Exodus 31:1-18

These two Chapter s form an appendix to Exodus 25-29. The golden incense altar finds no place in Exodus 25 or Exodus 26:33 or Leviticus 16 (where the annual rite of Exodus 30:10 is ignored). Instead we hear of censers in Leviticus 16:12 and Numbers 16:6 f., while the great altar in the court is called the altar, as if no other were recognised. Similarly Exodus 30:30, requiring the unction of Aaron's sons, betrays itself as later than the series of passages in which the High Priest alone receives it, being often indeed called the anointed priest. Hence these features, mention of the incense altar, reference to anointing of priests, and distinctive naming of the brazen altar or the altar of burnt-offering, are all marks of secondary elements, wherever they occur. From their contents or phraseology the other sections of Exodus 30 f. betray themselves as supplements.

Exodus 31:1 P s. The Inspiration of the Craftsmen (cf. Exodus 35:30 to Exodus 36:3). The inclusion of the incense altar and laver in their proper places in the list of things to be made (Exodus 31:7) shows that this section also is part of the appendix. It contains a clear recognition of the Divine calling of the artist, and of the principle that only the best of man's handiwork is good enough for the sanctuary (Exodus 31:3 f.). The chief of the craftsmen is Bezalel, and his colleague is Oholiab (Exodus 31:6). The name Bezalel is late in form, and he is in 1 Chronicles 2:19 f. noted as of Calebite descent, while Oholiab is a foreign name and he is a Danite. Following M- Neile, we may conjecture that some old, obscure tradition connected the Danites with the Calebites and Judahites in the south, and finked them with the sanctuary (cf. Judges 18*). The phrase finely wrought garments in Exodus 31:10, perhaps meaning with plaiting like basket-work, is not in Exodus 28 P, but recurs in Exodus 35:19; Exodus 39:1, Exo. 41 Ps.

Exodus 31:12 Ps. (Exodus 31:12 b - Exodus 31:14 a H). The Sabbath. One of the late editors, devoted to the institution of the Sabbath (pp. 101f.), and seeing deep into its religious value, has expanded an older law into what M- Neile calls the locus classicus on Sabbath observance in the OT. The weekly rest-day is the sacrament of time, linking God and His people in mutual remembrance, and revealing the invisible God to an unbelieving world. Read in Exodus 31:13, as in the close parallel, Ezekiel 20:12, that men may know that I am Yahweh, which sanctify you. The older law of H punished the profanation of the Sabbath with death (Exodus 31:14); the later demands a sabbath of entire rest, breach bringing death upon the excommunicated offender (Exodus 31:14 b - Exodus 31:15, cf. Numbers 16:35). The disuse of sacrifice among the Jews had emphasised it as the mark of a perpetual covenant. The strong phrase for the Divine rest after creation, was refreshed (lit. took breath), supports the view that the priestly writer is here dependent upon an earlier writing from simpler age.

Exodus 31:18 a P, Exodus 31:18 b E. The Tables of Stone. This is now a link verse, leading up to Exodus 32-34, by relating the gift of the two tables of the testimony (cf. Exodus 25:12; Exodus 25:21 b P), the tables of stone, written with the finger of God (cf. Deuteronomy 9:10, based on E).