Exodus 38 commentary

In all ages of the church there have been some persons more devoted to God, more constant in their attendance upon his ordinances, and more willing to part even with lawful things, for his sake, than others. Some women, devoted to God and zealous for the tabernacle worship, expressed zeal by parting with their mirrors, which were polished plates of brass. Before the invention of looking-glasses, these served the same purposes. (Ex 38:9-20)

The walls of the court being of curtains only, intimated that the state of the Jewish church itself was movable and changeable; and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.

The foundation of massy pieces of silver showed the solidity and purity of the truth upon which the church is founded. Let us regard the Lord Jesus Christ while reading of the furniture of the tabernacle. While looking at the altar of burnt-offering, let us see Jesus. In him, his righteousness, and salvation, is a full and sufficient offering for sin. In the laver of regeneration, by his Holy Spirit, let our souls be washed, and they shall be clean; and as the people offered willingly, so may our souls be made willing. Let us be ready to part with any thing, and count all but loss to win Christ.

1. And he made the altar of burnt-offering. The purport of this chapter is the same as that of the last, except that the order of some parts of it is transposed, though not a word is changed. He begins with the altar of burnt-offering, which he states to have been made of the materials and the form prescribed by God, in order that the people might there offer with surer confidence their sacrifices for the expiation of sin, and for thanksgiving. One thing which had not been mentioned before, is here added respecting the laver of brass, or cauldron (concha,) from whence they took the water of sprinkling for expiation, viz., that this laver was ornamented with the mirrors of the women. Some explain this, All the difficulties connected with this matter are set at rest by our increased acquaintance with Egyptian Antiquities. C., and almost all the earlier commentators, were evidently possessed with the idea that the mirrors of the women were literally looking-glasses; and hence arose the various solutions which are here given, and others which might be added. Sir G. Wilkinson, in his “Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians,” tells us; — “One of the principal objects of the toilet was the mirror. It was of mixed metal, chiefly copper, most carefully wrought and highly polished; and so admirably did the Egyptians succeed in the composition of metals, that this substitute for our modern looking-glass was susceptible of a lustre which has even been partially revived at the present day, in some of those discovered at Thebes, though buried in the earth for many centuries. The same kind of metal-mirror was used by the Israelites, who doubtless brought them from Egypt.” — Vol. 2, p. 346. that the vessel was so bright that it might be easily discovered on every side whether there was any scandalous, or wanton, or indelicate act committed; for we know that impure and ungodly men sometimes conceal their iniquities under the cover of religion, even as it; is written that the women who frequented the tabernacle for religious exercises were defiled by the sons of Eli, the priests. (1 Samuel 2:22.) But there is another conjecture equally probable, that these mirrors were dedicated by holy women for the ornament of the Temple, and for sacred purposes; for, whereas women are only too much given to outward adornment and finery, they have been always very fond of mirrors, both for the purpose of painting their cheeks and arranging their hair, so that not a single hair should be out of place. Isaiah, therefore, (3:23,) enumerates mirrors amongst the luxuries “Entre les bagages superflus des femmes.” — Fr. of the female world. Some, then, think that women, being devoted to God’s service, laid aside this vanity, and consecrated their mirrors in testimony of their repentance. It might, however, have been that, amongst the other gifts before spoken of, they offered mirrors also, which were mounted as embossments in this brasen laver. Others suppose that they were carvings, by which the portraits of females were depicted, as if seen in mirrors. The simple notion is most approved by me, that they were votive offerings, wherewith pious women had desired to decorate the sanctuary, and that they had been applied to this use by the advice of the artificers; for he does not speak generally of all the women, but of those who warred or assembled by troops at the door of the tabernacle; for translators C. here affords the reader a curious proof that he composed this note with S M. under his eye, by employing Munster’s word labrum for the Hebrew כיור, which he had previously rendered concha in his own text. But whilst S M had translated צבאת אשר צבאו, (mulierum) militantium, quae militabant, C. had the sagacity to drop the metaphor, and render the words convenientium, quae conveniebant צבא, says Professor Robertson, to assemble for worship, or for war. Clav Pentat in loco. — W variously explain this word צבא, tzaba, both in this passage and that from Samuel which I have just quoted. It is also applied to the Levites, who are said Numbers 4:3, “All that enter into the host.” — A.V. Numbers 8:24, “They shall go in to wait upon the service,” margin, “Heb., to war the warfare of the tabernacle.” — A.V. “to war the warfare” of the sanctuary, whilst performing their appointed work. (Numbers 4:3; 8:24.) Indeed this metaphor is by no means unsuitable to watchings and long-continued prayers. The sum is, that the laver was cast of their materials, or, as I rather suppose, embossed with these mirrors, in order that it might be more splendid.

21. This is the sum of the tabernacle “These are the counted-things.” — Lat. So also Ainsworth. As much as to say that this was the computation, or these the numbers; for he gives us to understand that not only was the tabernacle thus at once completed, but that its several parts were numerically distinguished, and consigned as it were to registers, “Afin que les Levites sceussent ce qu’ils devoyent avoir en garde;” in order that the Levites might know what they ought to have in charge. — Fr. so as to be given in charge to the Levites, lest any part of it should be lost. For the reference here is not so much to the fabric, or the architecture of the tabernacle, as to its perpetual conservation, viz., that Ithamar the priest deposited its several parts with the Levites, and this in accordance with the command of Moses.

22. And Bezaleel, the son of Uri. He again impresses upon us that the whole work was divine, both because Moses faithfully delivered the commands of God, and the artificers followed them with precise accuracy. At the same time, he counts up the whole sum of gold and silver, and shews us on what it was consumed. Hence we gather that every one honestly discharged his duty, and that no one was corrupted or drawn aside by covetousness so as to fall from his integrity. We are also informed from whence the amount of silver was obtained, viz., from the census of the people; for a tax of a common shekel, which was half a shekel of the sanctuary, was imposed on every head, as we See on Exodus 30:12, vol. 1, p. 482. have already seen. Moses now shews that this entire sum was collected and paid without fraud, and so applied as that none should be lost.

Exodus 39

Exodus 39:1-43

1. And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made clothes of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the Lord commanded Moses.

l. Ex hyacintho autem, et purpura, et vermiculo cocci fecerunt vestes ministerii ad ministrandum in sanctuario: fecerunt item vestes sanctitatis, quae erant Aharonis, quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova ipsi Mosi.

2. And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

2. Fecit et ephod ex auro, hyacintho, et purpura, et vermiculo cocci, et bysso retorta.

3. And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

3. Extenderuntque bracteas aureas, et inciderunt fila, ut texerent in medio hyacinthi, et in medio purpurae, et in medio vermiculi cocci, et in medio byssi, opere phrygionico.

4. They made shoulder-pieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together.

4. Oras fecerunt ei copulantes sese, et in duabus extremitatibus ejus conjungebantur.

5. And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the Lord commanded Moses.

5. Et cingulum ephod quod erat super illud, ex ipso erat juxta opus suum, ex auro, hyacintho, et purpura, et vermiculo cocci, et bysso retorta, quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova Mosi.

6. And they wrought onyx-stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel.

6. Et aptaverunt lapides onychinos circundatos palis aureis, sculptos sculpturis annuli cum nominibus filiorum Israel.

7. And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

7. Posuitque illos in lateribus ephod, ut essent lapides memoriae filiis Israel, quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova Mosi.

8. And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

8. Fecit et pectorale opere phrygionis, sicut opus ephod, ex auro, hyacintho, et purpura, et vermiculo cocci, et bysso retorta.

9. It was four-square; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.

9. Quadratum erat, duplicatum fecerunt pectorale: palmus longitudo ejus, palmusque latitudo ejus: duplicatum.

10. And they set in it four rows of stones; the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row.

10. Impleverunt autem in eo quatuor ordines lapidum, ordo autem talis erat, sardius, topazius, et carbunculus, erat ordo primus.

11. And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

11. Ordo vero secundus, smaragdus, sapphirus, et jaspis.

12. And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.

12. Ordo praeterea tertius, lyncurius, achates, et amethystus.

13. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.

13. Postremo quartus ordo, chrysolitus, onychinus, et beryllus circundati palis aureis in plenitudinibus suis.

14. And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.

14. Porro lapides illi juxta nomina filiorum Israel erant, duodecim, juxta nomina eorum, sculpturae sigilli, quilibet juxta nomen suum, secundum duodecim tribus.

15. And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathen work of pure gold.

15. Fecerunt et super pectorale catenas terminationis opere plectili ex auro puro.

16. And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.

16. Fecerunt etiam duas palas aureas, et duos annulos aureos: posueruntque duos illos annulos in duabus extremitatibus pectoralis.

17. And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.

17. Et inseruerunt duas catenas aureas duobus illis annulis qui erant in extremitatibus pectoralis.

18. And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, before it.

18. Duas autem extremitates duarum catenarum inseruerunt duabus illis palis, posueruntque eas in oris ephod a fronte ipsius.

19. And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward.

19. Fecerunt item duos annulos aureos, quos posuerunt in duabus extremitatibus pectoralis, in ora ejus quae erat in latere ephod intrinsecus.

20. And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the fore-part of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.

20. Fecerunt praeterea duos alios annulos aureos, quos posuerunt in duabus oris ephod inferne,a fronte ipsius, e regione conjunctionis ejus, supra balteum ephod.

21. And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the Lord commanded Moses.

21. Et ligaverunt pectorale ab annulis suis ad annulos ipsius ephod, filo hyacinthino, ut esset supra balteum ipsius ephod, neque separaretur pectorale ab ephod: quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova ipsi Mosi.

22. And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.

22. Fecit insuper pallium ipsi ephod opere textoris, totum hyacinthinum.

23. And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.

23. Et foramen pallii in medio ejus, sicut foramen loricae labrum erat in orificio ipsius per circuitum, ne frangeretur.

24. And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen

24. Feceruntque in fimbriis pallii malogranata ex hyacintho, et purpura, et vermiculo cocci, et bysso retorta.

25. And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates, upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates:

25. Fecerunt et tintinnabula exauro puro, posueruntque tintinnabula illa in medio malogranatorum, in fimbriis pallii per circuitum, in medio, inquam, malogranatorum.

26. A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the Lord commanded Moses.

26. Tintinnabulum et malogranatum, tintinnabulum et malogranatum in fimbriis pallii in circuitu, ad ministrandum, quemadmodum praeceperat et Jehova ipsi Mosi.

27. And they made coats of fine linen, of woven work, for Aaron, and for his sons;

27. Post haec fecerunt tunicas ex bysso opere textorio ipsi Aharon et filiis ejus:

28. And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen;

28. Mitram quoque ex bysso, et decora galerorum ex bysso, et foeminalia linee ex bysso retorta:

29. And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needle-work; as the Lord commanded Moses.

29. Balteum praeterea ex bysso retorta, et hyacintho, ex purpura, et vermiculo cocci, opere phrygionis, quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova ipsi Mosi.

30. And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, Holiness to the Lord.

30. Fecerunt postremo laminam coronae sanctificationis ex auro, scripseruntque in ea scriptura caelaturarum annuli, Sanctitas ipsi Jehovae.

31. And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the Lord commanded Moses.

31. Et inseruerunt in eam filum hyacinthinum, ut poneretur super tiaram superne, quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova Mosi.

32. Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

32. Perfectum est igitur totum opus tabernaculi conventionis: et fecerunt filii Israel juxta omnia quae praeceperat Jehova ipsi Mosi, sic fecerunt.

33. And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets;

33. Attuleruntque tabernaculum illud ad Mosen, tabernaculum et omnia vasa ejus, circulos ejus, tabulas ejus, vectes ejus, et columnas ejus, et bases ejus.

34. And the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins, and the vail of the covering;

34. Opertorium quoque ex pellibus arietum rubricatis, et opertorium ex pellibus taxorum, et velum operimenti.

35. The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy-seat;

35. Arcam testimonii, et vectes ejus, et propitiatorium,

36. The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shew-bread;

36. Mensam, omnia vasa ejus, et panem facierum,

37. The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light;

37. Candelabrum purum, lucernas inquam ordinationis, et omnia vasa ejus, et oleum luminaris,

38. And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle-door;

38. Et altare aureum, et oleum unctionis, et suffimentum aromaticum, et aulaeum pro ostio tabernaculi.

39. The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels; the laver and his foot;

39. Altare aereum, et cribrum ejus aereum, vectes ejus, et omnia vasa ejus, et concham, et basim ejus.

40. The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court-gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation;

40. Cortinas atrii, et columnas ejus, et aulaeum pro porta atrii, et funes ejus, et palos ejus, et omnia vasa ministerii tabernaculi, tabernaculi conventionis.

41. The clothes of service to do service in the holy place; and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons’ garments, to minister in the priest’s office.

41. Vestes ministerii ad ministrandum in sanctuario, vestes sanctas ipsi Aharon sacerdoti, et vestes filiorum ejus, ad fungendum sacerdotio.

42. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work.

42. Juxta omnia quae praeceperat Jehova Mosi, sic fecerunt filii Israel universum opus.

43. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

43. Videns vero Moses universum opus, quod prorsus fecissent illud quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova, benedixit illis.

CHAPTER 38

Ex 38:1-31. Furniture of the Tabernacle.

1. the altar of burnt offering--The repetitions are continued, in which may be traced the exact conformity of the execution to the order.

8. laver of brass ... of the looking glasses of the women--The word mirrors should have been used, as those implements, usually round, inserted into a handle of wood, stone, or metal, were made of brass, silver, or bronze, highly polished [Wilkinson]. It was customary for the Egyptian women to carry mirrors with them to the temples; and whether by taking the looking glasses of the Hebrew women Moses designed to put it out of their power to follow a similar practice at the tabernacle, or whether the supply of brass from other sources in the camp was exhausted, it is interesting to learn how zealously and to a vast extent they surrendered those valued accompaniments of the female toilet.

of the women assembling ... at the door--not priestesses but women of pious character and influence, who frequented the courts of the sacred building (Lu 2:37), and whose parting with their mirrors, like the cutting the hair of the Nazarites, was their renouncing the world for a season [Hengstenberg].

9. the court--It occupied a space of one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five, and it was enclosed by curtains of fine linen about eight feet high, suspended on brazen or copper pillars. Those curtains were secured by rods fastened to the top, and kept extended by being fastened to pins stuck in the ground.

10. hooks--The hooks of the pillars in the court were for hanging up the carcasses of the sacrificial beasts--those on the pillars at the entry of the tabernacle were for hanging the sacerdotal robes and other things used in the service.

11. sockets--mortices or holes in which the end of the pillars stood.

17. chapiters--or capitals of the pillars, were wooden posts which ran along their top, to which were attached the hooks for the hangings.

18. the height in the breadth--or, "in the measure." The sense is that the hangings of the court gate, which was twenty cubits wide, were of the same height as the hangings all round the court [Wall].

21. This is the sum of the tabernacle--Having completed his description of the component parts of the tabernacle, the inspired historian digresses into a statement respecting the gold and silver employed in it, the computation being made according to an order of Moses--by the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son.

24. twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels--equivalent to £150,00 sterling.

25. the silver of them that were numbered--603,550 men at half a shekel each would contribute 301,775 shekels; which at 2s. 4d. each, amounts to £35,207 sterling. It may seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered that they were enriched first by the spoils of the Egyptians, and afterwards by those of the Amalekites. Besides, it is highly probable that during their sojourn they traded with the neighboring nations who bordered on the wilderness [Hewlett].

The altar of burnt-offering - See Clarke's note on Exo 27:1; and for its horns, pots, shovels, basins, etc., see the meaning of the Hebrew terms explained, Exo 27:3-5 (note).

He made the laver - See Clarke's note on Exo 30:18, etc.

The looking-glasses - The word מראת maroth, from ראה raah, he saw, signifies reflectors or mirrors of any kind. Here metal, highly polished, must certainly be meant, as glass was not yet in use; and had it even been in use, we are sure that looking - Glasses could not make a Brazen laver. The word therefore should be rendered mirrors, not looking-glasses, which in the above verse is perfectly absurd, because from those maroth the brazen laver was made. The first mirrors known among men were the clear, still, fountain, and unruffled lake; and probably the mineral called mica, which is a very general substance through all parts of the earth. Plates of it have been found of three feet square, and it is so extremely divisible into laminae, that it has been divided into plates so thin as to be only the three hundred thousandth part of an inch. A plate of this forms an excellent mirror when any thing black is attached to the opposite side. A plate of this mineral, nine inches by eight, now lies before me; a piece of black cloth, or any other black substance, at the back, converts it into a good mirror; or it would serve as it is for a square of glass, as every object is clearly perceivable through it. It is used in Russian ships of war, instead of glass, for windows. The first artificial mirrors were apparently made of brass, afterwards of polished steel, and when luxury increased they were made of silver; but they were made at a very early period of mixed metal, particularly of tin and copper, the best of which, as Pliny tells us, were formerly manufactured at Brundusium: Optima apud majores fuerant Brundisina, stanno et aere mixtis - Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii., cap. 9. But, according to him, the most esteemed were those made of tin; and he says that silver mirrors became so common that even the servant girls used them: Specula (ex stanno) laudatissima Brundisii temperabantur; donec argenteis uti caepere et ancillae; lib. xxxiv., cap. 17. When the Egyptian women went to the temples, they always carried their mirrors with them. The Israelitish women probably did the same, and Dr. Shaw states that the Arabian women carry them constantly hung at their breasts. It is worthy of remark, that at first these women freely gave up their ornaments for this important service, and now give their very mirrors, probably as being of little farther service, seeing they had already given up the principal decorations of their persons. Woman has been invidiously defined by Aristotle, an animal fond of dress, (though this belongs to the whole human race, and not exclusively to woman). Had this been true of the Israelitish women, in the present case we must say they nobly sacrificed their incentives to pride to the service of their God. Woman, go thou and do likewise.

Of the women - which assembled at the door - What the employment of these women was at the door of the tabernacle, is not easily known. Some think they assembled there for purposes of devotion. Others, that they kept watch there during the night; and this is the most probable opinion, for they appear to have been in the same employment as those who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in the days of Samuel, who were abused by the sons of the high priest Eli, 1Sam 2:22. Among the ancients women were generally employed in the office of porters or doorkeepers. Such were employed about the house of the high priest in our Lord's time; for a woman is actually represented as keeping the door of the palace of the high priest, Joh 18:17 : Then saith the Damsel that Kept The Door unto Peter; see also Mat 26:69. In 2Sam 4:6, both the Septuagint and Vulgate make a woman porter or doorkeeper to Ishbosheth. Aristophanes mentions them in the same office, and calls them Σηκις, Sekis, which seems to signify a common maid-servant. Aristoph, in Vespis, ver. 768: - Ὁτι την θυραν ανεῳξεν ἡ Σηκις λαθρα.

Homer, Odyss., ψ, ver. 225-229, mentions Actoris, Penelope's maid, whose office it was to keep the door of her chamber: - Ακτορις - - - Ἡ νωΐν ειρυτο θυρας πυκινου θαλαμοιο.

And Euripides, in Troad., ver. 197, brings in Hecuba, complaining that she who was wont to sit upon a throne is now reduced to the miserable necessity of becoming a doorkeeper or a nurse, in order to get a morsel of bread. - - - η ταν Παρα προθυροις φυλακαν κατεχουσα, Η παιδων θρεπτειρα.

Sir John Chardin observes, that women are employed to keep the gate of the palace of the Persian kings. Plautus, Curcul., act 1, scene 1, mentions an old woman, who was keeper of the gate.

Anus hic solet cubitare, custos janitrix.

Many other examples might be produced. It is therefore very likely that the persons mentioned here, and in 1Sam 2:22, were the women who guarded the tabernacle; and that they regularly relieved each other, a troop or company regularly keeping watch: and indeed this seems to be implied in the original, צבאו tsabeu, they came by troops; and these troops successively consecrated their mirrors to the service of the tabernacle. See Calmet on Joh 18:16.

The court - See Clarke on Exo 27:9.

The hooks - and their fillets - The capitals, and the silver bands that went round them; see Clarke's note on Exo 26:32.

This is the sum of the tabernacle - That is, The foregoing account contains a detail of all the articles which Bezaleel and Aholiab were commanded to make; and which were reckoned up by the Levites, over whom Ithamar, the son of Aaron, presided.

All the gold that was occupied for the work, etc. - To be able to ascertain the quantum and value of the gold, silver, and brass, which were employed in the tabernacle, and its different utensils, altars, etc., it will be necessary to enter into the subject in considerable detail.

In the course of my notes on this and the preceding book, I have had frequent occasion to speak of the shekel in use among the ancient Hebrews, which, following Dean Prideaux, I have always computed at 3s (shillings), English. As some value it at 2s. 6d., and others at 2s. 4d., I think it necessary to lay before the reader the learned dean's mode of computation as a proper introduction to the calculations which immediately follow. "Among the ancients, the way of reckoning their money was by talents. So the Hebrews, so the Babylonians, and so the Romans did reckon. And of these talents they had subdivisions which were usually in minas and drachms; i.e., of their talents into minas, and their minas into drachms. The Hebrews had, besides these, their shekels and half-shekels, or bekas; and the Romans their denarii, which last were very nearly of the same value with the drachms of the Greeks. What was the value of a Hebrew talent appears from Exo 38:25, Exo 38:26, for there 603,550 persons being taxed at half a shekel a head, they must have paid in the whole 301,775 shekels; and that sum is there said to amount to one hundred talents, and 1775 shekels over: if therefore we deduct the 1775 shekels from the number 301,775, and divide the remaining sum, i.e., 300,000, by a hundred, this will prove each of those talents to contain three thousand shekels. Each of these shekels weighed about three shillings of our money; and sixty of them, Ezekiel tells us, Eze 45:12, made a mina; and therefore fifty of those minas made a talent. And as to their drachms, it appears by the Gospel of St. Matthew that it was the fourth part of a shekel, that is, nine-pence of our money. For there (Mat 17:24) the tribute money annually paid to the temple, by every Jew, (Talmud in shekalim), which was half a shekel, is called Διδραχμον(i.e., the two drachm piece); and therefore, if half a shekel contained two drachms, a drachm must have been the quarter part of a shekel, and every shekel must have contained four of them: and so Josephus tells us it did; for he says, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 9, that a shekel contained four Attic drachms, which is not exactly to be understood according to the weight, but according to the valuation in the currency of common payments. For according to the weight, the heaviest Attic drachms did not exceed eight-pence farthing half-farthing, of our money; and a Hebrew drachm, as I have said, was nine-pence; but what the Attic drachm fell short of the Hebrew in weight might be made up in the fineness, and its ready currency in all countries, (which last the Hebrew drachm could not have), and so might be made equivalent in common estimation among the Jews. Allowing therefore a drachm, as well Attic as Jewish, as valued in Judea, to be equivalent to nine-pence of our money, a Beka or half-shekel will be one shilling and six-pence; a Shekel, three shillings; a Mina, nine pounds; and a Talent, four hundred and fifty pounds. So it was in the time of Moses and Ezekiel; and so was it in the time of Josephus among that people, for he tells us, Antiq., lib. xiv., c. 12, that a Hebrew mina contained two Litras and a half, which comes exactly to nine pounds of our money: for a litra, being the same with a Roman libra, contained twelve ounces troy weight, that is, ninety-six drachms; and therefore two litras and a half must contain two hundred and forty drachms, which being estimated at nine-pence a drachm, according to the Jewish valuation, comes exactly to sixty shekels, or nine pounds of our money. And this account agrees exactly with that of Alexandria. For the Alexandrian talent contained 12,000 Attic drachms; and 12,000 Attic drachms, according to the Jewish valuation, being 12,000 of our nine-pences, they amount to 450 pounds of sterling money, which is the same in value as the Mosaic talent. But here it is to be observed, that though the Alexandrian talent amounted to 12,000 Attic drachms, yet they themselves reckoned it but at 6000 drachms, because every Alexandrian drachm contained two Attic drachms; and therefore the Septuagint version being made by the Alexandrian Jews, they there render the Hebrew word shekel, by the Greek διδραχμον, which signifies two drachms, because two Alexandrian drachms make a shekel, two of them amounting to as much as four Attic drachms. And therefore computing the Alexandrian money according to the same method in which we have computed the Jewish, it will be as follows: One drachm of Alexandria will be of our money eighteen pence; one didrachm or shekel, consisting of two drachms of Alexandria, or four of Attica, will be three shillings; one mina, consisting of sixty didrachms or shekels, will be nine pounds; and one talent, consisting of fifty minas, will be four hundred and fifty pounds, which is the talent of Moses, Exo 38:25, Exo 38:26 : and so also is it the talent of Josephus, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 7; for he tells us that a Hebrew talent contained one hundred Greek (i.e., Attic) minas. For those fifty minas, which here make an Alexandrian talent, would be one hundred Attic minas in the like method of valuation; the Alexandrian talent containing double as much as the Attic talent, both in the whole, and also in all its parts, in whatever method both shall be equally distributed. Among the Greeks the established rule was, Jul. Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, that one hundred drachms made a mina, and sixty minas a talent. But in some different states their drachms being different, accordingly their minas and talents were within the same proportion different also. But the money of Attica was the standard by which all the rest were valued, according as they more or less differed from it. And therefore, it being of most note, wherever any Greek historian speaks of talents, minas, or drachms, if they be simply mentioned, it is to be always understood of talents, minas, or drachms of Attica, and never of the talents, minas, or drachms of any other place, unless it be expressed. Mr. Brerewood, going by the goldsmith's weights, reckons an Attic drachm to be the same with a drachm now in use in their shops, that is, the eighth part of an ounce; and therefore lays it at the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, or the eighth part of a crown, which is or ought to be an ounce weight. But Dr. Bernard, going more accurately to work, lays the middle sort of Attic drachms at eight-pence farthing of our money, and the minas and talents accordingly, in the proportions above mentioned. The Babylonish talent, according to Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, contained seven thousand of those drachms. The Roman talent (see Festus Pompeius) contained seventy-two Italic minas, which were the same with the Roman libras; and ninety-six Roman denariuses, each being of the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, made a Roman libra. But all the valuations I have hitherto mentioned must be understood only of silver money, and not of gold; for that was much higher. The proportion of gold to silver was among the ancients commonly as ten to one; sometimes it was raised to be as eleven to one, sometimes as twelve, and sometimes as thirteen to one. In the time of King Edward the First it was here, in England, at the value of ten to one; but it is now gotten at sixteen to one; and so I value it in all the reductions which I make in this history of ancient sums to the present value. But to make the whole of this matter the easier to the reader, I will lay all of it before him for his clear view in this following table of valuations: -

Currency (British pound) s.(shilling) d.(penny1/12 shilling) Hebrew Money A Hebrew drachm 9 Two drachms made a beka or half-shekel, which was the tribute money paid by every Jew to the temple 1 6 Two bekas made a shekel 3 0 Sixty shekels made a mina. 9 0 0 Fifty minas made a talent 450 0 0 A talent of gold, sixteen to one 7200 0 0 Attic Money, according to Mr. Brerewood An Attic drachm 7.5 A hundred drachms made a mina 3 2 6.0 Sixty minas made a talent 187 10 0 A talent of gold, sixteen to one 3000 0 0 Attic Money, according to Dr. Bernard An Attic drachm 8.25 A hundred drachms made a mina 3 8 9.00 Sixty minas made a talent 206 5 0 A talent of gold, sixteen to one 3300 0 0 Babylonian Money, according to Mr. Brerewood A Babylonish talent of silver containing seven thousand Attic drachms 218 15 0. A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one 3500 0 0. Babylonian Money, according to Dr. Bernard A Babylonish talent in silver 240 12 6 A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one 3850 0 0. Alexandrian Money A drachm of Alexandria, containing two Attic drachms, as valued by the Jews 1 6 A didrachm of Alexandria, containing two Alexandrian drachms, which was a Hebrew shekel 3 0 Sixty didrachms or Hebrew shekels made a mina 9 0 0 Fifty minas made a talent 450 0 0 A talent of gold, sixteen to one 7200 0 0. Roman Money Four sesterciuses made a Roman denarius 7.5 Ninety-six Roman denariuses made an Italic mina, which was the same with a Roman libra 3 0 0 Seventy-two Roman libras made a talent 216 0 0

There were twenty-nine talents seven hundred and thirty shekels of Gold; one hundred talents one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels of Silver; and seventy talents two thousand four hundred shekels of Brass.

If with Dean Prideaux we estimate the value of the silver shekel at three shillings English, we shall obtain the weight of the shekel by making use of the following proportion. As sixty-two shillings, the value of a pound weight of silver as settled by the British laws, is to two hundred and forty, the number of penny-weights in a pound troy, so is three shillings, the value of a shekel of silver, to 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel required.

In the next place, to find the value of a shekel of gold we must make use of the proportion following: As one ounce troy is to 3. 17s. 10d., the legal value of an ounce of gold, so is 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel as found by the last proportion, to 2. 5s. 2 42/93d., the value of the shekel of gold required. From this datum we shall soon be able to ascertain the value of all the gold employed in the work of this holy place, by the following arithmetical process: Reduce 2. 5s. 2 42/93d. to the lowest term mentioned, which is 201,852 ninety-third parts of a farthing. Multiply this last number by 3000, the number of shekels in a talent, and the product by 29, the number of talents; and add in 730 times 201,852, on account of the 730 shekels which were above the 29 talents employed in the work, and we shall have for the last product 17,708,475,960, which, divided successively by 93, 4, 12, and 20, will give 198,347. 12s. 6d. for the total value of the gold employed in the tabernacle, etc.

The value of the silver contributed by 603,550 Israelites, at half a shekel or eighteen pence per man, may be found by an easy arithmetical calculation to amount to 45,266. 5s.

The value of the brass at 1s. per pound will amount to 513. 17s.

The Gold of the holy place weighed 4245 pounds.

The Silver of the tabernacle 14,602 pounds.

The Brass 10,277 pounds troy weight.

The total value of all the gold, silver, and brass of the tabernacle will consequently amount to 244,127. 14s. 6d. And the total weight of all these three metals amounts to 29,124 pounds troy, which, reduced to avoirdupois weight, is nearly ten tons and a half. When all this is considered, besides the quantity of gold which was employed in the golden calf, and which was all destroyed, it is no wonder that the sacred text should say the Hebrews spoiled the Egyptians, particularly as in those early times the precious metals were probably not very plentiful in Egypt.

A bekah for every man - The Hebrew word בקי beka, from בקי baka, to divide, separate into two, seems to signify, not a particular coin, but a shekel broken or cut in two; so, anciently, our farthing was a penny divided in the midst and then subdivided, so that each division contained the fourth part of the penny; hence its name fourthing or fourthling, since corrupted into farthing.

There appear to be three particular reasons why much riches should be employed in the construction of the tabernacle, etc.

1. To impress the people's minds with the glory and dignity of the Divine Majesty, and the importance of his service.

2. To take out of their hands the occasion of covetousness; for as they brought much spoils out of Egypt, and could have little if any use for gold and silver in the wilderness, where it does not appear that they had much intercourse with any other people, and were miraculously supported, so that they did not need their riches, it was right to employ that in the worship of God which otherwise might have engendered that love which is the root of all evil.

3. To prevent pride and vainglory, by leading them to give up to the Divine service even the ornaments of their persons, which would have had too direct a tendency to divert their minds from better things. Thus God's worship was rendered august and respectable, incitements to sin and low desires removed, and the people instructed to consider nothing valuable, but as far as it might be employed to the glory and in the service of God.

The altar of burnt - offering - On this all their sacrifices were offered. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God hath in accepting them.

This laver signified the provision that is made in the gospel for cleansing our souls from the pollution of sin by the merit of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the looking - glasses of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle. It should seem these women were eminent for devotion, attending more constantly at the place of public worship than others, and notice is here taken of it to their honour. These looking - glasses were of the finest brass, burnished for that purpose. In the laver, either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for looking - glasses, that the priests when they came to wash might there see their faces, and so discover the spots to wash them clean.

And he made the court - The walls of the court, were like the rest, curtains, or hangings. This represented the state of the Old Testament church, it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the inclosure being of curtains only, intimated that that confinement of the church to one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle - dispensation, moveable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.

By the hand of Ithamar - Here we have a breviate of the account which by Moses's appointment the Levites took and kept of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the tabernacle's use, and how it was employed. Ithamar the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account. All the gold amounted to twenty nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels over; Which some compute to be about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds worth of gold, according to the present value of it. The silver amounted to about thirty - four thousand pounds of our money. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and of the silver by way of tribute, shews that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expences, provided that nothing be done with partiality.

8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation .

Which as now they are sometimes made of polished steel, so anticntly were made of polished brass, as appears both from sacred and from profane writers. See Iob 37. 18. Plin. 33. 9. &c.

It seems to note a company of religious women who in a more peculiar manner devoted themselves to the service of God in or about his Tabernacle, by fasting, prayer, &c. See 1 Sam. 2. 22. and Luk. 2. 37. And whereas some object, that the Tabernacle was not yet built, it may be replied, either that this is to be understood of the tabernacle, spoken of Exod. 33. 7. which might serve for that purpose till this was built, or that here is a prolepsis or anticipation, and that he speaks not of what the women now did, but of what they did after the Tabernacle was built, which was before Moses writ these words.

Marginal references: chap. 30. 18.; Or, brazen glasses.; Heb. assembling by [illegible: 1+ letters]oops. as 1 Sam. 2. 22.

10 Their pillars were twenty, and their brazen sockets twenty: the hooks of the pillars, and their sillets were of silver.

Upon which they hanged the beasts to be sacrificed, as the Iews affirm.

18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needle-work, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits answerable to the hangings of the court.

The height relates to its standing or hanging upright, and the breadth relates to the hanging it self, and the height of the hanging was taken in the breadth.

21 This is the sum of the tabernacle , even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites , by the hand of Ithamar son to Aaron the priest.

This doth not belong to the following account of Gold and Silver, but to the foregoing particulars of holy things relating to the Tabernacle, for these onely were committed to the care of the Levites, as it here follows, but this Gold and Silver was put into other hands.

(i. e.) For those holy uses and services which the Levites administred.

24 All the gold that was occupied for the work, in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents , and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

Every talent contained three thousand shekels See Gen. 23. 15. Exod. 30. 13. It is not said, that all this Gold and following Silver were used about the building of the Tabernacle, for the people brought much more than enough, Exod. 36. 5. And these remains, it is probable, were put into the sacred treasury to be used as occasion should require.

Estimate of the Amount of Metal Used. - Exo 38:21. “These are the numbered things of the dwelling, of the dwelling of the testimony, that were numbered at the command of Moses, through the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.” פּקוּדים does not mean the numbering (equivalent to 2Sa מפקד 4:9, or 2Ch 17:14; 2Ch 26:11 פּקדּה), as Knobel supposes, but here as elsewhere, even in Num 26:63-64, it signifies “the numbered;” the only difference being, that in most cases it refers to persons, here to things, and that the reckoning consisted not merely in the counting and entering of the different things, but in ascertaining their weight and estimating their worth. Lyra has given the following correct rendering of this heading: “haec est summa numeri ponderis eorum, quae facta sunt in tabernaculo ex auro, argento et aere.” It was apparently superfluous to enumerate the different articles again, as this had been repeatedly done before. The weight of the different metals, therefore, is all that is given. The “dwelling” is still further described as “the dwelling of the testimony,” because the testimony, i.e., the decalogue written with the finger of God upon the tables of stone, was kept in the dwelling, and this testimony formed the base of the throne of Jehovah, and was the material pledge that Jehovah would cause His name, His manifested presence, to dwell there, and would thus show Himself to His people in grace and righteousness. “That which was numbered” is an explanatory apposition to the previous clause, “the numbering of the dwelling;” and the words הלויּם עבדת, which follow, are an accusative construed freely to indicate more particularly the mode of numbering (Ewald, §204 a), viz., “through the service,” or “by means of the service of the Levites,” not for their service. “By the hand of Ithamar:” who presided over the calculations which the Levites carried out under his superintendence.

Exo 38:22-23

The allusion to the service of the Levites under Ithamar leads the historian to mention once more the architects of the whole building, and the different works connected with it (cf. Exo 31:2.).

Exo 38:24 “(As for) all the gold that was used (העשׂוּי) for the work in every kind of holy work, the gold of the wave-offering (the gold that was offered as a wave-offering, see at Exo 35:22) was (amounted to) 29 talents and 730 shekels in holy shekel,” that is to say, 87,370 shekels or 877,300 thalers (L.131,595), if we accept Thenius' estimate, that the gold shekel was worth 10 thalers (L.1, 10s.), which is probably very near the truth.

Exo 38:25-28

Of the silver, all that is mentioned is the amount of atonement-money raised from those who were numbered (see at Exo 30:12.) at the rate of half a shekel for every male, without including the freewill-offerings of silver (Exo 35:24, cf. Exo 25:3), whether it was that they were too insignificant, or that they were not used for the work, but were placed with the excess mentioned in Exo 36:7. The result of the numbering gave 603,550 men, every one of whom paid half a shekel. This would yield 301,775 shekels, or 100 talents and 1775 shekels, which proves by the way that a talent contained 3000 shekels. A hundred talents of this were used for casting 96 sockets for the 48 boards, and 4 sockets for the 4 pillars of the inner court, - one talent therefore for each socket, - and the 1775 shekels for the hooks of the pillars that sustained the curtains, for silvering their capitals, and “for binding the pillars,” i.e., for making the silver connecting rods for the pillars of the court (Exo 27:10-11; Exo 38:10.).

Exo 38:29-31

The copper of the wave-offering amounted to 70 talents and 2400 shekels; and of this the sockets of the pillars at the entrance of the tabernacle (Exo 26:37), the altar of burnt-offering with its network and vessels, the supports of the pillars of the court, all the pegs of the dwelling and court, and, what is not expressly mentioned here, the laver with its support (Exo 30:18), were made. בּ עשׂה to work in (with) copper, i.e., to make of copper.

If this quantity of the precious metals may possibly strike some readers as very large, and was in fact brought forward years ago as a reason for questioning the historical credibility of our account of the building of the tabernacle, it has been frequently urged, on the other hand, that it looks quite small, in comparison with the quantities of gold and silver that have been found accumulated in the East, in both ancient and modern times. According to the account before us, the requisite amount of silver was raised by the comparatively small payment of half a shekel, about fifteen pence, for every male Israelite of 20 years old and upwards. Now no tenable objection can be raised against the payment of such a tribute, since we have no reason whatever for supposing the Israelites to have been paupers, notwithstanding the oppression which they endured during the closing period of their stay in Egypt. They were settled in the most fertile part of Egypt; and coined silver was current in western Asia even in the time of the patriarchs (Gen 23:16). But with reference to the quantities of gold and copper that were delivered, we need not point to the immense stores of gold and other metals that were kept in the capitals of the Asiatic kingdoms of antiquity,Thus, to mention only one or two examples, the images in the temple of Belus, at Babylon, consisted of several thousand talents of gold, to say nothing of the golden tables, the bedsteads, and other articles of gold and silver (Diod. Sic. 2, 9; Herod. 1, 181, 183). In the siege of Nineveh, Sardanapalus erected a funeral pile, upon which he collected all his wealth, including 150 golden bedsteads, 150 golden tables, a million talents of gold, and ten times as much silver and other valuables, to prevent their falling into the hands of the foe (Ctesias in Athen. 12, 28, p. 529). According to a statement in Pliny’s Hist. Nat. 33, 3, on the conquest of Asia by Cyrus, he carried off booty to the extent of 34,000 lbs. of gold, beside the golden vessels and 500,000 talents of silver, including the goblet of Semiramis, which alone weighed 15 talents. Alexander the Great found more than 40,000 talents of gold and silver and 9000 talents of coined gold in the royal treasury at Susa (Diod. Sic. 17, 66), and a treasure of 120,000 talents of gold in the citadel of Persepolis (Diod. Sic. 17, 71; Curtius, v. 6, 9). For further accounts of the enormous wealth of Asia in gold and silver, see Bähr, Symbolik i. pp. 258ff. but will merely call to mind the fact, that the kings of Egypt possessed many large gold mines on the frontiers of the country, and in the neighbouring lands of Arabia and Ethiopia, which were worked by criminals, prisoners of war, and others, under the harshest pressure, and the very earliest times copper mines were discovered on the Arabian peninsula, which were worked by a colony of labourers (Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, p. 336). Moreover, the love of the ancient Egyptians for valuable and elegant ornaments, gold rings, necklaces, etc., is sufficiently known from the monuments (see Rosellini in Hengstenberg’s Egypt, p. 137). Is it not likely, then, that the Israelites should have acquired a taste for jewellery of this kind, and should have possessed or discovered the means of procuring all kinds of gold and silver decorations, not to mention the gold and silver jewellery which they received from the Egyptians on their departure? The liking for such things even among nomad tribes is very well known. Thus, for example, after the defeat of the Midianites, the Israelites carried off so much gold, silver, copper, and other metals as spoil, that their princes alone were able to offer 16,750 shekels of gold as a heave-offering to Jehovah from the booty that had been obtained in this kind of jewellery (Num 31:50.). Diodorus Sic. (3, 44) and Strabo (xvi. p. 778) bear witness to the great wealth of the Nabateans and other Arab tribes on the Elanitic Gulf, and mention not only a river, said to flow through the land, carrying gold dust with it, but also gold that was dug up, and which was found, “not in the form of sand, but of nuggets, which did not require much cleaning, and the smallest of which were of the size of a nut, the average size being that of a medlar, whilst the largest pieces were as big as a walnut. These they bored, and made necklaces or bracelets by stringing them together alternately with transparent stones. They also sold the gold very cheap to their neighbours, giving three times the quantity for copper, and double the quantity for iron, both on account of their inability to work these metals, and also because of the scarcity of the metals which were so much more necessarily for daily use” (Strabo). The Sabaeans and Gerrhaeans are also mentioned as the richest of all the tribes of Arabia, through their trade in incense and in cinnamon and other spices.“They possess an immense quantity of gold and silver articles, such as beds, tripods, bowls, and cups, in addition to the decorations of their houses; for doors, walls, and ceilings are all wrought with ivory, gold, silver, and precious stones” (Strabo ut sup.). In accordance with this, Pliny (n. h. 6, 28) not only calls the Sabaeans “ditissimos silvarum fertilitate odorifera, auri metallis, etc.,” but the tribes of Arabia in general, “in universum gentes ditissimas, ut apud quas maximae opes Romanorum Parthorum que subsistant, vendentibus quae e mari aut silvis capiunt, nihil invicem redimentibus.”

From the Arabs, who carried on a very extensive caravan trade through the desert even at that time, the Israelites would be able to purchase such spices and materials for the building of the tabernacle as they had not brought with them from Egypt; and in Egypt itself, where all descriptions of art and handicraft were cultivated from the very earliest times (for proofs see Hengst. Egypt, pp. 133-139), they might so far have acquired all the mechanical and artistic ability required for the work, that skilled artisans could carry out all that was prescribed, under the superintendence of the two master-builders who had been specially inspired for the purpose.

The Tabernacle and Its Furniture. (b. c. 1491.)

1 And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. 2 And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. 3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass. 4 And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it. 5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves. 6 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass. 7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. 8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Bezaleel having finished the gold-work, which, though the richest, yet was ordered to lie most out of sight, in the tabernacle itself, here goes on to prepare the court, which lay open to the view of all. Two things the court was furnished with, and both made of brass:—

I. An altar of burnt-offering, v. 1-7. On this all their sacrifices were offered, and it was this which, being sanctified itself for this purpose by the divine appointment, sanctified the gift that was in faith offered on it. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God has in accepting them.

II. A laver, to hold water for the priests to wash in when they went in to minister, v. 8. This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the looking-glasses (or mirrors) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle.

1. It should seem these women were eminent and exemplary for devotion, attending more frequently and seriously at the place of public worship than others did; and notice is here taken of it to their honour. Anna was such a one long afterwards, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day, Luke ii. 37. It seems in every age of the church there have been some who have thus distinguished themselves by their serious zealous piety, and they have thereby distinguished themselves; for devout women are really honourable women (Acts xiii. 50), and not the less so for their being called, by the scoffers of the latter days, silly women. Probably these women were such as showed their zeal upon this occasion, by assisting in the work that was now going on for the service of the tabernacle. They assembled by troops, so the word is; a blessed sight, to see so many, and those so zealous and so unanimous, in this good work.

2. These women parted with their mirrors (which were of the finest brass, burnished for that purpose) for the use of the tabernacle. Those women that admire their own beauty, are in love with their own shadow, and make the putting on of apparel their chief adorning by which they value and recommend themselves, can but ill spare their looking-glasses; yet these women offered them to God, either, (1.) In token of their repentance for the former abuse of them, to the support of their pride and vanity; now that they were convinced of their folly, and had devoted themselves to the service of God at the door of the tabernacle, they thus threw away that which, though lawful and useful in itself, yet had been an occasion of sin to them. Thus Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner, when she became a penitent wiped Christ's feet with her hair. Or, (2.) In token of their great zeal for the work of the tabernacle; rather than the workmen should want brass, or not have of the best, they would part with their mirrors, though they could not do well without them. God's service and glory must always be preferred by us before any satisfactions or accommodations of our own. Let us never complain of the want of that which we may honour God by parting with.

3. These mirrors were used for the making of the laver. Either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable that the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots, to wash them clean. Note, In the washing of repentance, there is need of the looking-glass of self-examination. The word of God is a glass, in which we may see our own faces (see Jam. i. 23); and with it we must compare our own hearts and lives, that, finding out our blemishes, we may wash with particular sorrow, and application of the blood of Christ to our souls. Usually the more particular we are in the confession of sin the more comfort we have in the sense of the pardon.

9 And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: 10 Their pillars were twenty, and their brazen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 13 And for the east side eastward fifty cubits. 14 The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15 And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16 All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen. 17 And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court. 19 And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver. 20 And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

The walls of the court, or church-yard, were like the rest curtains or hangings, made according to the appointment, ch. xxvii. 9, &c. This represented the state of the Old-Testament church: it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the enclosure being of curtains only intimated that the confinement of the church in one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle-dispensation, movable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world, as is foretold, Isa. liv. 2, 3. The church here on earth is but the court of God's house, and happy they that tread these courts and flourish in them; but through these courts we are passing to the holy place above. Blessed are those that dwell in that house of God: they well be still praising him. The enclosing of a court before the tabernacle teaches us a gradual approach to God. The priests that ministered must pass through the holy court, before they entered the holy house. Thus before solemn ordinances there ought to be the separated and enclosed court of a solemn preparation, in which we must wash our hands, and so draw near with a true heart.

21 This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest. 22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses. 23 And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen. 24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them. 29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, 31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Here we have a breviat of the account which, by Moses's appointment, the Levites took and kept of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the tabernacle's use, and how it was employed. Ithamar the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account, and was thus by less services trained up and fitted for greater, v. 21. Bezaleel and Aholiab must bring in the account (v. 22, 23), and Ithamar must audit it, and give it in to Moses. And it was thus:—1. All the gold was a free-will offering; every man brought as he could and would, and it amounted to twenty-nine talents, and 730 shekels over, which some compute to be about 150,000l. worth of gold, according to the present value of it. Of this were made all the golden furniture and vessels. 2. The silver was levied by way of tax; every man was assessed half a shekel, a kind of poll-money, which amounted in the whole to 100 talents, and 1775 shekels over, v. 25, 26. Of this they made the sockets into which the boards of the tabernacle were let, and on which they rested; so that they were as the foundation of the tabernacle, v. 27. The silver amounted to about 34,000l. of our money. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and of the silver by way of tribute, shows that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expenses, provided that nothing be done with partiality. 3. The brass, though less valuable, was of use not only for the brazen altar, but for the sockets of the court, which probably in other tents were of wood: but it is promised (Isa. lx. 17), For wood I will bring brass. See how liberal the people were and how faithful the workmen were, in both which respects their good example ought to be followed.

CHAP. XXXVIII.

AND hee made the Altar of Burntoffring, of Shittim wood: five cubits the length thereof, and five cubits the bredth thereof, fouresquare; and three cubits the height thereof. And he made the hornes of it, upon the foure corners thereof; the hornes of it were of the same: & he overlaid it with brasse. And he made all the vessels of the Altar, the pans, and the shovels, and the basons, the flesh-hookes, and the firepannes: all the vessels thereof made he of brasse. And he made for the Altar, a grate, of net worke, of brasse: under the compasse therof, beneath, unto the midst of it. And he cast foure rings, in the foure utmost parts, for the grate of brasse: to be places, for the bars. And he made the bars of Shittim wood: and overlaid them with brasse. And hee put in the bars into the rings, on the sides of the Altar, to beare it withall: hollow, with boards made he it.

And he made the Laver of brasse, and the foot of it of brasse: of the looking-glasses of the women assembling-by-troops, which assembled-by-troops, at the doore of the Tent of the congregation.

And he made the Court, for the Southside south-ward; the tapestrie-hangings of the Court, were of fine-linnen twined; an hundred cubits. Their pillars twenty; & their sockets twenty, of brasse: the hookes of the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the North side, an hundred cubits; their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty of brasse: the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. And on the Sea side, tapestrie-hangings, of fiftie cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten: the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets of silver. And on the East side eastward, fiftie cubits. The tapestrie hangings of fifteen cubits, for the side: their pillars three, and their sockets three. And for the second side, on this hand and on that, for the gate of the court: tapestrie-hangings, of fifteene cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. All the tapestrie hangings of the Court round-about, were of fine linnen twined. And the sockets for the pillars, were of brasse, the hookes of the pillars, and their fillets of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver: & they were filleted with silver, all the pillars of the Court. And the hanging-veile for the gate of the Court, was the worke of the Embroiderer, of blew, and purple, and scarlet, and fine-linnen twined: and twenty cubits was the length; and the height in the bredth, five cubits, answerable to the tapestrie-hangings of the Court. And their pillars were foure, and their sockets foure, of brasse: their hookes of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters, and their fillets of silver. And all the pins of the Tabernacle, and of the Court round-about, were of brasse. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

These are the counted-things of the Tabernacle, of the Tabernacle of testimonie, as it was counted by the mouth of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the Priest. And Bezaleel, the son of Vri, the sonne of Hur, of the tribe of Iudah, made all that Iehovah commanded Moses. And with him, Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver & a cunning-workman: and an Embroiderer, in blew, and in purple, & in scarlet, and in fine-linnen. All the gold that was occupied for the work, in all the worke of the Sanctuarie: even the gold of the offring, was nine and twenty talents, and seven hundred & thirty shekels, by the shekel of the Sanctuarie. And the silver, of them that were numbred of the congregation, was an hundred talents: and a thousand and seven hundred and seventie and five shekels, by the shekel of the Sanctuarie. A Bekah for a poll, halfe a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuarie: for every one that passed unto them that were numbred from twenty yeeres old and upward; for sixe hundred thousand, and three thousand, and five hundred, and fiftie. And the hundred talents of silver, was to cast the sockets of the Sanctuarie, & the sockets of the veile: an hundred sockets, of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. And of the thousand and seven hundred and seventie and five shekels: hee made hooks for the pillars: and overlaid their chapiters, and filletted them. And the brasse of the offring, was seventie talents, and two thousand and foure hundred shekels. And therewith he made the sockets for the doore of the Tent of the congregation, and the altar of brasse, and the grate of brasse, which was for it: and all the vessels of the altar. And the sockets of the Court, round-about, and the sockets of the gate of the Court: and all the pins of the Tabernacle, and all the pins of the Court, round-about.

Annotations. ALtar] whereof see Exod. 27. 1. &c. foure-square,] the Greeke explaineth it, the altar was fouresquare. So Exod. 27. 1. Ezek. 43. 16. Vers. 8. Laver] see the notes on Exod. 30. 18. &c. assembling-by-troopes,] or, warring, to wit, the Lords spirituall warfare and service: as the Chaldee translateth, which came to pray; and the Gr. which fasted: and Thargum Ierusalemy; which were humbled. The same word is used againe in 1 Sam. 2. 22. of women that assembled-by-troopes at the doore of the Tabernacle: that is, came to pray, as the Chaldee there also saith. So Anna in the Temple served God with fastings and prayers night and day, Luk. 2. 37. and Paul speaketh of the desolate widow, that trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day, 1 Tim. 5. 5. Accordingly Moses speaketh of the Levites that entred in to warre the warfare, (that is, to performe the service,) and to doe the worke in the Tabernacle, Num. 4. 23. And Paul saith to Timothie, that thou by them mightest warre a good war-fare, 1 Tim. 1. 18. so that this phrase is usuall, to signifie the service of God. Now of the brazen looking-glasses of these religious women, was the Laver made: who gave the instruments whereby they drest their bodies, to make the instrument whereby through faith they might sanctifie their soules. See before, on Exod. 30. 18. 19. Vers. 9. Court] whereof, see Exod. 27. 9. Vers. 12. sea] that is, the west, as the Chaldee exponndeth it, see Gen. 12. 8. Vers. 14. the side] that is, the one side; to wit, of the Court gate, as after the text sheweth. See Ex. 27. 14. Vers. 17. chapiters] or heads, tops: so after, in verse 19. 28. filleted] or, hooped. Vers. 18. hanging-veile] of it, see Exod. 27. 16. Vers. 20. pins] or nailes, stakes: see Exod. 27. 19. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the 23. Section of the Law, see Gen. 6. 9. and 28. 10. Vers. 21. counted things] that is, the summe and particulars of the things about the making of the Tabernacle; which the Greeke translateth the constitution, (or, construction) of the Tabernacle. the mouth] that is, the word as the Chaldee expoundeth it, or commandement. Ithamar] under his hand, the Levites of Merari, had charge of the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, pins, coards, &c. about the Tabernacle and Court thereof, Num, 4. 29. 33. Vers. 24. occupied] Hebr. made, in Greek, wrought. offring] Heb. wave-offring; as the offring of it, is also called waving, Exodus 35. 22. It was likewise called an heave-offring, Exodus 25. 2. what these two motions meant, see the notes on Exod. 29. 24. 27. talents] every talent was 120. pound weight; for a talent weighed three thousand shekels, and every shekell 320. graines of Barley; see the notes on Gen. 20. 16. and Exod. 25. 39. This is confirmed by the summe here following, in verse 25. 26. for 603550. men, paying every one halfe a shekel, it amounted to 100. talents, and 1775. shekels. Vers. 26. Bekah] this, in the next words, is expounded to be halfe a shekel; see the notes on Gen. 24. 22. The Greeke translateth it, a drachme (or dram,) as a shekel is sometime turned in Greeke didrachme, a double dram, see Gen. 20 16. a poll] Hebrew a skul, which the Greeke translateth head, used for the person or whole man. So in Ex. 16. 16. old] Hebrew, son of 20, yeeres; see the notes on Genesis 5. 32.