Exodus 35:4-29
New English Translation
Willing Workers
4 [a] Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 5 ‘Take[b] an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart[c] bring[d] an offering to the Lord:[e] gold, silver, bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen; goats’ hair; 7 ram skins dyed red; fine leather;[f] acacia wood; 8 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9 onyx stones, and other gems[g] for mounting[h] on the ephod and the breastpiece. 10 Every skilled person[i] among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with[j] its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand for[k] the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 19 the woven garments for serving in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.’”
20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 21 Everyone[l] whose heart stirred him to action[m] and everyone whose spirit was willing[n] came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.[o] 22 They came, men and women alike,[p] all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry,[q] and everyone came who waved[r] a wave offering of gold to the Lord.
23 Everyone who had[s] blue, purple, or[t] scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather[u] brought them.[v] 24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as[w] an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood[x] for any work of the service brought it.[y] 25 Every woman who was skilled[z] spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled[aa] spun goats’ hair.
27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted[ab] for the ephod and the breastpiece, 28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through[ac] Moses had commanded them[ad] to do.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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).
- Exodus 35:5 tn Heb “from with you.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- Exodus 35:7 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
- Exodus 35:9 tn Heb “and stones.”
- Exodus 35:9 tn Heb “filling.”
- 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.
- 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.
- Exodus 35:14 tn “for” has been supplied.
- Exodus 35:21 tn Heb “man.”
- 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.
- 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).
- Exodus 35:21 tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
- 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).
- Exodus 35:22 tn Heb “all gold utensils.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- Exodus 35:23 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
- Exodus 35:23 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
- 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.
- 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.
- Exodus 35:24 tn Here “it” has been supplied.
- Exodus 35:25 tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
- 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.
- Exodus 35:27 tn Heb “and stones of the filling.”
- Exodus 35:29 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
- Exodus 35:29 tn Here “them” has been supplied.
Exodus 35:4-29
Common English Bible
Preparing to build the dwelling
4 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 Collect gift offerings for the Lord from all of you. Whoever freely wants to give should bring the Lord’s gift offerings: gold, silver, and copper; 6 blue, purple, and deep red yarns; fine linen; goats’ hair; 7 rams’ skins dyed red; beaded leather;[a] acacia wood; 8 the oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense; 9 gemstones; and gems for setting in the priest’s vest[b] and in the priest’s chest pendant.
10 All of you who are skilled in crafts should come forward and make everything that the Lord has commanded: 11 the dwelling, its tent and its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its posts, and its bases, 12 the chest with its poles and its cover, the veil for a screen, 13 the table with its poles and all its equipment, the bread of the presence, 14 the lampstand for light with its equipment and its lamps, the oil for the light, 15 the incense altar with its poles, the anointing oil and the sweet-smelling incense, the entrance screen for the dwelling’s entrance, 16 the altar for entirely burned offerings with its copper grate, its poles, and all its equipment, the washbasin with its stand, 17 the courtyard’s drapes, its posts, and its bases, and the screen for the courtyard gate, 18 the dwelling’s tent pegs and the courtyard’s tent pegs, and their cords, 19 the woven clothing for ministering in the sanctuary, and the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and his sons for their service as priests.
Gifts for building the dwelling
20 The whole Israelite community left Moses. 21 Everyone who was excited and eager to participate brought the Lord’s gift offerings to be used for building the meeting tent and all its furnishings and for the holy clothes. 22 Both men and women came forward. Everyone who was eager to participate brought pins, earrings, rings, and necklaces, all sorts of gold objects. Everyone raised an uplifted offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And everyone who had blue or purple or deep red yarn or fine linen or goats’ hair or rams’ skins dyed red or beaded leather brought them. 24 Everyone who could make a gift offering of silver or copper brought it as the Lord’s gift offering. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in any kind of building work brought it. 25 All the skilled women spun cloth with their hands, and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and deep red yarns and fine linen. 26 All the women who were eager to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 The chiefs brought gemstones and gems to be set in the priest’s vest and the chest pendant, 28 spices and oil for light and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet-smelling incense. 29 All the Israelite men and women who were eager to contribute something for the work that the Lord had commanded Moses to do brought it as a spontaneous gift to the Lord.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 35:7 Or dolphin skins
- Exodus 35:9 Heb ephod
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