Exodus 36:8-38
New English Translation
The Building of the Tabernacle
8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarn; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer. 9 The length of one curtain was 42 feet, and the width of one curtain was 6 feet—the same size for each of the curtains. 10 He joined[a] five of the curtains to one another, and the other[b] five curtains he joined to one another. 11 He made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another. 13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.[c]
14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.[d] 15 The length of one curtain was 45 feet, and the width of one curtain was 6 feet—one size for all eleven curtains. 16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set. 18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit.[e] 19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.[f]
20 He made the frames[g] for the tabernacle of acacia wood[h] as uprights.[i] 21 The length of each[j] frame was 15 feet, the width of each[k] frame was 2¼ feet, 22 with[l] two projections per frame parallel one to another.[m] He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames—two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise[n] two bases under the next frame for its two projections, 25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next[o] frame. 27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames. 28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 29 At the two corners[p] they were doubled at the lower end and[q] finished together at the top in one ring. So he did for both. 30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.
31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle 32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west. 33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames. 34 He overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places[r] for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.
35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made[s] it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks,[t] and he cast for them four silver bases.
37 He made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, 38 and its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their tops[u] and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.[v]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 36:10 tn The verb is singular since it probably is referring to Bezalel, but since he would not do all the work himself, it may be that the verbs could be given a plural subject: “they joined.”
- Exodus 36:10 tn The words “the other” have been supplied.
- Exodus 36:13 tn Heb “one.”
- Exodus 36:14 tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”
- Exodus 36:18 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct from the verb “to be” to express this purpose clause: “to be one,” or, “so that it might be a unit.”
- Exodus 36:19 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
- Exodus 36:20 tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqerashim) means “boards” or “frames” or “planks” (see Ezek 27:6) or “beams,” given the size of them. The literature on this includes M. Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 192; B. A. Levine, “The Description of the Tabernacle Texts of the Pentateuch,” JAOS 85 (1965): 307-18; J. Morgenstern, “The Ark, the Ephod, and the Tent,” HUCA 17 (1942/43): 153-265; 18 (1943/44): 1-52.
- Exodus 36:20 tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.
- Exodus 36:20 tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).
- Exodus 36:21 tn Heb “the frame.”
- Exodus 36:21 tn Heb “the one.”
- Exodus 36:22 tn Heb “two hands to the one frame.”
- Exodus 36:22 tn Heb “joined one to one.”
- Exodus 36:24 tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”
- Exodus 36:26 tn Heb “under the one frame” again.
- Exodus 36:29 tn This is the last phrase of the verse, moved forward for clarity.
- Exodus 36:29 tn This difficult verse uses the perfect tense at the beginning, and the second clause parallels it with יִהְיוּ (yihyu), which has to be taken here as a preterite without the consecutive vav (ו). The predicate “finished” or “completed” is the word תָּמִּים (tammim); it normally means “complete, sound, whole,” and related words describe the sacrifices as without blemish.
- Exodus 36:34 tn Literally “houses”; i.e., places to hold the bars.
- Exodus 36:35 tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.
- Exodus 36:36 tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”
- Exodus 36:38 tn The word is “their heads”; technically it would be “their capitals” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The bands were bands of metal surrounding these capitals just beneath them. These are not mentioned in Exod 26:37, and it sounds like the posts are to be covered with gold. But the gradation of metals is what is intended: the posts at the entrance to the Most Holy Place are all of gold; the posts at the entrance to the tent are overlaid with gold at the top; and the posts at the entrance to the courtyard are overlaid with silver at the top (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 387, citing Dillmann without reference).
- Exodus 36:38 sn For a good summary of the differences between the instruction section and the completion section, and the reasons for the changes and the omissions, see B. Jacob, Exodus, 1022-23.
Exodus 36:8-38
International Standard Version
8 All the skilled craftsmen among the workers made the tent with ten curtains of fine woven[a] linen, blue, purple, and scarlet material.[b] He[c] made them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 9 The length of each curtain was 28 cubits,[d] and the width of each curtain two cubits.[e] All the curtains had the same measurements.[f] 10 He joined five of the curtains together, and the other five curtains he joined together. 11 He made loops of blue material[g] along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise, he made loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 12 He made 50 loops in the one curtain, and he made 50 loops along the edge of the curtain that is in the second set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then he made 50 gold clasps, and joined the curtains to each other with the clasps so the tent was one piece.
14 He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tent; he made 11 curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was 30 cubits,[h] and the width of each curtain was two cubits;[i] the measurements of each of the eleven curtains was the same.[j] 16 He joined five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made 50 loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and 50 loops along the edge of the curtain of the other set. 18 He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together so it would be one piece. 19 Then he made a cover for the tent of ram skins dyed red[k] and a covering of dolphin[l] skins above that.
20 Then he made upright boards of acacia wood for the tent. 21 Each[m] board was ten cubits[n] long, and one and a half cubits[o] wide. 22 Each board had two pegs, joined to one another, and he did this for all the boards of the tent. 23 He made the boards for the tent: 20 boards for the south side.[p] 24 He made 40 silver sockets under the 20 boards: two sockets under one board for its two pegs and two sockets[q] under the next[r] board for its two pegs. 25 For the second side of the tent to the north he made 20 boards,[s] 26 and 40 silver sockets for them, two sockets under one board and two sockets under the next[t] board. 27 For the rear of the tent on the west he made six boards, 28 and he made two boards for the rear corners of the tent. 29 They were joined together[u] at the bottom and they were connected[v] on top, by one ring. He did this for the two of them, and they were the two corners. 30 There were eight boards with their sixteen silver sockets, two sockets under each board.
31 Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards on one side of the tent, 32 five bars for the boards on the second side of the tent, and five bars for the boards on the back side of the tent to the west. 33 He made the middle bar in the center of the boards pass through from end to end. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, and made gold rings for them as holders for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.
35 He made a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine woven linen. He made it with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 36 He made four pillars of acacia for it and overlaid them with gold, along with their gold hooks, and he cast four silver sockets for them. 37 For the doorway of the tent, he made a screen of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer, 38 and five pillars of acacia along with their hooks. He overlaid their tops and their bands[w] with gold. Their five sockets were made of bronze.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 36:8 Or twisted
- Exodus 36:8 The Heb. lacks material
- Exodus 36:8 Perhaps Bezalel as the head of the skilled workers; and so through the rest of the book
- Exodus 36:9 I.e. about 42 feet
- Exodus 36:9 I.e. about six feet
- Exodus 36:9 Lit. the measure of one for every curtain
- Exodus 36:11 The Heb. lacks material
- Exodus 36:15 I.e. about 45 feet
- Exodus 36:15 I.e. about six feet
- Exodus 36:15 Lit. the measure of one for the eleven curtains
- Exodus 36:19 Or tanned
- Exodus 36:19 Or dugong, a marine animal resembling a walrus or manatee
- Exodus 36:21 Lit. the one
- Exodus 36:21 I.e. about 15 feet
- Exodus 36:21 I.e. about 27 inches
- Exodus 36:23 Lit. toward the Negev (south), toward Teman (a city to the south)
- Exodus 36:24 Or bases
- Exodus 36:24 Lit. the one
- Exodus 36:25 The Heb. lacks he made
- Exodus 36:26 Lit. the one
- Exodus 36:29 Lit. twins; i.e. perhaps designed with interlocking pieces
- Exodus 36:29 Lit. complete; i.e.. perhaps the tops were joined together by a metal ring
- Exodus 36:38 Perhaps a kind of connecting rod joining the pillars together
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