Exodus 35
35
Sabbath Regulations
1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.#tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. 2 In six days#tn This is an adverbial accusative of time. work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day#tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.” for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.#sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43. Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 3 You must not kindle a fire#sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17. in any of your homes#tn Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.” on the Sabbath day.”#sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7).
Willing Workers
4#sn The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1-11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4-19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20-29); the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30-35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1-7). Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 5 ‘Take#tn Heb “from with you.” an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart#tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices. bring#tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.” an offering to the Lord:#tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate. gold, silver, bronze, 6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather,#tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5. acacia wood, 8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 onyx stones, and other gems#tn Heb “and stones.” for mounting#tn Heb “filling.” on the ephod and the breastpiece. 10 Every skilled person#tn Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions. among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with#tn In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this. its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand for#tn “for” has been supplied. the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”
20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 21 Everyone#tn Heb “man.” whose heart stirred him to action#tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act. and everyone whose spirit was willing#tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7). came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.#tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were. 22 They came, men and women alike,#tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017). all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry,#tn Heb “all gold utensils.” and everyone came who waved#tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22. a wave offering of gold to the Lord.
23 Everyone who had#tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.” blue, purple, or#tn The conjunction in this verse is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had. scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather#tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5. brought them.#tn Here “them” has been supplied. 24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as#tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said. an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood#sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents. for any work of the service brought it.#tn Here “it” has been supplied. 25 Every woman who was skilled#tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work. spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled#tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is. spun goats’ hair.
27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted#tn Heb “and stones of the filling.” for the ephod and the breastpiece, 28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through#tn Heb “by the hand of.” Moses had commanded them#tn Here “them” has been supplied. to do.
30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen#tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4. Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 33 and in cutting stones for their setting,#tn Heb “to set.” and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.#tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan. 34 And he has put it in his heart#sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work. to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill#tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling. to do all kinds of work#tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.” as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are#tn Here “They are” has been supplied. craftsmen in all the work#tn Heb “doers of all work.” and artistic designers.#tn Heb “designers of designs.”
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Exodus 35: NET
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Exodus 35
35
1And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them, These are the words which Jehovah hath commanded, that ye should do them. 2Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death. 3Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
4And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which Jehovah commanded, saying, 5Take ye from among you an offering unto Jehovah; whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Jehovah’s offering: gold, and silver, and brass, 6and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, 7and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood, 8and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, 9and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Jehovah hath commanded: 11the tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12the ark, and the staves thereof, the mercy-seat, and the veil of the screen; 13the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the showbread; 14the candlestick also for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15and the altar of incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16the altar of burnt-offering, with its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; 17the hangings of the court, the pillars thereof, and their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords; 19the finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
20And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought Jehovah’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments. 22And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto Jehovah. 23And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them. 24Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought Jehovah’s offering; and every man, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. 26And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. 27And the rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; 28and the spice, and the oil; for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29The children of Israel brought a freewill-offering unto Jehovah; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Jehovah had commanded to be made by Moses.
30And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, Jehovah hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; 32and to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 33and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of skilful workmanship. 34And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, and of the skilful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise skilful works.
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