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Exodus 36
New English Translation

36 1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person[a] in whom the Lord has put skill[b] and ability[c] to know how[d] to do all the work for the service[e] of the sanctuary are to do the work[f] according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

2 Moses summoned[g] Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom[h] the Lord had put skill—everyone whose heart stirred him[i] to volunteer[j] to do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do[k] the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning.[l] 4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work[m] they were doing 5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than[n] is needed for the completion[o] of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!”[p]

6 Moses instructed them to take[q] his message[r] throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do anymore work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more.[s] 7 Now the materials were more than enough[t] for them to do all the work.[u]

The Building of the Tabernacle

8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarn; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer. 9 The length of one curtain was 42 feet, and the width of one curtain was 6 feet—the same size for each of the curtains. 10 He joined[v] five of the curtains to one another, and the other[w] five curtains he joined to one another. 11 He made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another. 13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.[x]

14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.[y] 15 The length of one curtain was 45 feet, and the width of one curtain was 6 feet—one size for all eleven curtains. 16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set. 18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit.[z] 19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.[aa]

20 He made the frames[ab] for the tabernacle of acacia wood[ac] as uprights.[ad] 21 The length of each[ae] frame was 15 feet, the width of each[af] frame was 2¼ feet, 22 with[ag] two projections per frame parallel one to another.[ah] He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames—two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise[ai] two bases under the next frame for its two projections, 25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next[aj] frame. 27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames. 28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 29 At the two corners[ak] they were doubled at the lower end and[al] finished together at the top in one ring. So he did for both. 30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle 32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west. 33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames. 34 He overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places[am] for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made[an] it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks,[ao] and he cast for them four silver bases.

37 He made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, 38 and its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their tops[ap] and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.[aq]

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:1 tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”
  2. Exodus 36:1 tn Heb “wisdom.”
  3. Exodus 36:1 tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”
  4. Exodus 36:1 tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.
  5. Exodus 36:1 tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”
  6. Exodus 36:1 tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.
  7. Exodus 36:2 tn The verb קָרָא (qaraʾ) plus the preposition “to”—“to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.
  8. Exodus 36:2 tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”
  9. Exodus 36:2 tn Or “whose heart was willing.”
  10. Exodus 36:2 sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.
  11. Exodus 36:3 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive “to do it” comes after “sanctuary”; it makes a smoother rendering in English to move it forward, rather than reading “brought for the work.”
  12. Exodus 36:3 tn Heb “in the morning, in the morning.”
  13. Exodus 36:4 tn Heb “a man, a man from his work”; or “each one from his work.”
  14. Exodus 36:5 tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim lehaviʾ) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply…to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.
  15. Exodus 36:5 tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).
  16. Exodus 36:5 tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object—“to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.
  17. Exodus 36:6 tn The verse simply reads, “and Moses commanded and they caused [a voice] to cross over in the camp.” The second preterite with the vav may be subordinated to the first clause, giving the intent (purpose or result).
  18. Exodus 36:6 tn Heb “voice.”
  19. Exodus 36:6 tn The verse ends with the infinitive serving as the object of the preposition: “from bringing.”
  20. Exodus 36:7 tn This part of the sentence comes from the final verb, the Hiphil infinitive—leave over, meaning, have more than enough (see BDB 451 s.v. יָתַר).
  21. Exodus 36:7 tn Heb “for all the work, to do it.”sn This lengthy section (35:1-36:7) forms one of the most remarkable sections in the book. Here there is a mixture of God’s preparation of people to do the work and their willingness to give and to serve. It not only provides insight into this renewed community of believers, but it also provides a timeless message for the church. The point is clear enough: In response to God’s commission, and inspired by God’s Spirit, the faithful and willing people rally to support and participate in the Lord’s work.
  22. Exodus 36:10 tn The verb is singular since it probably is referring to Bezalel, but since he would not do all the work himself, it may be that the verbs could be given a plural subject: “they joined.”
  23. Exodus 36:10 tn The words “the other” have been supplied.
  24. Exodus 36:13 tn Heb “one.”
  25. Exodus 36:14 tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”
  26. Exodus 36:18 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct from the verb “to be” to express this purpose clause: “to be one,” or, “so that it might be a unit.”
  27. Exodus 36:19 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
  28. Exodus 36:20 tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqerashim) means “boards” or “frames” or “planks” (see Ezek 27:6) or “beams,” given the size of them. The literature on this includes M. Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 192; B. A. Levine, “The Description of the Tabernacle Texts of the Pentateuch,” JAOS 85 (1965): 307-18; J. Morgenstern, “The Ark, the Ephod, and the Tent,” HUCA 17 (1942/43): 153-265; 18 (1943/44): 1-52.
  29. Exodus 36:20 tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.
  30. Exodus 36:20 tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).
  31. Exodus 36:21 tn Heb “the frame.”
  32. Exodus 36:21 tn Heb “the one.”
  33. Exodus 36:22 tn Heb “two hands to the one frame.”
  34. Exodus 36:22 tn Heb “joined one to one.”
  35. Exodus 36:24 tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”
  36. Exodus 36:26 tn Heb “under the one frame” again.
  37. Exodus 36:29 tn This is the last phrase of the verse, moved forward for clarity.
  38. Exodus 36:29 tn This difficult verse uses the perfect tense at the beginning, and the second clause parallels it with יִהְיוּ (yihyu), which has to be taken here as a preterite without the consecutive vav (ו). The predicate “finished” or “completed” is the word תָּמִּים (tammim); it normally means “complete, sound, whole,” and related words describe the sacrifices as without blemish.
  39. Exodus 36:34 tn Literally “houses”; i.e., places to hold the bars.
  40. Exodus 36:35 tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.
  41. Exodus 36:36 tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”
  42. Exodus 36:38 tn The word is “their heads”; technically it would be “their capitals” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The bands were bands of metal surrounding these capitals just beneath them. These are not mentioned in Exod 26:37, and it sounds like the posts are to be covered with gold. But the gradation of metals is what is intended: the posts at the entrance to the Most Holy Place are all of gold; the posts at the entrance to the tent are overlaid with gold at the top; and the posts at the entrance to the courtyard are overlaid with silver at the top (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 387, citing Dillmann without reference).
  43. Exodus 36:38 sn For a good summary of the differences between the instruction section and the completion section, and the reasons for the changes and the omissions, see B. Jacob, Exodus, 1022-23.
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Exodus 36
New International Version

36 1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person(A) to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary(B) are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel(C) and Oholiab(D) and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing(E) to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings(F) the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough(G) for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more(H) than enough to do all the work.

The Tabernacle(I)

8 All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. 9 All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.[a] 10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.(J)

14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.[b] 16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit.(K) 19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.[c]

20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide,[d] 22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain(L) of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer;(M) 38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:9 That is, about 42 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 13 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  2. Exodus 36:15 That is, about 45 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 14 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  3. Exodus 36:19 Possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals (see 35:7)
  4. Exodus 36:21 That is, about 15 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide or about 4.5 meters long and 68 centimeters wide
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