Footnotes

1. Exodus 35:1 tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2. Exodus 35:2 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
3. Exodus 35:2 tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
4. Exodus 35:2 sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.
5. Exodus 35:3 sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17.
6. Exodus 35:3 tn Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.”
7. Exodus 35:3 sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7).
8. Exodus 35:4 sn The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1-11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4-19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20-29); the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30-35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1-7).
9. Exodus 35:5 tn Heb “from with you.”
10. Exodus 35:5 tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.
11. Exodus 35:5 tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”
12. Exodus 35:5 tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.
13. Exodus 35:7 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
14. Exodus 35:9 tn Heb “and stones.”
15. Exodus 35:9 tn Heb “filling.”
16. Exodus 35:10 tn Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.
17. Exodus 35:11 tn In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this.
18. Exodus 35:14 tn “for” has been supplied.
19. Exodus 35:21 tn Heb “man.”
20. Exodus 35:21 tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.
21. Exodus 35:21 tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).
22. Exodus 35:21 tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
23. Exodus 35:22 tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).
24. Exodus 35:22 tn Heb “all gold utensils.”
25. Exodus 35:22 tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.
26. Exodus 35:23 tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.”
27. Exodus 35:23 tn The conjunction in this verse is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had.
28. Exodus 35:23 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
29. Exodus 35:23 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
30. Exodus 35:24 tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be treated as the direct object, but that would seem unnecessarily repetitive.
31. Exodus 35:24 sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents.
32. Exodus 35:24 tn Here “it” has been supplied.
33. Exodus 35:25 tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
34. Exodus 35:26 tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.
35. Exodus 35:27 tn Heb “and stones of the filling.”
36. Exodus 35:29 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
37. Exodus 35:29 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
38. Exodus 35:30 tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4.
39. Exodus 35:33 tn Heb “to set.”
40. Exodus 35:33 tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.
41. Exodus 35:34 sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work.
42. Exodus 35:35 tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling.
43. Exodus 35:35 tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”
44. Exodus 35:35 tn Here “They are” has been supplied.
45. Exodus 35:35 tn Heb “doers of all work.”
46. Exodus 35:35 tn Heb “designers of designs.”