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.
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- 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
Expanded Bible
4 Moses said to all the ·Israelites [community/congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel], “This is ·what [L the word/thing] the Lord has commanded: 5 From what you have, take ·an offering [tribute] for the Lord. Let everyone ·who is willing [whose heart moves them] bring this ·offering [tribute] to the Lord: gold, silver, bronze, 6 blue, purple and ·red [scarlet] thread, and fine linen, goat hair 7 and male sheepskins that are colored red. They may also bring ·fine leather [or sea cow/porpoise hides], acacia wood, 8 olive oil for the lamps, spices for the special olive oil used for ·appointing priests [anointing] and for the sweet-smelling incense, 9 onyx stones, and other jewels to be put on the ·holy vest [ephod; 28:6–14] and ·chest covering of the priests [breastpiece; 28:15–30].
10 “Let all the ·skilled workers [L wise of heart/mind] come and make everything the Lord commanded: 11 the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], its outer tent and its covering, the ·hooks [clasps], frames, crossbars, ·posts [pillars], and bases; 12 the ·Ark of the Agreement [L Ark; 25:10], its poles, ·lid [mercy seat; atonement cover; 25:17–22], and the curtain ·in front of it [L for the screen]; 13 the table [25:23–30], and its poles, all ·the things that go with the table [L its tools/utensils], and the ·bread that shows we are in God’s presence [L Bread of the Presence]; 14 the ·lampstand [L Menorah; 25:31–40] for the light and all ·the things that go with it [its tools/utensils], the lamps, and olive oil for the light; 15 the altar of incense [30:1–6] and its poles, the ·special [L anointing] oil and the sweet-smelling incense, the ·curtain [L screen for the entrance,] for the entrance of the Meeting Tent; 16 the altar of burnt offering and its bronze ·screen [grating], its poles and all its ·tools [utensils], the bronze bowl and its base [30:17–21]; 17 the curtains around the courtyard, their ·posts [pillars] and bases, and the ·curtain [screen] at the ·entry [L gate] to the courtyard; 18 the pegs of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and of the courtyard and their ropes; 19 the ·special [elaborately sewn] clothes that the priest will wear in the Holy Place [28:1–43]. These are the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and his sons to wear when they ·serve [minister] as priests.”
20 Then all the ·people [L community; congregation; assembly] of ·Israel [L the sons/T children of Israel] went ·away [out] from Moses. 21 Everyone ·who wanted to give [L whose heart was favorable and whose spirit was willing] came and brought a ·gift [offering] to the Lord for making the Meeting Tent, all ·the things in the Tent [its service], and the ·special [L holy; sacred] clothes. 22 All the men and women who wanted to give brought gold jewelry of all kinds—pins, earrings, rings, and bracelets. They all ·presented their [L waved a wave offering of] gold to the Lord. 23 Everyone who had blue, purple, and ·red [scarlet] thread, and fine linen, and anyone who had goat hair or male ·sheepskins [ramskins] colored red or ·fine leather [or sea cow/porpoise hides] brought them to the Lord. 24 Everyone who could give silver or bronze brought that as a ·gift [offering] to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood to be used in the work brought it. 25 Every ·skilled woman [L wise of heart/mind] used her hands to ·make [L spin] the blue, purple, and ·red [scarlet] thread, and fine linen, and they brought what they had ·made [L spun]. 26 All the women who were ·skilled [wise] and ·wanted to help [L whose hearts were favorable] ·made thread of [L spun] the goat hair. 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other jewels ·to put on the holy vest [L for the ephod; 28:6–14] and ·chest covering for the priest [breastpiece; 28:15–28]. 28 They also brought spices and olive oil for the sweet-smelling incense, the ·special [L anointing] oil, and the oil to burn in the lamps. 29 All the men and women of Israel ·who wanted [L whose hearts were favorable] to help brought ·gifts [L a free will offering] to the Lord for all the work the Lord had commanded Moses and the people to do.
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