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Exodus 38

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The Bronze Altar and Laver 1–8

1
And 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. ​
2
And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
3
And 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.
4
And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
5
And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
6
And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
7
And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. ​
8
And 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. ​

The Courtyard and Gate 9–20

9
And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: ​
10
Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11
And 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.
12
And 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.
13
And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14
The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15
And 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.
16
All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
17
And 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.
18
And 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. ​
19
And 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.
20
And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

Accounting of Materials 21–31

21
This 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. ​
22
And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
23
And 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.
24
All 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. ​
25
And 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: ​
26
A 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. ​
27
And 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. ​
28
And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
29
And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. ​
30
And 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,
31
And 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.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 38

Verse 1

the altar of burnt offering — It was built to the pattern of 27:1–2: five cubits square and three high, of 'shittim wood', with horns at the four corners, 'overlaid with brass' (v.2). It stood 'before the door of the tabernacle', with the laver between the tent and the altar (40:6–7). Burnt offering (olah) means 'that which goes up'.

Verse 7

hollow with boards — Nabab, to be hollow: the altar was a box of boards, overlaid with brass, not a solid mass. The staves of shittim wood ran through four rings (vv.5–7), so that it could be carried. 'As it was shewed thee in the mount' (27:8) ties it to the pattern shown to Moses.

Verse 8

lookingglasses — Marah, mirrors; they were of metal, for Job 37:18 speaks of 'a molten looking glass'. The brass laver and its foot were made from those of the women who 'assembled at the door' (tsaba, the verb of mustered service, as in Num 4:23). It stood between the tent and the altar, with water in it (40:7).

Verse 9

the court — This is the built form of the pattern in 27:9–19: 100 cubits long and 50 broad, five cubits high (27:18). The south and north sides each had 100 cubits of hangings on twenty pillars in brass sockets (vv.10–11), the west 50 (v.12), the east 50 (v.13), with the gate there (v.18); the hangings were 'fine twined linen' (v.16).

Verse 18

needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet — The gate hanging, twenty cubits wide and five high, 'answerable to' the walls, is raqam, embroidery, in the colours and linen of the tabernacle door (26:36) and the veil (26:31). The court's walls are plain 'fine twined linen' (v.16); the entrance on the east is the coloured part.

Verse 21

the sum of the tabernacle — Pequdim, a counting, from the verb of numbering used also of the census (v.25, 'numbered'). The tabernacle is 'of testimony', for the tables of the law it housed. Ithamar, the fourth-named of Aaron's sons (6:23), kept the account; he also had charge of the Gershonites and Merarites (Num 4:28, 33).

Verse 24

twenty and nine talents — The gold came as 'the gold of the offering' (tenuphah, a wave offering) from the willing gifts of Ex 35:22. At 3,000 shekels to the talent, the figure that vv.25–26 yield, it comes to 87,730 shekels, weighed 'after the shekel of the sanctuary', twenty gerahs to the shekel (Lev 27:25).

Verse 25

the silver of them that were numbered — The silver was the 'atonement money' of the census, the 'ransom for his soul' (30:12), appointed 'for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation' (30:16). Rich and poor gave alike (30:15). The total is 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, the sum worked out in v.26.

Verse 26

A bekah for every man — Beqa, half a shekel, a word found only here and in Gen 24:22. The 603,550 men are the same total as Num 1:46. Half a shekel each makes 301,775 shekels, which is the 100 talents and 1,775 shekels of v.25 at 3,000 shekels to the talent.

Verse 27

an hundred sockets — Yatsaq, to pour: the sockets were cast of silver, a talent each. Ninety-six went under the boards, forty under each side's twenty boards and sixteen under the west's eight (26:19–25), and four under the pillars of the veil (26:32), the hundred of this verse.

Verse 29

the brass of the offering — The brass amounts to seventy talents and 2,400 shekels, which at 3,000 shekels to the talent is 212,400. Verses 30–31 list its uses: sockets for the tabernacle door and the court and its gate, the brasen altar with its grate and vessels, and all the pins of the tabernacle and the court. It too is a tenuphah, as the gold of v.24.