Exodus 39:1-43

THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION

39 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aar-on; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.
(2) And he made the eph-od of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. (3) And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman. (4) They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; at the two ends was it joined together. (5) And the skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.

(6) And they wrought the onyx stones, inclosed in settings of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Is-ra-el. (7) And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the eph-od, to be stones of memorial for the children of Is-ra-el; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.
(8) And he made the breastplate, the work of the skilful workman, like the work of the eph-od; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. (9) It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double. (10) And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; (11) and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; (12) and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; (13) and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in inclosings of gold in their settings. (14) And the stones were according to the names of the children of Is-ra-el, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes. (15) And they made upon the breastplate chains like cords, of wreathen work of pure gold. (16) And they made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. (17) And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. (18) And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the eph-od, in the forepart thereof. (19) And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which was toward the side of the eph-od inward. (20) And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the eph-od underneath, in the forepart thereof, close by the coupling thereof, above the skilfully woven band of the eph-od. (21) And they did bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the eph-od with a lace of blue, that it might be upon the skilfully woven band of the eph-od, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the eph-od; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.

(22) And he made the robe of the eph-od of woven work, all of blue; (23) and the hole of the robe in the midst thereof, as the hole of a coat of mail, with a binding round about the hole of it, that it should not be rent. (24) And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, (25) And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the skirts of the robe round about, between the pomegranates; (26) a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about, to minister in; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.

(27) And they made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aar-on, and for his sons, (28) and the mitre of fine linen, and the goodly head-tires of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twisted linen, (29) and the girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.

(30) And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO JE-HO-VAH. (31) And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it upon the mitre above; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses.
(32) Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting: and the children of Is-ra-el did according to all that Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses; so did they. (33) And they brought the tabernacle unto Mo-ses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets; (34) and the covering of rams-' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen; (35) the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy-seat; (36) the table, all the vessels thereof, and the showbread; (37) the pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light; (38) and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent; (39) the brazen altar, and its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; (40) the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; (41) the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aar-on the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office. (42) According to all that Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses, so the children of Is-ra-el did all the work. (43) And Mo-ses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as Je-ho-vah had commanded, even so had they done it: and Mo-ses blessed them.

EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

1.

Topic: Priests-' garments; Finished Work Presented. Much of the material in this chapter is parallel to material in chapter twenty-eight. Note that seven times in this chapter (and eight times in chapter forty) it says that things were made as God commanded Moses (Exodus 39:5, passim).

2.

Outline: A. Garments of priests; Exodus 39:1-31.

(1)

Materials; Exodus 39:1.

(2)

Ephod; Exodus 39:2-5.

(3)

Onyx shoulder-stones; Exodus 39:6-7.

(4)

Breastplate; Exodus 39:8-21.

(5)

Robe of ephod; Exodus 39:22-26.

(6)

Coats, head-coverings, breeches, girdle; Exodus 39:27-29.

(7)

Golden plate; Exodus 39:30-31.

B. Tabernacle brought to Moses; Exodus 39:32-43.

3.

Parallel passages: (See the notes on the earlier parallel passages.)

(1)

Exodus 39:1 (Materials) Exodus 28:1-5.

(2)

Exodus 39:2-7 (Ephod) - Exodus 28:6-13.

(3)

Exodus 39:8-21 (Breastplate) - Exodus 28:15-30.

(4)

Exodus 39:22-26 (Robe) - Exodus 28:31-35.

(5)

Exodus 39:27-29 (Coat mitre, girdle) - Exodus 28:39-40; Exodus 28:42-43.

(6)

Exodus 39:30-31 (Golden plate) - Exodus 28:36-38.

(Observe how closely the order of items described in chapter 39 follows the order in chapter 28.)

4.

Questions on Exodus 38 answerable from the Bible:

(1)

How were gold wires (or threads) obtained for weaving into the ephod? (Exodus 39:3; Exodus 28:6)

(2)

What is the golden plate on Aaron's mitre called in Exodus 39:30? Compare Exodus 28:36.

(3)

How fully did Israel carry out Jehovah's commands about making the tabernacle: (Exodus 39:32; Exodus 39:42)

(4)

To whom were the items of tabernacle furniture bought? (Exodus 39:33)

(5)

What was brought with the pure candlestick? (Exodus 39:37; Compare Exodus 25:37-38.)

(6)

What is the golden altar? (Exodus 39:38; Exodus 30:3; Exodus 37:25-26; Exodus 40:26-27)

(7)

What was Moses-' response to the people who brought the tabernacle? (Exodus 39:43)

5.

Notes:

Exodus 39:1 - Regarding the King James reading cloths of service, see Exodus 31:10. Concerning the blue, purple, scarlet, see Exodus 25:4; Exodus 35:23.

Exodus 39:3 - The information about the obtaining of gold threads by cutting from thinly beaten-out sheets of gold is given only here.

Exodus 39:10-13 - Exodus 39:10 may be translated And they shall fill in it four rows of stone(s). .

We do not know with certainty the identity or the modern names of all the gemstones mentioned.[463] Neither do we know how the names of the tribes were positioned upon the gemstones. But, using the arrangement of the tribes-' encampments in Numbers two as a guide, and arranging the names from right to left (like Hebrew writing), we propose the following:

[463] See Jewels, Interpreter's Dictionary of The Bible, Vol 2 (New York: Abingdon, 1962), pp. 898-902.

ZEBULUN - Carbuncle (Green emerald)

ISSACHAR - Topaz (Green peridot)

JUDAH - Sardius (Red Carnelian)

GAD - Diamond (Transparent, hard?)

SIMEON - Sapphire (Blue lapis-lazuli)

REUBEN - Emerald (Rich green turquoise)

BENJAMIN - Amethyst (Purple quartz)

MANASSEH - Agate (Banded red, white, brown)

EPHRA1M - Jacinth (Orange color)

NAPHTALI - Jasper (Red-brown, yellow)

ASHER - Onyx (Banded milky-white, black, red)

DAN - Beryl (Sea-green feldspar)

Exodus 39:22 - We are not told exactly where the priest wore the robe of the ephod. We suppose it was worn under the ephod and under the breastplate, so that it did not cover the gems of the breastplate or the gorgeous ephod. The bells and pomegranates would hang below the ephod.

Exodus 39:29 - The singular girdle with the definite article does appear to refer to Aaron's girdle. There is no special description of the girdles of Aaron's sons that are referred to in Exodus 28:40. We suppose that those were made of the same materials and in the same form as Aaron'S, and that the singular girdle in Exodus 39:29 is a collective, or generic, expression referring to the girdles of all priests. (See Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 2, pp. 253-254.)

Exodus 39:30 - The golden plate is called a crown (diadem) here. In Exodus 28:36 it is spoken of as a plate of gold.

Exodus 39:31 - The construction details end at Exodus 39:31.

Exodus 39:32 - Cassuto (op. cit., p. 476) says that the word finished in Exodus 39:32 recalls Genesis 2:1 to our minds, where God finished the work of creation. (The same verb is used in both verses.) He feels that there are intentional parallels made between the completion of creation and the completion of the tabernacle. Compare Exodus 39:43 and Genesis 1:31 (Moses/God saw.); Exodus 39:43 and Genesis 1:22; Genesis 1:28 (Moses/God blessed.) This idea seems to us rather weakly supported by the evidence.

Exodus 39:33 - Tabernacle in Exodus 39:33 probably refers to the inner curtains. Tent probably refers to the goats-' hair curtains. See Exodus 40:19; Exodus 26:13.

Exodus 39:34 - The veil of the screen (K.J.V., vail of the covering) refers to the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Compare Exodus 39:38; Exodus 35:12; Exodus 35:15; Exodus 40:3; Exodus 40:21.

Exodus 39:37 - A new expression lamps of the order (or arrangement) appears in this verse. The expression uses a form of the word order employed in Exodus 27:21: Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Jehovah. The lamps were to be positioned in such an arrangement that they would give light toward the opposite side of the room.

Exodus 39:40 - Regarding the hanging of the court, see Exodus 27:9-15; Exodus 38:9-17.

Exodus 39:42 - Credit was given to all the children of Israel, not just to the principal craftsmen.

Exodus 39:43 - How Moses must have rejoiced to see the tabernacle completed! Less than two years before he had been a fearful shepherd. Now he has lived to see the fulfillment of God's promise: Ye shall serve God upon this mountain (Exodus 3:12).

The work of building the tabernacle had been brief, but probably arduous. In a little over five months all the work had been done. See Exodus 19:1; Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28; Exodus 40:2.

The words as Jehovah had commanded describe ALL the work done. It was necessary to make the tabernacle according to HIS directions. Only God knew what was His plan to redeem man. Only God knew what pleased Him.

Jewish tradition attributes Psalms 90 to this occasion of completing the tabernacle. (J. H. Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 388.) Note Psalms 90:17, the closing words of the psalm: Establish thou the work of our hands upon us; Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it. The Psalm is attributed to Moses by its title, but the idea that it was composed for this occasion is not a certainty.