CHAPTER XXV _The Lord addresses Moses out of the Divine glory, and commands him_ _to speak unto the Israelites, that they may give him_ free-will _offerings_, 1, 2. _The different kinds of offerings_, gold, silver, _and_ brass, 3. Purple, scarlet, fine linen, _and_ goats' hair, 4. Rams' skins,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:2. _THAT THEY BRING ME AN OFFERING_] The offering here mentioned is the תרומה _terumah_, a kind of free-will offering, consisting of any thing that was necessary for the occasion. It signifies properly any thing that was _lifted up_, the _heave-offering_, because in presenting it to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:3. _THIS IS THE OFFERING_] There were three kinds of metals: 1. GOLD, זהב _zahab_, which may properly signify _wrought_ _gold_; what was _bright_ and _resplendent_, as the word implies. In Job 28:15, Job 28:19, gold is mentioned _five_ times, and _four_ of the words are different in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:4. _BLUE_] תכלת _techeleth_, generally supposed to mean an _azure_ or _sky colour_; rendered by the Septuagint ὑακινθον, and by the Vulgate _hyacinthum_, a _sky-blue_ or _deep violet_. _PURPLE_] ארגמן _argaman_, a very precious colour, extracted from the _purpura_ or _murex_, a spe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:5. _RAMS' SKINS DYED RED_] ערת אילם מאדמים _oroth eylim_ _meoddamim_, literally, _the skins of red rams_. It is a fact attested by many respectable travellers, that in the Levant sheep are often to be met with that have _red_ or _violet-coloured_ fleeces. And almost all ancient write... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:6. _OIL FOR THE LIGHT_] This they must have brought with them from Egypt, for they could not get any in the wilderness where there were no olives; but it is likely that this and some other directions refer more to what was to be done when in their fixed and settled residence, than wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:7. _ONYX STONES_] We have already met with the stone called שהם _shoham_, Genesis 2:12, and acknowledged the difficulty of ascertaining what is meant by it. Some think the _onyx_, some the _sardine_, and some the _emerald_, is meant. We cannot say precisely what it was; possibly it m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:8. _LET THEM MAKE ME A SANCTUARY_] מקדש _mikdash_, a _holy_ _place_, such as God might dwell in; this was that part of the tabernacle that was called the most holy place, into which the high priest entered only once a year, on the great day of atonement. _THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:9. _AFTER THE PATTERN OF THE TABERNACLE_] It has been supposed that there had been a tabernacle before that erected by Moses, though it probably did not now exist; but the tabernacle which Moses is ordered to make was to be formed exactly on the model of this ancient one, the pattern... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:10. _THEY SHALL MAKE AN ARK_]_ _ארון_ _aron signifies an _ark, chest, coffer_, or _coffin_. It is used particularly to designate that chest or coffer in which the _testimony_ or two _tables of the covenant_ was laid up, on the top of which was the _propitiatory_ or _mercy-seat_, (se... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:11. _A CROWN OF GOLD ROUND ABOUT._] A border, or, as the Septuagint have it, κυματια χρυσα στεπτα κυκλω, _waves of gold_ _wreathed round about_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:15. _THE STAVES - SHALL NOT BE TAKEN FROM IT._] Because it should ever be considered as in readiness to be removed, God not having told them at what hour he should command them to strike their tents. If the staves were never to be taken out, how can it be said, as in Numbers 4:6, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:16. _THE TESTIMONY_] The two tables of stone which were not yet given; these tables were called עדת _eduth_, from עד _forward,_ _onward, to bear witness to or of a person or thing_. Not only the tables of stone, but all the contents of the ark, Aaron's rod, the pot of manna, the holy... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:17. _A MERCY-SEAT_] כפרת_ _capporeth, from כפר _caphar,_ to _cover_ or _overspread_; because by an act of pardon sins are represented as being _covered_, so that they no longer appear in the eye of Divine justice to displease, irritate, and call for punishment; and the person of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:18. _THOU SHALT MAKE TWO CHERUBIMS_] What these were we cannot distinctly say. It is generally supposed that a cherub was a creature with four heads and one body: and the animals, of which these emblematical forms consisted, were the noblest of their kinds; the _lion_ among the _wil... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:22. _AND THERE I WILL MEET WITH THEE_] That is, over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. In this place God chose to give the most especial manifestations of himself; here the Divine glory was to be seen; and here Moses was to come in order to consult Jehovah, relative to the manage... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:23. _THOU SHALT ALSO MAKE A TABLE_ OF _SHITTIM WOOD_] The same wood, the _acacia_, of which the arkstaves, c., were made. On the subject of the ark, table of shew-bread, c., Dr. _Cudworth_, in his very learned and excellent treatise on the Lord's Supper, has the following remarks:-... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:29. _THE DISHES THEREOF_]_ _קערתיו_ _kearothaiv, probably the deep bowls in which they kneaded the mass out of which they made the _shew-bread_. _AND SPOONS THEREOF_]_ _כפתיו_ _cappothaiu, probably _censers_, on which they put up the incense; as seems pretty evident from Numbers 7:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:30. _SHEW-BREAD_]_ __לחם פנים __lechem panim_ literally, _bread_ _of faces_; so called, either because they were placed _before the_ _presence_ or _face of God_ in the sanctuary, or because they were made _square_, as the Jews will have it. It is probable that they were in the form... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:31. _A CANDLESTICK OF PURE GOLD_] This _candlestick_ or _chandelier_ is generally described as having one _shaft_ or _stock_, with _six branches_ proceeding from it, adorned at equal distances with six flowers like lilies, with as many _bowls_ and _knops_ placed alternately. On each... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:39. _OF A TALENT OF PURE GOLD SHALL HE MAKE IT, WITH ALL_ _THESE VESSELS._] That is, a talent of gold in weight was used in making the candlestick, and the different vessels and instruments which belonged to it. According to Bishop Cumberland, a talent was _three thousand_ shekels.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 25:40. _AND LOOK THAT THOU MAKE, C._] This verse should be understood as an order to Moses after the tabernacle, c., had been described to him as if he had said: "When thou comest to make all the things that I have already described to thee, with the other matters of which I shall afte... [ Continue Reading ]