebr. cause to ascend.
49 Or, over against him. Hebr. on the side of his faces.
38And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdisheso thereof, shall be of pure gold.
o pans for wick-trimmings*
39Of 50a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
50 Or, hundred weight; understand the hundred weight of the sanctuary, containing one hundred twenty-five pounds of gold; for, an hundred weight has weighed three thousand shekels, (as may be gathered from Exod. 38:25, 26), which makes up the aforesaid sum. (Howbeit others perceive it did weigh but one hundred and twenty pounds) Concerning the civil hundred weight, it is thought to have weighed about half as much.
40And 51lookp that thou make them after their 52pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
51 In Exod. 39:43 it is said that Moses observed all this very strictly and accurately.
p Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:5.
52 That is, the example, model, likeness.