Materials of the Tabernacle
Exodus 38:21-31
Exo.38.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- פקודי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- המשכן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- משכן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- העדת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- פקד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עבדת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הלוים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- איתמר: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אהרן: NOUN,m,sg,abs,prop
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Numbers 3:6-10 (thematic): Both passages treat the Levites as a distinct group set apart for service to the sanctuary — God’s appointment of the Levites and their tabernacle-related duties is the common theme.
- Numbers 4:1-4 (thematic): Like Exodus 38:21, Numbers 4 records a divinely ordered taking/census and assignment of Levite families (here the Kohathites) for specific duties connected with the tabernacle.
- Exodus 39:32-43 (structural): This concluding summary of the tabernacle furnishings and the people’s obedience mirrors Exodus 38:21’s inventory/record language and the report of work done under Moses’ oversight and priestly supervision.
- 1 Chronicles 23:3-6,27-32 (allusion): David’s numbering and formal assignment of Levites to temple service echoes the Exodus material: both present a leader-ordered registration of Levites and a distribution of sanctuarial duties.
Alternative generated candidates
- These are the records of the tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, which were recorded at the command of Moses—the service of the Levites—by the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
Exo.38.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובצלאל: CONJ+PREP,NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אורי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למטה: PREP
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- אשר: PRON,rel
- צוה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 35:30-35 (verbal): Names Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur and states that God filled him with skill and wisdom to make all that the LORD commanded—direct verbal and functional repetition of Exod 38:22.
- Exodus 31:1-6 (allusion): God's appointment of Bezalel (and his craftsman role) and the command to construct the holy items—background source for the statement that Bezalel 'made all that the LORD commanded.'
- Exodus 36:1-7 (structural): Describes the artisans (including Bezalel and Oholiab) beginning the work at Moses' command and responding to the materials given—parallels the execution phase summarized in Exod 38:22.
- Exodus 39:32-43 (thematic): Final inventory and confirmation that the work of the tabernacle was completed according to the LORD's commands—echoes Exod 38:22's summary that Bezalel made all that was commanded.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo.38.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתו: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- אהליאב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחיסמך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למטה: PREP
- דן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חרש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וחשב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ורקם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בתכלת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ובארגמן: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובתולעת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- השני: ADJ,m,sg,def
- ובשש: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 31:2-6 (verbal): Names Aholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan and describes God-given skill for workmanship, including embroidering and use of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen — close verbal overlap.
- Exodus 35:30-35 (verbal): Recounts that God filled Bezalel and Aholiab with skill to make and embroider the sacred furnishings; repeats the list of crafts and the divine endowment of wisdom.
- Exodus 36:1-2 (structural): Describes Bezalel and Aholiab organizing and overseeing the skilled workmen to execute the Lord’s commands — a structural parallel showing the same artisans at work on the tabernacle.
- Exodus 26:1 (verbal): Specifies materials used for the tabernacle curtains — 'fine twisted linen, blue, purple, and scarlet' — repeating the textile and color vocabulary found in Exod 38:23.
Alternative generated candidates
- And with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman and designer and embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet yarn, and in fine twisted linen.
Exo.38.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כל: DET
- הזהב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- העשוי: ADJ,ptc,pass,m,sg,def
- למלאכה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מלאכת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- זהב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- התנופה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- תשע: NUM,card,f,sg
- ועשרים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- ככר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושבע: NUM,m,sg,abs
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ושלשים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- שקל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- בשקל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 38:25 (structural): Immediate parallel within the same chapter giving the silver accounting with the identical formula “by the shekel of the sanctuary” and numeric totals — same bookkeeping style as the gold sum in 38:24.
- Exodus 35:21–29 (thematic): Describes the voluntary contributions of gold and jewelry from the people for the tabernacle; provides the background for the gold measured and totaled in 38:24.
- Exodus 36:3–7 (thematic): Reports the craftsmen’s work and the overflowing contributions that required stopping further gifts — connects to the completion and accounting of materials (including the gold total) used for the holy place.
- 1 Chronicles 29:2–9 (structural): David’s detailed listing of gold and silver given for the temple (with exact weights and donors’ pledges) parallels Exodus’ careful accounting of metal used in the sanctuary.
- 1 Kings 7:13–51 (thematic): Catalogue of materials, craftsmen, and metal furnishings made for Solomon’s temple; thematically parallels Exodus’ inventorying of gold used for the holy place and the construction of sacred furniture.
Alternative generated candidates
- All the gold that was made for the work in all the work of the sanctuary—even the gold of the wave offering—was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the sanctuary shekel.
Exo.38.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכסף: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פקודי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- העדה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- מאת: PREP
- ככר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואלף: CONJ+NUM,card,sg,m
- ושבע: NUM,m,sg,abs
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- וחמשה: CONJ+NUM,m,pl
- ושבעים: CONJ+NUM,card,pl,abs
- שקל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- בשקל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 30:13-16 (verbal): Gives the law of the half-shekel for each person 'after the shekel of the sanctuary' — the legal basis and wording for the silver collected in Exod 38:25.
- Leviticus 27:25 (verbal): Uses the technical phrase 'shekel of the sanctuary' in valuation/regulation contexts, echoing the same standard of weight/value named in Exod 38:25.
- Numbers 3:47-51 (thematic): Describes redemption payments tied to a census (the Levites' ransom) and specifies payment in sanctuary shekels — a comparable instance of silver assessed and paid in connection with a numbering of the people.
- 1 Chronicles 29:7-9 (thematic): Records large contributions of silver and gold given for the house of the LORD and the accounting of those gifts — thematically parallel to the communal silver collected for the tabernacle in Exod 38:25.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the silver from those counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, by the sanctuary shekel.
Exo.38.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בקע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לגלגלת: PREP
- מחצית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- השקל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בשקל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לכל: PREP
- העבר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- הפקדים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- מבן: PREP
- עשרים: NUM,card,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ומעלה: CONJ
- לשש: PREP
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אלף: NUM,m,sg
- ושלשת: CONJ
- אלפים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וחמש: CONJ+NUM,card,pl,abs
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- וחמשים: CONJ+NUM,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 30:11-16 (quotation): Prescribes the half-shekel sanctuary tax (atonement-money) and the rule that each counted person from twenty years old and upward pay a half-shekel — the law directly echoed in Exod. 38:26.
- Exodus 38:25-28 (structural): Immediate context in the same chapter: lists the amounts of silver collected and repeats that the half-shekel was taken from those counted, giving the same total (600,350) and showing how the money was handled.
- Numbers 1:2-3 (verbal): The census instruction to count 'from twenty years old and upward' all able to go to war parallels the age criterion used in Exod. 38:26 for those required to pay the half-shekel.
- Numbers 26:2 (thematic): The later census repeats the formula 'from twenty years old and upward,' showing the same age-based basis for tribal censuses and related obligations as in Exod. 38:26.
- Leviticus 27:3-7 (thematic): Gives cultic valuations and treats the age bracket 'twenty to sixty' as a distinctive category for obligations/valuations — reflecting the broader legal practice of distinguishing persons by the twenty-year threshold used in Exod. 38:26.
Alternative generated candidates
- A beka a head, half a shekel, by the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who passed over into the count, from twenty years old and upward—six hundred thousand and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
Exo.38.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- מאת: PREP
- ככר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הכסף: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לצקת: VERB,qal,inf
- את: PRT,acc
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- הקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואת: CONJ
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- הפרכת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- מאת: PREP
- אדנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- למאת: PREP+NUM,f,sg
- הככר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ככר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לאדן: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 30:12-16 (structural): Prescribes the half-shekel census and the collection of silver for the service of the sanctuary — the legal/structural source for the silver that Exodus 38 says was used to cast the bases.
- Exodus 35:20-29 (thematic): Describes the people's offerings of silver, gold and materials for building the sanctuary; parallels the account in ch. 38 where donated metal is used to cast stands and fittings.
- 1 Kings 7:47-50 (verbal): Inventory of metalwork in Solomon’s temple (bases, vessels, implements) — shares technical terminology and the motif of casting bases/stands (אדנים) for cultic furniture.
- 1 Chronicles 29:2-5 (thematic): David’s collection of silver, gold and bronze for the temple and its vessels; parallels the use of congregationally provided metal to make sacred fittings in Exodus 38.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil: one hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent for a base.
Exo.38.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואת: CONJ
- האלף: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ושבע: NUM,m,sg,abs
- המאות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- וחמשה: CONJ+NUM,m,pl
- ושבעים: CONJ+NUM,card,pl,abs
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ווים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לעמודים: PREP,NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וצפה: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ראשיהם: NOUN,m,pl,poss,3,m,pl
- וחשק: CONJ,NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Exod.36:38-39 (verbal): An immediate parallel within the Exodus construction narrative — repeats details about the casting/number of bronze sockets (bases) for the tabernacle boards and pillars.
- Exod.27:10-11 (thematic): Instructions for the court’s pillars and bases/hooks; parallels the making and furnishing of upright supports and their fittings described in 38:28.
- Exod.26:19-30 (structural): Earlier specifications for the tabernacle boards, rings and sockets (bases) that underlie the later report of their manufacture in ch. 38.
- 1 Kings 7:15-22 (allusion): Description of Solomon’s temple pillars, capitals and metal fittings (bases, networks, hooks) — a later, larger-scale parallel in Israelite temple craft and furnishings.
Alternative generated candidates
- And of the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their tops, and banded them.
Exo.38.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונחשת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- התנופה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- ככר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואלפים: CONJ+NUM,m,pl,abs
- וארבע: CONJ,NUM,card,f,sg
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שקל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
Parallels
- Exodus 38:8 (verbal): Describes the laver (washbasin) made of the mirrors donated by the women — a specific instance of bronze/metal work in the tabernacle closely connected with the bronze (נחשת) mentioned in 38:29.
- Exodus 35:22 (thematic): Reports the donation of mirrors and other metal items by the people (especially the women), providing the raw metal resources used for the tabernacle’s bronze fittings referenced in 38:29.
- Exodus 38:25-28 (structural): Neighboring verses that enumerate the metals and weights contributed and used for the tabernacle (silver and bronze), offering immediate literary and numeric context for the bronze total given in 38:29.
- 1 Kings 7:46-47 (thematic): Summarizes the bronze work made for Solomon’s temple (vessels and fittings), paralleling the tabernacle’s catalogue of bronze items and highlighting continuity in Israelite cultic bronze manufacture and accounting.
- 2 Chronicles 4:2-5 (thematic): Describes the large cast-bronze ‘sea’ and its bases in Solomon’s temple — a later, expanded example of bronze casting for worship furniture that parallels the tabernacle’s bronze elements and their recorded weights.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
Exo.38.30 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אהל: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- מזבח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הנחשת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ואת: CONJ
- מכבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הנחשת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- כלי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- המזבח: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 27:1-5 (verbal): Gives the specifications for the bronze altar and the bronze grate beneath it (מזבח הנחשת, מכבר הנחשת), matching the items named in Exod 38:30.
- Exodus 26:19-30 (structural): Describes the frames, boards and sockets (אדנים) of the tabernacle—architectural parallel to the sockets and fittings made for the tent of meeting.
- Exodus 26:36-37 (verbal): Specifies the curtain/entrance and its pillars for the tent of meeting—parallels the reference to the door/entrance (פתח אהל מועד) in Exod 38:30.
- 1 Kings 7:48-50 (thematic): Records craftsmen fashioning altars, grates and all temple vessels for Solomon’s house—thematic parallel in making altars and their utensils for worship space.
Alternative generated candidates
- And with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar, and the bronze grating that was for it, and all the utensils of the altar.
Exo.38.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואת: CONJ
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- החצר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- סביב: ADV
- ואת: CONJ
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- שער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- החצר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- יתדת: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- המשכן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- יתדת: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- החצר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- סביב: ADV
Parallels
- Exod.27:9-19 (verbal): Earlier construction instructions for the court and its door, including the sockets/sockets of the court — the same items and phrasing found here (reiterated specification of sockets/pegs).
- Exod.36:38-39 (structural): The craftsmen’s report repeating that the sockets of the court and the door were made (brass) — a near-verbatim recital of the same components listed in 38:31.
- Num.4:7 (thematic): In the allotment of duties for transporting the tabernacle the list of objects to be covered and carried includes the planks, bars, pillars and sockets — showing the same functional concern with the tabernacle’s pegs/sockets and their role in assembly and transport.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the bases of the court all around, and the bases of the gate of the court, and all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs of the court all around.
These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which were recorded at the command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, under the oversight of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. And Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. And with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman and designer and embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet yarn and in fine twisted linen.
All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, the gold of the wave offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. And the silver from those counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
A beka a head, that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over among those counted, from twenty years old and upward: six hundred and three thousand, five hundred fifty. And there were one hundred talents of silver to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil: one hundred bases for the one hundred talents, a talent to a base. And of the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their tops, and banded them. And the bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. And with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grate, and all the utensils of the altar. And the bases of the court all around, and the bases of the gate of the court, and all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs of the court all around.