Exodus 25

The LORD spoke to Moses and said,

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2"Tell the people of Israel to bring me an offering. You are to take my offering from every man who gives it willingly, from his heart.

2Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

Note"Offering" here translates a Hebrew word (terumah) meaning something lifted out of one's own property and set aside for a sacred purpose, a contribution, not a sacrifice killed on an altar. The point of the verse is that it is voluntary: nobody is taxed.

3This is the offering you are to take from them: gold, silver, and bronze;

3And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,

NoteThe King James "brass" does not mean modern brass (copper and zinc). It renders a word for copper or, more often, bronze, copper hardened with tin, the standard metal for heavy fittings.

4blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen; goats' hair;

4And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,

Note"Blue, purple, and scarlet" name dyed yarns, and the words carry their cost with them: the blue and purple came from a secretion of Mediterranean murex shellfish, gathered in tiny quantities, and the scarlet from a crushed insect. These were the dyes of royalty and great wealth.

5ram skins dyed red; fine leather; acacia wood;

5And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

Note"Badgers' skins" is the King James translators' guess at a Hebrew word (tachash) whose meaning is genuinely unknown; other proposals include dolphin or dugong hide, or simply a fine tanned or dyed leather. "Shittim wood" is acacia, a hard, dense, insect-resistant desert timber, one of the few usable woods available in the Sinai.

6oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense;

6Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

NoteAnointing oil was olive oil blended with spices and poured or smeared on a person or object to mark it as set apart for sacred use. Incense was a compound of aromatic gums burned to produce fragrant smoke.

7onyx stones, and other stones to be set into the ephod and the breastpiece.

7Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.

NoteThe ephod and the breastpiece were two parts of the high priest's dress: the ephod a sleeveless outer garment, the breastpiece a pouch worn on the chest and set with twelve stones. Both are described in detail in chapter 28. The stone the King James calls "onyx" cannot be identified with certainty; ancient gem names rarely map onto modern ones.

8Have them make me a holy place, so that I may live among them.

8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Note"Sanctuary" means simply a set-apart place, the word is built on the root for "holy," which in Hebrew means separated off for a particular use rather than morally pure.

9You are to make it exactly as I show you: the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings.

9According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

NoteThe "tabernacle" is a portable tent-shrine; the Hebrew word (mishkan) is literally "dwelling place," from the same root as "dwell" in the previous verse. "Instruments" in the King James means furnishings and equipment, not musical instruments.

10They are to make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

10And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

NoteThe "ark" here is a chest or box, an unrelated English word from the Noah story's vessel, though the King James uses "ark" for both. A cubit was roughly eighteen inches, about the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip, so this chest was about three feet nine inches long and two feet three inches wide and high.

11Cover it with pure gold, inside and outside, and put a gold molding all around it.

11And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

NoteThe King James "crown" here does not mean a headpiece; it means a raised rim or decorative molding running around the top edge.

12Cast four gold rings for it and attach them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

12And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "corners" is literally "feet" or "steps," so translators differ over whether the rings sat at the four bottom corners or on four projecting feet.

13Make poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold.

13And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

Note"Staves" means carrying poles.

14Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark, so that the ark can be carried with them.

14And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

15The poles are to stay in the rings of the ark. They must not be taken out of it.

15The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

16Put into the ark the Testimony that I will give you.

16And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

Note"The testimony" is a standing term for the stone tablets of the covenant terms, the word means a formal deposition or attested statement, the written evidence of the agreement between God and Israel. Hence "ark of the testimony" below.

17Make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

17And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

Note"Mercy seat" is William Tyndale's coinage, followed by the King James. The Hebrew word (kapporet) means a cover or lid (it is the ark's golden top) and comes from a root associated with wiping away or atoning. It is not a seat, and modern versions often render it "atonement cover." No dimensions for its height are given.

18Make two cherubim of gold, hammered out of one piece, at the two ends of the mercy seat.

18And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

NoteCherubim (the King James "cherubims" doubles the plural, since "-im" is already the Hebrew plural) are winged attendant figures of the divine court, known from Near Eastern art as composite creatures, often with animal bodies and human faces. They bear no relation to the plump winged infants of later European painting. "Beaten work" means hammered from a single piece of metal rather than cast or assembled.

19Make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end. Make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.

19And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

20The cherubim are to spread their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings. They are to face each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

21Set the mercy seat on top of the ark, and put into the ark the Testimony that I will give you.

21And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

22There I will meet with you. From above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the Testimony, I will speak with you about everything I command you for the people of Israel.

22And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Note"Commune with thee" in 1611 English means simply "speak with you," without any modern sense of communion or fellowship.

23Also make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.

23Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

24Cover it with pure gold, and put a gold molding all around it.

24And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

25Make a rim around it as wide as a hand, and put a gold molding around the rim.

25And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

NoteA handbreadth is the width of a palm across the base of the four fingers, about three inches.

26Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings at the four corners, where its four legs are.

26And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.

27The rings are to be close to the rim, to hold the poles used for carrying the table.

27Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

28Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold, so that the table can be carried with them.

28And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

29Make its plates and its dishes, and its jars and its bowls for pouring out offerings. Make them of pure gold.

29And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

NoteThe King James "spoons" renders a word for small pans or dishes, and "covers... and bowls to cover withal" are vessels for pouring, jars and bowls used for the drink offering, wine poured out as part of the sacrificial rite.

30Always keep the bread of the Presence on the table in front of me.

30And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

Note"Shewbread" (show-bread) is literally "bread of the face" or "bread of the presence": twelve loaves set out in God's presence on the table, replaced each sabbath and then eaten by the priests.

31Make a lampstand of pure gold. It is to be hammered out: its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms are to be of one piece with it.

31And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

Note"Candlestick" is misleading, candles were not in use. This is a lampstand holding seven open oil lamps. "Knops" is an old word for buds or knobs, and the "bowls" are cup-shaped ornaments, so the whole object is described as a stylized flowering almond tree.

32Six branches are to come out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side.

32And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:

33One branch is to have three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with a bud and a blossom; the next branch is to have three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with a bud and a blossom. It is the same for all six branches coming out of the lampstand.

33Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.

34On the lampstand itself there are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with their buds and their blossoms.

34And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.

35There is to be a bud under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair, matching the six branches that come out of the lampstand.

35And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.

36Their buds and their branches are to be of one piece with it. The whole lampstand is to be one piece, hammered out of pure gold.

36Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

37Make its seven lamps, and set them up so that they give light on the space in front of it.

37And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.

NoteThese lamps were shallow open dishes of olive oil with a wick laid in a pinched lip, not enclosed or wicked lanterns.

38Its wick trimmers and its trays are to be of pure gold.

38And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.

Note"Tongs" are the pincers for adjusting or trimming a wick; "snuffdishes" are the trays for carrying away the burnt wick ends that were snuffed off.

39The lampstand and all these tools are to be made from one talent of pure gold.

39Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

NoteA talent was the largest weight unit in use, roughly seventy-five pounds (about thirty-four kilograms), an enormous quantity of gold for a single object.

40See that you make them according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain."

40And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Note"The mount" is Mount Sinai, where Moses is receiving these instructions; "shewed" is simply the older spelling of "showed."