19 The robes of needlework for the work of the holy place, the holy robes for Aaron the priest, and the robes for his sons when acting as priests.
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.
The robes for use in the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron and his sons when acting as priests.
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.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 35
Commentary on Exodus 35 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Preliminaries to the Work. - Ex 35:1-29. After the restoration of the covenant, Moses announced to the people the divine commands with reference to the holy place of the tabernacle which was to be built. He repeated first of all (Exodus 35:1-3) the law of the Sabbath according to Exodus 31:13-17, and strengthened it by the announcement, that on the Sabbath no fire was to be kindled in their dwelling, because this rule was to be observed even in connection with the work to be done for the tabernacle. (For a fuller comment, see at Exodus 20:9.). Then, in accordance with the command of Jehovah, he first of all summoned the whole nation to present freewill-offerings for the holy things to be prepared (Exodus 35:4, Exodus 35:5), mentioning one by one all the materials that would be required (Exodus 35:5-9, as in Exodus 25:3-7); and after that he called upon those who were endowed with understanding to prepare the different articles, as prescribed in ch. 25-30, mentioning these also one by one (Exodus 35:11-19), even down to the pegs of the dwelling and court (Exodus 27:19), and “their cords,” i.e., the cords required to fasten the tent and the hangings round the court to the pegs that were driven into the ground, which had not been mentioned before, being altogether subordinate things. (On the “cloths of service,” Exodus 35:19, see at Exodus 31:10.) In Exodus 35:20-29 we have an account of the fulfilment of this command. The people went from Moses, i.e., from the place where they were assembled round Moses, away to their tents, and willingly offered the things required as a heave-offering for Jehovah; every one “whom his heart lifted up,” i.e., who felt himself inclined and stirred up in his heart to do this. The men along with ( על as in Genesis 32:12; see Ewald , §217) the women brought with a willing heart all kinds of golden rings and jewellery: chak , lit., hook, here a clasp or ring; nezem , an ear or nose-ring (Genesis 35:4; Genesis 24:47); tabbaath , a finger-ring; cumaz , globulus aureus , probably little golden balls strung together like beads, which were worn by the Israelites and Midianites (Numbers 31:50) as an ornament round the wrist and neck, as Diod. Sic. relates that they were by the Arabians (3, 44). “ All kinds of golden jewellery, and every one who had waved (dedicated) a wave (offering) of gold to Jehovah, ” sc., offered it for the work of the tabernacle. The meaning is, that in addition to the many varieties of golden ornaments, which were willingly offered for the work to be performed, every one brought whatever gold he had set apart as a wave-offering (a sacrificial gift) for Jehovah. הניף to wave , lit., to swing or move to and fro, is used in connection with the sacrificial ritual to denote a peculiar ceremony, through which certain portions of a sacrifice, which were not intended for burning upon the altar, but for the maintenance of the priests (Numbers 18:11), were consecrated to the Lord, or given up to Him in a symbolical manner (see at Leviticus 7:30). Tenuphah , the wave-offering, accordingly denoted primarily those portions of the sacrificial animal which were allotted to the priests as their share of the sacrifices; and then, in a more general sense, every gift or offering that was consecrated to the Lord for the establishment and maintenance of the sanctuary and its worship. In this wider sense the term tenuphah (wave-offering) is applied both here and in Exodus 38:24, Exodus 38:29 to the gold and copper presented by the congregation for the building of the tabernacle. So that it does not really differ from terumah , a lift of heave-offering, as every gift intended for the erection and maintenance of the sanctuary was called, inasmuch as the offerer lifted it off from his own property, to dedicate it to the Lord for the purposes of His worship. Accordingly, in Exodus 35:24 the freewill-offerings of the people in silver and gold for the erection of the tabernacle are called terumah ; and in Exodus 36:6, all the gifts of metal, wood, leather, and woven materials, presented by the people for the erection of the tabernacle, are called קדשׁ תּרוּמת . (On heaving and the heave-offering, see at Exodus 25:2 and Leviticus 2:9.)
All the women who understood it (were wise-hearted, as in Exodus 28:3) spun with their hands, and presented what they spun, viz., the yarn required for the blue and red purple cloth, the crimson and the byssus; from which it is evident that the coloured cloths were dyed in the yarn or in the wool, as was the case in Egypt according to different specimens of old Egyptian cloths (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses , p. 144). Other women spun goats' hair for the upper or outer covering of the tent (Exodus 26:7.). Spinning was done by the women in very early times ( Plin. hist. n. 8, 48), particularly in Egypt, where women are represented on the monuments as busily engaged with the spindle (see Wilkinson, Manners ii. p. 60; iii. p. 133, 136), and at a later period among the Hebrews (Proverbs 31:19). At the present day the women in the peninsula of Sinai spin the materials for their tents from camels' and goats' hair, and prepare sheep's wool for their clothing ( Rppell , Nubien , p. 202); and at Neswa, in the province of Omהn , the preparation of cotton yarn is the principal employment of the women ( Wellstedt , i. p. 90). Weaving also was, and still is to a great extent, a woman's work (cf. 2 Kings 23:7); it is so among the Arab tribes in the Wady Gharandel, for example ( Russegger , iii. 24), and in Nubia ( Burckhardt , Nub. p. 211); but at Neswa the weaving is done by the men ( Wellstedt ). The woven cloths for the tabernacle were prepared by men, partly perhaps because the weaving in Egypt was mostly done by the men ( Herod . 2, 35; cf. Hengstenberg, p. 143), but chiefly for this reason, that the cloths for the hangings and curtains were artistic works, which the women did not understand, but which the men had learned in Egypt, where artistic weaving was carried out to a great extent (Wilkinson, iii. pp. 113ff.).
(Note: For drawings of the Egyptian weaving-stool, see Wilkinson, iii. p. 135; also Hartmann , die Hebräerinn am Putztisch i. Taf. 1.)
The precious stones for the robes of the high priest, and the spices for the incense and anointing oil, were presented by the princes of the congregation, who had such costly things in their possession.
Moses then informed the people that God had called Bezaleel and Aholiab as master-builders, to complete the building and all the work connected with it, and had not only endowed them with His Spirit, that they might draw the plans for the different works and carry them out, but “had put it into his (Bezaleel's) heart to teach” (Exodus 35:34), that is to say, had qualified him to instruct labourers to prepare the different articles under his supervision and guidance. “ He and Aholiab ” (Exodus 35:34) are in apposition to “his heart:” into his and Aholiab's heart (see Ges. §121, 3; Ewald , §311 a). The concluding words in Exodus 35:35 are in apposition to אתם ( them ): “ them hath He filled with wisdom...as performers of every kind of work and inventors of designs,” i.e., that they may make every kind of work and may invent designs. In Exodus 36:1, ועשׂה with vav consec . is dependent upon what precedes, and signifies either, “and so will make,” or, so that he will make (see Ewald , §342 b). The idea is this, “Bezaleel, Aholiab, and the other men who understand, into whom Jehovah has infused ( בּ נתן ) wisdom and understanding, that they may know how to do, shall do every work for the holy service (worship) with regard to ( ל as in Exodus 28:38, etc.) all that Jehovah has commanded.”