Exodus 38

Chapters 35–40 These chapters, which all belong to P, form the sequel to chs. 25–31, and narrate the execution of the instructions there communicated to Moses. In the main, the narrative is repeated verbatim from the instructions in chs. 25–31, with the simple substitution of past tenses for future; in two or three cases, however, a phrase is altered, and there are also some instances of omission or abridgement. Thus a few verses (as Exodus 25:8-9; Exodus 25:15; Exodus 25:22; Exodus 25:40) are omitted, as not needing repetition; others (as Exodus 25:16; Exodus 25:21; Exodus 25:30; Exodus 25:37 b), chiefly relating to the position or use of the different vessels named, are incorporated in Exodus 40:17-23, the account of the erection of the Tent of Meeting, where they actually belong; and the sections on the Anointing Oil and the Incense (Exodus 30:22-38) are merely referred to briefly in a single verse (Exodus 37:29). There are also, as compared with chs. 25–31, differences in the order of contents. The relation of chs. 35–40 to chs. 25–31 will appear perhaps most clearly from the following synoptical table:— Chapters 35–40Chapters 25–31Exo 35:1-3. Observance of the Sabbath inculcated (v. 3 added).Exodus 31:15 (vv. 13–14, 16–17 not repeated).Exodus 35:4-9. The people invited to make voluntary offerings.Exodus 25:2-7 (vv. 8, 9 not repeated).Exodus 35:10-19. All skilled workmen invited to assistExo 35:20-29. Presentation of the offeringsExo 35:30 to Exodus 36:1. Moses announces to the people the appointment of Bĕ ?ẓ ?al’çl and Oholiab, and of other skilled workmen qualified to assist.Exodus 31:2-6 (vv. 7–11, the details of things to be made, not repeated).Exodus 36:2-7. Delivery of the offerings to Bìẓ ?al’çl and Oholiab. The liberality of the people has to be checked.Exodus 36:8-19.

The curtains for the Dwelling, the tent over it, and the two outer coverings.Exodus 26:1-11; Exodus 26:14 (vv. 9b, 12, 13 not repeated).Exodus 36:20-34. The boards, or ‘frames,’ to support the curtains.Exodus 26:15-29 (v. 30 not repeated).Exodus 36:35-38. The Veil and Screen.Exodus 26:31-32; Exodus 26:36-37 (vv. 33–35 not repeated).Exodus 37:1-9. The Ark and Mercy-seat.Exodus 25:10-14; Exodus 25:17-20 (vv. 15, 16, 21, 22 not repeated).Exodus 37:10-16. The Table of Presence-bread.Exodus 25:23-29 (v. 30 not repeated).Exodus 37:17-24. The Candlestick.Exodus 25:31-39 (vv. 37b, 40 not repeated.Exodus 37:25-28. The Altar of Incense.Exodus 30:1-5 (vv. 6–10 not repeated).Exodus 37:29. The Anointing Oil, and the Incense.Exodus 30:22-25; Exodus 30:34-35 (abridged: vv. 26–33, 36–38 not repeated).Exodus 38:1-7.

The Altar of Burnt-offering.Exodus 27:1-8 a (v. 8b not repeated).Exodus 38:8 a. The Bronze Laver (v. 8b is new).Exodus 30:18 a (vv. 18b–21 not repeated.Exodus 38:9-20. The Court of the Tent of Meeting.Exodus 27:9-19.Exodus 38:21-31. Account of the amount of metal employed.Exodus 39:1-31. Vestments of the priests:—Exodus 28:6-43.Exodus 39:2-5. The ephod (v. 1 introductory; most of v. 3 new.Exodus 28:6-8.Exodus 39:6-7. The two onyx stones on the shoulder-straps, engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel.Exodus 28:9-12 (abridged).Exodus 39:8-21. The pouch of judgement, to contain the Urim and Thummim.Exodus 28:15-28 (vv. 13, 14 much abridged in Exodus 39:16 a: vv. 29, 30 (the Urim and Thummim) not repeated).Exodus 39:22-26.

The robe of the ephod.Exodus 28:31-35 a (v. 35b not repeated).Exodus 39:27-29. The tunics, turban, caps, drawers, and sashes.Exodus 28:39-40; Exodus 28:42 a (abridged: vv. 41, 42b, 43 not repeated).Exodus 39:30-31. The golden plate, on the front of the turban.Exodus 28:36-37 (v. 38 not repeated.Exodus 39:32-43. Delivery of the completed work to Moses.Exodus 40:1-8. Moses is commanded to set up the Tent of Meeting, and to arrange the sacred vessels in their places.Exodus 40:9-15. Repetition of command to anoint the Tent of Meeting, and the sacred vessels (Exodus 30:26-29); and to wash, invest, and anoint the priests (Exodus 29:4-9; Exodus 30:30).Exodus 40:16-33.

Moses sets up the Tent of Meeting, and arranges the sacred vessels according to the instructions given partly in vv. 1–8, partly in chs. Exodus 25-31.See references to chs. 25–31 in the notes on Exodus 40:16-33.Exodus 40:34-38.

The cloud takes up its abode on the Tent of Meeting.From a critical point of view, the most noticeable variation is the different position of the Altar of Incense and the Bronze Laver. These, which appeared before in the appendix to chs. 25–29, viz. in ch. 30, are here introduced in accordance with the place which they would naturally hold, viz. in the description of the Dwelling (Exo Exodus 37:25-28), and Court (Exodus 38:8), respectively; the Altar of Incense is mentioned also in ch. 40 (vv. 5, 26). If, therefore, chs. 30–31 are rightly assigned to a secondary stratum of P (see p. 328), the same conclusion will follow, as a necessary corollary, for chs. 35–40. There are other indications pointing in the same direction. In the LXX. of chs. 35–40 the order of the contents in Exodus 36:8 b–39:43 differs remarkably from the Hebrew (see the Table in LOT. 37 f. [6–8 40 f.], or McNeile, pp. Exodus 224 f.); and the renderings of many of the technical terms of the Hebrew differ from those in chs. 25–31 (see examples in McNeile, p. 226).

It is thus difficult to suppose either (1) that the translators of chs. 35–40 had before them the Hebrew text of these chapters in its present form, or (2) that these translators were the same as those who translated chs. 1–34; and it becomes probable ‘that the Heb. text used by the original translators of Exodus did not contain chs. 35–40, and that they were supplied afterwards from a longer Heb. recension of the book, in which these chapters had not yet reached their final form’ (Swete, Intr. to OT. in Greek, p. 236). These considerations support the conclusion, reached in the first instance upon independent grounds (the relation of these chapters to chs. 30, 31), that chs. 35–40 belong to a secondary and posterior stratum of P (P2[223] or P3[224]).

This is recognized even by Dillm., who supposes (Nu. Dt. Jos. pp. 635, 688) that the execution of the instructions contained in chs. 25–31 was originally narrated quite briefly—in, for instance, Exodus 35:1-5; Exodus 35:20-21, Exodus 36:2-6, Exodus 40:1-2; Exodus 40:34-38 [and Leviticus 8]; and that all the rest of chs. 35–40 is an expansion due to a later hand (or hands). See further Kuen. Hex. pp. 76–80. [223] Secondary strata of P (see p. xii top; pp. 328f., 378). [224] Secondary strata of P (see p. xii top; pp. 328f., 378).

Exodus 38:1-7

1–7. (Exodus 27:1-8 a). The altar of burnt offering. In vv. 4, 5 there are some changes of order: Exodus 27:8 b is not repeated.

Exodus 38:2

2. overlaid it with bronze] According to Numbers 16:38-39 (where ‘a covering’ is properly ‘an overlaying,’ as here), this was not done till a later time.

Exodus 38:8

8. The Bronze Laver (Exodus 30:18-21). V. 8a as Exodus 30:18 a; v. 8b is new. Exodus 30:18 b–21 is not repeated here (see Exodus 40:30-32). 8b. the serving women which served] The expression is peculiar, the word used (φαΰ) being (both times) not the ordinary Heb. for ‘serve,’ but the word which means properly and regularly to serve in a host, to war or fight. The same word is used by P of the service of the Levites in (particularly) the transport of the Tabernacle and its appurtenances (Numbers 4:1-33), Numbers 4:23 (RVm.) ‘Heb. to war the warfare’; cf. the cognate subst. warfare (EVV. ‘service’), vv. 3 (see RVm.), 35, 39, 43, Exodus 8:24-25 (see RVm.). Either, it seems, the Levites in Nu., and the women here, are pictured as performing their duties in organized bands, like soldiers in an army (cf. Ges. Thes., Di.), or (Gray, Numbers, pp. 32, 36) the word is one of those which in postexilic times, when the nation had become a church, acquired a religious connotation. The women were no doubt thought of as washing, cleaning, repairing, &c.

Women ‘doing “warfare” at the entrance to the tent of meeting’ are also mentioned in 1 Samuel 2:22 b: but the passage is not expressed in the LXX., besides differing in representation from the context (the sanctuary a ‘tent,’ not a hκkβl, or ‘temple’); and is beyond question a late gloss. LXX. render νηστεύσασαι, ‘fasting,’ either paraphrasing, or misreading φαΰϊ as φξεϊ (‘fasting’). Onk. has who prayed. For other haggadic interpretations, see reff. in DI. The clause (8b) must (Di. al.) be a later addition to the original narrative; for it obviously presupposes the erection of the Tent of Meeting, which is not narrated till ch. 40. The metal mirrors are to be thought of as the terϋmβh, or ‘contribution,’ of the women; and the laver and its base, cast from them, as a ‘memorial’ of the gift. Comp. the explanation of the metal casing of the altar in Numbers 16:37-40.

Exodus 38:9-20

9–20 (Exodus 27:9-19). The Court of the Tent of Meeting. In vv. 16–19 the text (Exodus 27:16-18) is reproduced with greater freedom than usual.

Exodus 38:10-14

10. fillets] i.e. bands, or binding-rings; see on Exodus 27:10. 12b. the hooks, &c.] Not in Exodus 27:12.

Exodus 38:15

15. on this hand … of the court] Not in Exodus 27:15; and, as Di. points out, a misplaced gloss (there is no ‘so’ in the Heb. at the beginning of the verse): read therefore (for and so, &c.), and for the other side were hangings of fifteen cubits.

Exodus 38:16

16. of fine twined linen] Cf. Exodus 27:18, towards the end.

Exodus 38:17

17. Expanded from Exodus 27:17. the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver] Sam. their hooks of silver (Exodus 27:17), relieving the tautology with the last clause of the verse. their chapiters] not mentioned in Exodus 27:17.

Exodus 38:18-19

18, 19. The screen for the gate of the Court. V. 18a=Exodus 27:16 a; v. 18b (‘the height,’ &c.) inferred from Exodus 27:18 (‘answerable to’ = corresponding to; cf. in RV. Ezekiel 40:18; Ezekiel 45:7; Ezekiel 48:13; Ezekiel 48:18; and see DB. s.v. Answer). V. 19a =Exodus 27:16 b; v.19b their hooks of silver inferred from Exodus 27:17 b; the ‘chapiters’ and ‘fillets’ not mentioned in Exodus 27:16 (cf. above, on v. 17), only the silver fillets implied in Exodus 27:17 a.

Exodus 38:20

20. As Exodus 27:19 b.

Exodus 38:21-31

21–31. Account of the amount of metal employed in the construction of the Tent of Meeting. A ‘very late addition’ to the narrative (Di., in agreement with We. and others): notice (1) in v. 25 f. the census of Numbers 1 (v. 46) is presupposed, although according to P (Numbers 1:1 compared with Exodus 40:17) this did not take place till a whole month after the Tabernacle was completed and erected; (2) the Levites, who are first appointed to their official duties in Numbers 3, are already (cf. Numbers 4:33) represented as acting under Ithamar’s superintendence; (3) ‘wave-offering’ (vv. 24, 29) appears in the same weakened sense as in Exodus 35:22; (4) the writer, while passing over altogether the silver offered voluntarily (Exodus 25:3, Exodus 35:5 f., 24), to all appearance (comp. v. 26 with Exodus 31:13-14) misunderstands Exodus 30:11-16, treating the poll-tax there imposed, at the time of a census, in order to form a fund for the maintenance of daily worship, as if it were a contribution of silver in kind, for the construction of the sanctuary.

Exodus 38:22-23

22, 23. The writer, after mentioning what the Levites did (v. 21), reverts to the more important work done by the two artificers, Bĕ ?ẓ ?al’çl and Oholiab (Exodus 31:2; Exodus 31:6, Exodus 35:30; Exodus 35:35).

Exodus 38:23

23. a craftsman, and a pattern-weaver, &c.] as Exodus 35:35.

Exodus 38:24

24. The gold. This amounted to 29 talents, and 730 shekels, or (as the talent contained Exodus 3000 shekels) 87,730 shekels, i.e. if the ‘sacred’ shekel (p. 333) weighed 224 grs., c. 40,940 oz. troy,—which, even at the present value of gold, would be worth nearly £ 160,000. the offering] properly, the wave-offering; see on Exodus 35:22. So v. 29. the sacred shekel] See on Exodus 30:13; and cf. DB. iv. 906a.

Exodus 38:25-28

25–28. The silver, with particulars of the purposes for which it was used. This amounted to 100 talents and 1775 shekels, i.e. 301,775 shekels (c. Exodus 140,828 oz.), being half a shekel a head, exacted (according to Exodus 30:13 f.) from the 603,550 male Israelites, of 20 years old and upwards, of the census described in Numbers 1 (see v. 46). No account is taken of the silver offered voluntarily (Exodus 25:3, Exodus 35:5 f., 24).

Exodus 38:26

26. a beḳ ?a‘] Genesis 24:22.† Lit. a thing cleft or halved. Three beḳ ?a‘s have been found recently in Palestine (Qu. St. of PEF., 1904, pp. 179, 211, ZDPV. 1906, p. 94), weighing respectively 90.58, 94.28, and 102.5 grains Troy. They are apparently light, or worn, beḳ ?a‘s of the ‘Phoenician’ standard (DB. iv. 905b; EB. iv. 4444, 5297 f.), in which the shekel weighed 224 grs. that passed over to them that were numbered] as Exodus 30:13.

Exodus 38:27

27. See Exodus 26:19; Exodus 26:21; Exodus 26:25; Exodus 26:32 (40+40+16+4=100).

Exodus 38:28

28. See Exodus 27:10-11; Exodus 27:17 (the hooks and the fillets of the pillars of the Court); Exodus 38:17; Exodus 38:19 (the chapiters as well).

Exodus 38:29-31

29–31. The bronze. This weighed 212,400 shekels, or (see, for the standard of copper or bronze, DB. iv. 906a) 108,749 oz. av. (= c. 3 tons).

Exodus 38:30-31

30, 31. See Exodus 26:37; Exodus 27:2-4; Exodus 27:6; Exodus 27:10-11; Exodus 27:17-19. The Bronze Laver (Exodus 30:18) is passed over in the enumeration.