Exodus 37:1-9
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Ark of the Covenant
37 Bezalel[a] made the ark[b] of acacia wood. It was forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. 2 He overlaid it with pure gold on the inside and the outside, and he made a gold border around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it and placed them next to its four feet—two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side. 4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.
6 He made an atonement seat[c] of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. 7 He made two cherubim of hammered gold for the two ends of the atonement seat, 8 one cherub for one end and one cherub for the other. The cherubim on its two ends formed one piece with the atonement seat.[d] 9 The cherubim spread their wings upward so that they covered the atonement seat with their wings, and they faced each other. The faces of the cherubim were looking inward toward the atonement seat.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 37:1 Pronouns and verbs in this section are mostly singular referring to Bezalel. This does not mean he did all the work single-handedly.
- Exodus 37:1 An aron is a box or chest or even a coffin. The translation retains the traditional rendering ark.
- Exodus 37:6 The Hebrew word kapporet refers to an object that pertains to atonement. It can be translated atonement cover or place of atonement. The traditional translation mercy seat is based on the translation of Luther, Gnadenstuhl, throne of grace. This translation emphasizes that kapporet was not so much a cover for the ark as a footstool for God’s throne.
- Exodus 37:8 That is, the angels were to be permanently fastened to the lid.
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