10 And the robes of needlework, the holy robes for Aaron and for his sons, for their use when acting as priests,
Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons. And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour. Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest. This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me. They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer. It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together. And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work. You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut: Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth. With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them. And you are to make twisted frames of gold; And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames. And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen. It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide. And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp. And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag. And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag. Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag; Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms. Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod. And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band: So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod. And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord. And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times. The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue; With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open. And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between; A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe. Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death. You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD. Put a blue cord on it and put it on the front of the twisted head-dress: And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord. The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework. And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour. These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me. And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee; Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.
And from the needlework of blue and purple and red they made the robes used for the work of the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. The ephod he made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen; Hammering the gold into thin plates and cutting it into wires to be worked into the blue and the purple and the red and the linen by the designer. And they made two bands for joining its edges together at the top of the arms. And the beautifully worked band which went on it was of the same design and the same material, worked in gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. Then they made the beryl stones, fixed in twisted frames of gold and cut like the cutting of a stamp, with the names of the children of Israel. These he put on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel, as the Lord had said to Moses. The priest's bag was designed like the ephod, of the best linen worked with gold and blue and purple and red. It was square and folded in two, as long and as wide as the stretch of a man's hand; And on it they put four lines of stones: in the first line was a carnelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; In the second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; In the third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; In the fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they were fixed in twisted frames of gold. There were twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel; on every one the name of one of the tribes of Israel was cut, like the cutting of a stamp. And on the bag they put gold chains, twisted like cords. And they made two gold frames and two gold rings, the rings being fixed to the ends of the priest's bag; And they put the two twisted chains on the two rings at the ends of the priest's bag; And the other two ends of the chains were joined to the two frames and fixed to the front of the ephod over the arm-holes. And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two lower ends of the bag, on the inner side nearest to the ephod. And two other gold rings were put on the front of the ephod, over the arm-holes, at the join, and over the worked band. And the rings on the bag were fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord, keeping it in place over the band, so that the bag might not get loose, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. The robe which went with the ephod was made all of blue; With a hole at the top in the middle, like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, edged with a band to make it strong. The skirts of the robe were worked all round with fruits in blue and purple and red made of twisted linen. And between the fruits all round the skirt they put gold bells, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. All round the skirt of the robe were bells and fruits in turn. The coats for Aaron and his sons they made of the best linen; And the twisted head-dress for Aaron, and beautiful head-dresses of linen, and linen trousers, And a linen band worked with a design of blue and purple and red, as the Lord had said to Moses. The plate for the holy crown was made of the best gold, and on it were cut these words, HOLY TO THE LORD. It was fixed to the head-dress by a blue cord, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. So all the work on the House of the Tent of meeting was done; as the Lord had given orders to Moses, so the children of Israel did it. Then they took the House to Moses, the tent with all the things for it; its hooks, its boards, its rods, its pillars, and its bases; The outer cover of sheepskins coloured red, and the cover of leather, and the veil for the doorway; The ark of the law, with its rods and its cover; The table, with all its vessels and the holy bread; The support for the lights, with the vessels for the lights to be put in their places on it, and all its vessels, and the oil for the lights; And the gold altar, and the holy oil, and the sweet perfume for burning, and the curtain for the doorway of the tent; And the brass altar, with its network of brass, and its rods and all its vessels, and the washing-vessel and its base; The hangings for the open space, with the pillars and their bases, and the curtain for the doorway, and the cords and nails, and all the instruments necessary for the work of the House of the Tent of meeting; The robes for use in the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron and his sons when acting as priests. The children of Israel did everything as the Lord had given orders to Moses. Then Moses, when he saw all their work and saw that they had done everything as the Lord had said, gave them his blessing.
Then he took Aaron's sons, clothing them with the coats, and putting the bands round them, and the head-dresses on their heads, as the Lord had given him orders.
When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it; And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place. And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them; And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places. And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it: All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame. On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places. All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame. And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it; Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 31
Commentary on Exodus 31 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 31
Ex 31:1-18. Bezaleel and Aholiab.
2. See, I have called—Though the instructions about the tabernacle were privately communicated to Moses, it was plainly impossible that he could superintend the work in person, amid the multiplicity of his other duties. A head director or builder was selected by God Himself; and the nomination by such high authority removed all ground of jealousy or discontent on the part of any who might have thought their merits overlooked (compare Mt 18:1).
by name Bezaleel—signifying "in the shadow or protection of God"; and, as called to discharge a duty of great magnitude—to execute a confidential trust in the ancient Church of God, he has his family and lineage recorded with marked distinction. He belonged to the tribe of Judah, which, doubtless for wise and weighty reasons, God all along delighted to honor; and he was the grandson of Hur, a pious patriot (Ex 17:12), who was associated, by a special commission, with Aaron in the government of the people during the absence of Moses. Moreover, it may be noticed that a Jewish tradition affirms Hur to be the husband of Miriam; and if this tradition may be relied on, it affords an additional reason for the appointment of Bezaleel emanating from the direct authority of God.
3-5. I have filled him with the spirit of God—It is probable that he was naturally endowed with a mechanical genius, and had acquired in Egypt great knowledge and skill in the useful, as well as liberal, arts so as to be a first-class artisan, competent to take charge of both the plain and ornamental work, which the building of the sacred edifice required. When God has any special work to be accomplished, He always raises up instruments capable of doing it; and it is likely that He had given to the son of Uri that strong natural aptitude and those opportunities of gaining mechanical skill, with an ultimate view to this responsible office. Notwithstanding that his grand duty was to conform with scrupulous fidelity to the pattern furnished, there was still plenty of room for inventive talent and tasteful exactness in the execution; and his natural and acquired gifts were enlarged and invigorated for the important work.
6. I have given with him Aholiab—He belonged to the tribe of Dan, one of the least influential and honorable in Israel; and here, too, we can trace the evidence of wise and paternal design, in choosing the colleague or assistant of Bezaleel from an inferior tribe (compare 1Co 12:14-25; also Mr 6:7).
all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom—At that period, when one spirit pervaded all Israel, it was not the man full of heavenly genius who presided over the work; but all who contributed their skill, experience, and labor, in rendering the smallest assistance, showed their piety and devotedness to the divine service. In like manner, it was at the commencement of the Christian Church (Ac 6:5; 18:2).
12-17. Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep—The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardor and eagerness, with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle, exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an acceptable tribute, to prosecute the undertaking without the interruption of a day's repose; and therefore the caution here given, at the commencement of the undertaking, was a seasonable admonition.
18. tables of stone, written with the finger of God—containing the ten commandments (Ex 24:12), called "tables of testimony," because God testified His will in them.