Exodus 35

Moses gathered the whole community of the Israelites together and said to them, "These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do."

1And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.

2"Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day is to be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest for the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day must be put to death."

2Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

NoteThe Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, kept as a day on which no work is done. The Hebrew word means simply "ceasing." The death penalty attached to it marked it as one of the community's defining obligations, alongside its other capital laws.

3"Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day."

3Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

NoteLighting a fire was singled out because it was the first step in a day's labor, gathering fuel, cooking, firing a kiln or forge. Since the tabernacle work described here involved metalworking, the ban makes clear that even that work stopped on the Sabbath.

4Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites and said, "This is what the LORD has commanded:

4And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,

5Take up an offering for the LORD from among yourselves. Everyone who is willing in his heart is to bring it as the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze;

5Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

NoteAn "offering" here (Hebrew *terumah*) is not a sacrifice but a contribution: goods lifted out of a person's own property and set aside for sacred use. What follows is a materials list for a building project, and giving is explicitly voluntary.

6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;

6And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,

NoteBlue, purple and scarlet were the most expensive dyes in the ancient world. Blue and purple came from the glands of murex sea snails, harvested on the Phoenician coast; scarlet came from a scale insect. Yarn in these colors signaled wealth and royalty. "Fine linen" is a tightly woven Egyptian cloth.

7ram skins dyed red, and fine leather; acacia wood;

7And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

Note"Badgers' skins" in the King James is a guess at a Hebrew word (*tachash*) whose meaning is genuinely unknown; suggestions have included dolphin or dugong hide, a fine tanned leather, or a color term. Acacia is a hard, dense, insect-resistant desert tree, the only good timber available in the Sinai.

8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense;

8And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

NoteAnointing oil was olive oil blended with spices and poured on a person or object to mark it out for a particular use. Incense was a resin mixture burned to produce fragrant smoke. Both were standard equipment of temples throughout the ancient Near East.

9onyx stones and other stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece."

9And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

NoteThe ephod was a sleeveless garment, something like an apron, worn by the chief priest. The breastpiece was a pouch of cloth worn on his chest, set with twelve engraved gemstones. Onyx is a banded semi-precious stone.

10"Everyone among you who is skilled is to come and make everything the LORD has commanded:

10And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;

11the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases;

11The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,

NoteThe tabernacle was a portable tent-sanctuary, designed to be dismantled and carried. Its walls were upright wooden frames standing in metal bases, held in line by crossbars, with fabric coverings clipped together over the top by clasps.

12the ark with its carrying poles, along with the mercy seat and the curtain that screens it;

12The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,

NoteThe ark was a wooden chest overlaid with gold, carried on poles slid through rings so that it need never be touched. The "mercy seat" is its solid gold lid; the Hebrew word means a cover, and the King James translation reflects an interpretation of the word rather than its plain sense. The curtain hung in front of it to keep it out of sight.

13the table with its poles and all its dishes, and the bread that is set out before the LORD;

13The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,

NoteTwelve loaves were laid out on this table and replaced weekly, the "showbread," literally the bread of the Presence, so called because it sat continually in front of the place where God was understood to be present.

14the lampstand for the light with its equipment and its lamps, and the oil for the light;

14The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,

NoteThe lampstand was a branched stand holding seven lamps that burned olive oil. Its "equipment" was the tools that went with it: tongs for the wicks and trays for the trimmings.

15the incense altar with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, and the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle;

15And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,

16the altar for burnt offerings with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand;

16The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,

NoteBurnt offerings were animals burned whole on the altar. The grating was a bronze mesh inside it to hold the fire. The basin held water for the priests to wash their hands and feet before serving.

17the curtains that close in the courtyard, with their posts and bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard;

17The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,

NoteThe tabernacle stood inside a rectangular courtyard walled off by linen curtains hung on posts, with a single curtained gateway, an outer boundary marking off the sacred area from the camp.

18the tent pegs for the tabernacle and the tent pegs for the courtyard, along with their ropes;

18The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,

19the woven clothes for serving in the holy place, the holy clothes for Aaron the priest, and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests."

19The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.

NoteA priest was a man authorised to perform the sacrifices and rituals on behalf of everyone else. Aaron was Moses' brother, appointed as chief priest, and the office passed to his sons after him. Their special clothing was part of their formal qualification for the role, not a personal honor.

20Then the whole community of the Israelites left Moses and went away.

20And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

21Everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit made him willing, came and brought the LORD's offering for the work on the tent of meeting, for everything used in its service, and for the holy clothes.

21And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.

NoteThe "tent of meeting" is another name for the same tabernacle: the place where God was said to meet with Moses and the people.

22Both men and women came, everyone who was willing in heart, and they brought bracelets, earrings, rings, and pendants, all kinds of gold jewelry. Every man who made an offering presented an offering of gold to the LORD.

22And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.

Note"Tablets" in the King James translates a Hebrew word for some kind of gold ornament, probably a pendant or bead, whose exact form is unknown. The gold is described in Hebrew as a "wave offering," meaning it was presented with a formal gesture of lifting or extending it toward the altar.

23Every man who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather brought them.

23And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.

24Everyone who could give an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the LORD's offering, and every man who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it.

24Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD’s offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.

25All the women who were skilled spun yarn with their hands and brought what they had spun: blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

25And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.

NoteSpinning is twisting loose fiber into thread by hand, using a weighted spindle. It was slow, skilled work, and the finished thread was itself a valuable commodity.

26And all the women whose hearts stirred them up with skill spun the goat hair.

26And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.

NoteGoat hair spun into coarse yarn made the standard black tent-cloth of the region, tough and weatherproof, the outer layer of the tabernacle's covering.

27The leaders brought onyx stones and other stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece,

27And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;

NoteThe "leaders" are the heads of the tribes and clans. They supplied the gemstones, the single most costly item on the list.

28and they brought spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet-smelling incense.

28And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

29The Israelites brought a willing offering to the LORD, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to give for all the kinds of work the LORD had commanded, through Moses, to be done.

29The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

30Then Moses said to the Israelites, "Look, the LORD has called by name Bezaleel son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah.

30And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;

Note"Called by name" means singled out and named for the task, not simply chosen from a group. Judah was one of the twelve tribes descended from the sons of Jacob.

31He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, understanding, and knowledge in every kind of craft,

31And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;

NoteThe Hebrew words rendered "skill" and "wisdom" here are the ordinary words for practical craftsmanship and know-how, not for philosophical wisdom. The same terms are used elsewhere in this chapter of the weavers and spinners.

32to design skillful works and to work in gold, silver, and bronze,

32And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

33and to cut stones and set them, and to carve wood, so as to make every kind of skillful work.

33And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.

34And he has put it in his heart to teach others, both him and Aholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan.

34And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

NoteDan was another of the twelve tribes. Naming both a Judahite and a Danite spreads the work across the tribes rather than concentrating it in one.

35He has filled them with skill of heart to do every kind of work: the work of the engraver, the skilled designer, and the embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and the work of the weaver. They can do any kind of work and plan skillful designs."

35Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.

NoteThese are four distinct trades: the engraver cut stone and metal, the designer worked out patterns, the embroiderer stitched colored yarn onto finished cloth, and the weaver worked the pattern into the cloth on the loom as it was made.