Exodus 36

Then Bezaleel and Aholiab worked, along with every skilled man in whom the LORD had put skill and understanding to know how to do every kind of work for the service of the holy place, doing all that the LORD had commanded.

1Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.

NoteThe sanctuary, or holy place, is the tabernacle: a portable tent-shrine that the Israelites carried with them and set up wherever they camped. This chapter describes the actual building of it, following item by item the instructions given earlier (Exodus 25–31), which is why much of the wording repeats what was said before.

2Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab and every skilled man in whose heart the LORD had put skill, that is, everyone whose heart moved him to come to the work and do it.

2And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:

3They received from Moses all the offering that the Israelites had brought for the work of the service of the holy place, to build it with. And the people kept bringing him freely given gifts every morning.

3And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.

NoteThe "offering" here is not a sacrifice but a contribution of raw materials (gold, silver, bronze, dyed yarn, linen, skins, timber, gemstones) donated by the people for the construction, as described in the previous chapter. "Freely given" means no amount was assessed or required.

4So all the skilled men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each man from the work he was doing,

4And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;

5and they said to Moses, "The people are bringing much more than enough for the service of the work that the LORD commanded to be done."

5And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

6So Moses gave an order, and they had it announced all through the camp: "Let no man or woman make anything more as an offering for the holy place." So the people were held back from bringing more.

6And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

7For the material they already had was enough to do all the work, and more than enough.

7For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

8Every skilled man among those doing the work of the tabernacle, the worship tent, made ten curtains of fine twisted linen with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; he made them with figures of cherubim skillfully worked into them.

8And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

NoteCherubim (singular cherub) were winged composite creatures, part animal and part human, widely known in the ancient Near East as guardian figures flanking thrones and doorways; they are not the plump infants of later European art. The blue, purple and scarlet were the most expensive dyes of the age, blue and purple extracted from shellfish and scarlet from a crushed insect, so the colors themselves signaled costly, royal-grade fabric.

9Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were the same size.

9The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size.

NoteA cubit was roughly eighteen inches, about the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip. Each curtain was therefore around forty-two feet long and six feet wide.

10He joined five of the curtains to one another, and he joined the other five to one another.

10And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.

11He made loops of blue on the edge of the end curtain of the first set, along its finished edge, and he did the same on the outer edge of the end curtain of the second set.

11And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

12He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set; the loops were set opposite one another.

12Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.

13He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle became one whole.

13And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.

14He made curtains of goat hair for the tent that went over the tabernacle; he made eleven of them.

14And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.

NoteGoat hair was the ordinary cloth of nomad tents in the region: coarse, dark, and swelling when wet so that it turned rain. This outer set of curtains was the weatherproof layer over the decorated linen ones.

15Each curtain was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; the eleven curtains were all the same size.

15The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.

16He joined five of the curtains into one set and six into another.

16And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

17He made fifty loops along the outer edge of the end curtain of the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined to the second set.

17And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

18He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together, so that it would be one whole.

18And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

Note"Brass" in the King James Version always means bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. True brass was not in use at this period.

19He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

19And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.

NoteThe second covering translates a Hebrew word (tachash) whose meaning is genuinely uncertain. It has been taken as badger, dolphin or dugong hide, and as a kind of fine or specially treated leather; no one can now say which is right.

20He made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

20And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

Note"Shittim" is acacia, the one tree of the Sinai region that yields substantial timber. It is hard, dense and resistant to insects, and was the standard wood for durable desert construction.

21Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

21The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.

NoteAbout fifteen feet tall and a little over two feet wide.

22Each frame had two tenons, pegs that stuck out, set an equal distance from each other. He made all the frames of the tabernacle this way.

22One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

23He made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side.

23And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:

24He made forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames: two bases under one frame for its two pegs, and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs.

24And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

NoteThe sockets, or bases, were heavy blocks of cast silver laid on the ground with holes in them; the pegs at the foot of each frame dropped into the holes, so the whole wall stood on a silver footing rather than being driven into the sand. Exodus 38:27 says each of these bases used a talent of silver, roughly seventy-five pounds.

25For the other side of the tabernacle, the side toward the north, he made twenty frames,

25And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

26with their forty silver bases: two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame.

26And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

27For the far side of the tabernacle, toward the west, he made six frames,

27And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

28and he made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle at that far end.

28And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

29They were joined at the bottom and joined together at the top into a single ring. He did this with both of them, at both corners.

29And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

30So there were eight frames, with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under every frame.

30And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.

31He made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle,

31And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

32five crossbars for the frames on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the frames at the far side of the tabernacle, toward the west.

32And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

33He made the middle crossbar so that it ran through the frames from one end to the other.

33And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

34He covered the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to hold the crossbars, and he covered the crossbars with gold.

34And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35He made the veil, a hanging curtain, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, with figures of cherubim skillfully worked into it.

35And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

NoteThe veil was the inner curtain that divided the tabernacle into two rooms: an outer room and, behind the veil, the innermost room that held the ark. Only certain personnel could pass it, and only at set times.

36For it he made four posts of acacia wood and covered them with gold; their hooks were gold, and he cast four silver bases for them.

36And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, done in needlework,

37And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

NoteThe King James distinguishes two grades of textile work. The veil and the inner curtains were "cunning work", figures of cherubim worked into the fabric by a designer-weaver as it was woven. This door screen is "needlework," embroidery added afterwards with a needle, and it carries no cherubim.

38along with its five posts and their hooks. He covered the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

38And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.

Note"Chapiters" are capitals, the decorated tops of the posts. "Fillets" are the bands or rods running between the posts, either as connecting rails or as decorative rings around them.