6 And I have made selection of Oholiab with him, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wise I have put the knowledge to make whatever I have given you orders to have made;
And let every wise-hearted man among you come and make whatever has been ordered by the Lord;
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.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work. And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper. So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself? And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.
Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers. Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.
But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.
And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me.
Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.
Now the names of the twelve are these: The first, Simon, who is named Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax-farmer; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.
And he took me to the doorway looking to the east: And there was the glory of the God of Israel coming from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of great waters, and the earth was shining with his glory. And the vision which I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came for the destruction of the town: and like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I went down on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the doorway looking to the east. And the spirit, lifting me up, took me into the inner square; and I saw that the house was full of the glory of the Lord. And the voice of one talking to me came to my ears from inside the house; and the man was by my side. And he said to me, Son of man, this is the place where the seat of my power is and the resting-place of my feet, where I will be among the children of Israel for ever: and no longer will the people of Israel make my holy name unclean, they or their kings, by their loose ways and by the dead bodies of their kings; By putting their doorstep by my doorstep, and the pillar of their door by the pillar of my door, with only a wall between me and them; and they have made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things which they have done: so in my wrath I sent destruction on them. Now let them put their loose ways and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will be among them for ever. You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image. And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them. This is the law of the house: On the top of the mountain all the space round it on every side will be most holy. See, this is the law of the house. And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: (the cubit being a cubit and a hand's measure;) its hollow base is a cubit high and a cubit wide, and it has an overhanging edge as wide as a hand-stretch all round it: And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide. And the fireplace is four cubits high: and coming up from the fireplace are the horns, a cubit high. And the fireplace is twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, square on its four sides. And the shelf is fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, on its four sides; the edge round it is half a cubit; the base of it is a cubit all round, and its steps are facing the east. And he said to me, Son of man, the Lord God has said, These are the rules for the altar, when they make it, for the offering of burned offerings on it and the draining out of the blood. You are to give to the priests, the Levites of the seed of Zadok, who come near to me, says the Lord God, to do my work, a young ox for a sin-offering. You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns and on the four angles of the shelf and on the edge all round: and you are to make it clean and free from sin. And you are to take the ox of the sin-offering, and have it burned in the special place ordered for it in the house, outside the holy place. And on the second day you are to have a he-goat without any mark on it offered for a sin-offering; and they are to make the altar clean as they did with the young ox. And after you have made it clean, let a young ox without a mark be offered, and a male sheep from the flock without a mark. And you are to take them before the Lord, and the priests will put salt on them, offering them up for a burned offering to the Lord. Every day for seven days you are to give a goat for a sin-offering: and let them give in addition a young ox and a male sheep from the flock without any mark on them. For seven days they are to make offerings to take away sin from the altar and to make it clean; so they are to make it holy. And when these days have come to an end, then on the eighth day and after, the priests will make your burned offerings on the altar and your peace-offerings; and I will take pleasure in you, says the Lord.
And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do.
Now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, were preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, got up and made a start at building the house of God at Jerusalem: and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
Then Solomon made a start at building the house of the Lord on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where the Lord had been seen by his father David, in the place which David had made ready in the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. The building was started in the second month in the fourth year of his rule. And Solomon put the base of the house of God in position; by the older measure it was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And the covered way in front of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and a hundred and twenty cubits high, all plated inside with the best gold.
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year that Solomon was king of Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, the building of the Lord's house was started. The house which Solomon made for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. The covered way before the Temple of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house. And for the house he made windows, with network across. And against the walls all round, and against the walls of the Temple and of the inmost room, he put up wings, with side rooms all round: The lowest line of them being five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide and the third seven cubits; for there was a space all round the outside walls of the house so that the boards supporting the rooms did not have to be fixed in the walls of the house. (And the stones used in the building of the house were squared at the place where they were cut out; there was no sound of hammer or axe or any iron instrument while they were building the house.) The door to the lowest side rooms was in the right side of the house; and they went up by twisting steps into the middle rooms, and from the middle into the third.
I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future.
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses; All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things. 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. And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites; But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up; But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death. And the Lord said to Moses, Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up. They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting; And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do. From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders. This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases; And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name. This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting; And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty. This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord. And those of the sons of Gershon who were numbered by families, All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting, Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty. This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord. And those of the sons of Merari who were numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses, All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the work in the Tent of meeting, Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred. This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord. And all the Levites who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses, Those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work of the Tent of meeting and of its transport, Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty. At the order of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, every one in relation to his work and to his part in the transport; so they were numbered by Moses at the order of the Lord.
And Bezalel made the ark of hard wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit and a half high; Plating it inside and out with the best gold, and putting an edge of gold all round it. And he made four gold rings for its four angles, two on one side and two on the other, And rods of the same wood plated with gold. These rods he put in the rings at the sides of the ark, for lifting it. And he made the cover all of gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And he made two winged ones, hammered out of one bit of gold, for the two ends of the cover; Placing one at one end and one at the other; the winged ones were part of the cover. And their wings were stretched out over the cover; the faces of the winged ones were opposite one another and facing the cover. And he made the table of hard wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high; Plating it with the best gold and putting a gold edge all round it. And he made a frame all round it about as wide as a man's hand, edged with gold all round. And he made four gold rings, and put the rings at the angles of its four feet. The rings were fixed under the frame to take the rods with which the table was to be lifted. The rods for lifting the table he made of hard wood plated with gold. And all the table-vessels, the plates and spoons and basins and the cups for liquids, he made of the best gold. Then he made the support for the lights, all of the best gold; its base and its pillar were of hammered gold; its cups and buds and flowers were all made out of the same metal: It had six branches coming out from its sides, three from one side and three from the other; Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower on all the branches; And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower; And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all six branches of it. The buds and the branches were made of the same metal, all together one complete work of the best hammered gold. And he made the seven vessels for the lights, and all the necessary instruments for it, of gold. A talent of the best gold was used for the making of it and its vessels. And he made the altar for the burning of spices, using the same hard wood; it was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high; the horns made of the same. The top and the sides and the horns were all plated with the best gold; and he put an edge of gold all round it. And he made two gold rings, placing them on the two opposite sides under the edge, to take the rods for lifting it. The rods he made of the same hard wood, plating them with gold. And he made the holy oil and the perfume of sweet spices for burning, after the art of the perfume-maker.
Then all the expert workmen among them made the House with its ten curtains; of the best linen, blue and purple and red, they made them, with winged ones worked by expert designers.
And all the women who were expert with their hands, made cloth, and gave the work of their hands, blue and purple and red and the best linen. And those women who had the knowledge, made the goats' hair into cloth.
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.