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Exodus 35

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Assembly and Reiteration of Commands 1–3

1
And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them, These are the words which Jehovah hath commanded, that ye should do them. ​
2
Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death. ​
3
Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. ​

Call for Tabernacle Materials 4–19

4
And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which Jehovah commanded, saying,
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Take ye from among you an offering unto Jehovah; whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Jehovah’s offering: gold, and silver, and brass, ​
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and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
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and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood,
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and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
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and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
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And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Jehovah hath commanded: ​
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the tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
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the ark, and the staves thereof, the mercy-seat, and the veil of the screen;
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the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the showbread;
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the candlestick also for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light;
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and the altar of incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle;
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the altar of burnt-offering, with its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base;
17
the hangings of the court, the pillars thereof, and their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court;
18
the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords;
19
the finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.

The People Respond Generously 20–29

20
And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21
And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, andbrought Jehovah’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments. ​
22
And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto Jehovah. ​
23
And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them.
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Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought Jehovah’s offering; and every man, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.
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And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. ​
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And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair.
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And the rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;
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and the spice, and the oil; for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
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The children of Israel brought a freewill-offering unto Jehovah; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Jehovah had commanded to be made by Moses. ​

Appointment of Skilled Craftsmen 30–35

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And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, Jehovah hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ​
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and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; ​
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and to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
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and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of skilful workmanship.
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And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ​
35
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, and of the skilful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise skilful works.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 35

Verse 1

These are the words which the LORD hath commanded — Qahal, to convoke, is the verb of the gathering; the 'congregation' is edah, a stated assembly. It follows 34:32, where Moses 'gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken'. The words are given 'that ye should do them' (cf. James 1:22).

Verse 2

a sabbath of rest — Shabbathon, a sabbath-keeping or special rest, the word of Lev 23:3, 'the seventh day is the sabbath of rest'. The Tabernacle work itself falls under it: the penalty, 'put to death', was carried out on the man who gathered sticks in the wilderness (Num 15:32–36).

Verse 3

Ye shall kindle no fire — Ba'ar, to kindle or burn. 'Habitations' (moshab) means dwelling-places, so the rule reaches every home as well as the sanctuary. It continues the earlier sabbath rule about preparing food beforehand: 'bake that which ye will bake to day' (Ex 16:23).

Verse 5

whosoever is of a willing heart — Nadiyb, willing, generous, also used of a noble or a prince. The 'offering' is terumah, a gift lifted up to the LORD. The terms repeat Ex 25:2, 'of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart'; Paul states the same principle: 'God loveth a cheerful giver' (2 Cor 9:7).

Verse 10

every wise hearted among you — Chakam lev, skilful of heart: 'wise' covers craft and ability as well as judgment. The LORD had said, 'in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom' (Ex 31:6); these are the men who 'wrought' in 36:1.

Verse 21

whose heart stirred him up — Nasa, to lift up, the verb used again of the women in v.26; 'made willing' is nadab, to impel, to give spontaneously. The second phrase is echoed in v.29. Of such giving David says, 'all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee' (1 Chr 29:14).

Verse 22

bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets — Nezem is a nose-ring or earring, kumaz probably gold beads. 'Both men and women' brought them. 'Offered' (nuph) is the verb of the wave offering, and 'offering' is tenuphah, so the gold was presented as a wave offering to the LORD.

Verse 25

did spin with their hands — Tavah, to spin. The women 'wise hearted' brought thread 'of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen' for the curtains and hangings (vv.6, 35). Wisdom for such work is the LORD's gift: 'whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom' (Ex 28:3).

Verse 29

a willing offering — Nedabah, a freewill gift, from the verb of v.21 (nadab). 'Every man and woman' gave, and the work was 'commanded to be made by the hand of Moses'. The verse closes the appeal as 2 Cor 9:7 describes it: 'not grudgingly, or of necessity'.

Verse 30

called by name Bezaleel — Qara shem, to call by name. The name Bezaleel means shadow of God, that is, under his protection. He is 'the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah'. The LORD's choice was announced earlier to Moses (Ex 31:1–2) and is now made known to the people.

Verse 31

filled him with the spirit of God — Male, to fill, with ruach Elohim. The three gifts, chokmah (wisdom), tevunah (understanding) and da'ath (knowledge), are those of Ex 31:3, word for word. Isaiah gives wisdom, understanding and knowledge to the coming king (Isa 11:2).

Verse 34

put in his heart that he may teach — Nathan, to give or put; yarah, to teach, literally to throw or shoot, hence to point out. The gift to teach is placed in the heart, as the wisdom of Ex 31:6 is. 'Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan' shares it, so Judah and Dan stand together in the work.