Exodus 39: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter reports the making of the priestly garments: the ephod, the breastpiece with its twelve engraved stones, the blue robe with bells and pomegranates, the tunics, turban, headbands, undergarments, sash, and the gold plate engraved HOLY TO THE LORD. Each item is finished as the LORD had commanded Moses. The work of the tabernacle is then completed, and the Israelites bring every part of it to Moses, item by item. Moses inspects all the work, sees that they have done it as the LORD commanded, and blesses them.

Claim by Claim

1. 39:1
   • From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made finely woven garments for serving in the holy place.
   • They made the holy garments for Aaron.
   • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
2. 39:2
   • He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen.
3. 39:3
   • They hammered the gold into thin sheets.
   • They cut the gold sheets into threads.
   • The gold threads were to be worked into the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen.
   • This was the work of a skilled designer.
4. 39:4
   • They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, joined to it.
   • The ephod was joined at its two ends.
5. 39:5
   • The skillfully woven band of the ephod that was on it was of one piece with it.
   • The band was of the same workmanship as the ephod.
   • The band was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen.
   • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
6. 39:6
   • They prepared the onyx stones, set in gold filigree settings.
   • The precise identity of these stones is uncertain.
   • The stones were engraved the way a seal is engraved, with the names of the sons of Israel.
7. 39:7
   • He set the stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod.
   • The stones were stones of memorial for the sons of Israel.
   • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
8. 39:8
   • He made the breastpiece, the work of a skilled designer, like the workmanship of the ephod.
   • The breastpiece was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen.
9. 39:9
   • The breastpiece was square.
   • They made the breastpiece doubled over.
   • Its length was a span and its width was a span, doubled.
10. 39:10
    • They set four rows of stones in the breastpiece.
    • The first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle.
    • The precise identity of these stones is uncertain.
11. 39:11
    • The second row was an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
    • The precise identity of these stones is uncertain.
12. 39:12
    • The third row was a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
    • The precise identity of these stones is uncertain.
13. 39:13
    • The fourth row was a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.
    • The precise identity of these stones is uncertain.
    • The stones were set in gold filigree settings in their mountings.
14. 39:14
    • The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel.
    • The stones were twelve, according to their names.
    • Each stone was engraved the way a seal is engraved, each with its own name.
    • The stones stood for the twelve tribes.
15. 39:15
    • They made chains on the breastpiece at its ends.
    • The chains were of twisted cord work.
    • The chains were of pure gold.
16. 39:16
    • They made two gold filigree settings.
    • They made two gold rings.
    • They put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece.
17. 39:17
    • They put the two twisted gold cords into the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece.
18. 39:18
    • They fastened the two ends of the two twisted cords to the two filigree settings.
    • They attached the settings to the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its front.
19. 39:19
    • They made two rings of gold.
    • They put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its edge that faced the inner side of the ephod.
20. 39:20
    • They made two more rings of gold.
    • They put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, underneath, at its front, near its seam.
    • The rings were placed above the woven band of the ephod.
21. 39:21
    • They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue.
    • This was so the breastpiece would rest above the woven band of the ephod.
    • This was so the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod.
    • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
22. 39:22
    • He made the robe of the ephod, the work of a weaver.
    • The robe was entirely blue.
23. 39:23
    • There was an opening in the middle of the robe.
    • The opening was like the opening of a coat of armor.
    • There was a binding around the opening.
    • The binding was so the opening would not tear.
24. 39:24
    • They made pomegranates on the skirts of the robe.
    • The pomegranates were of blue, purple, and scarlet twisted yarn.
25. 39:25
    • They made bells of pure gold.
    • They put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around.
26. 39:26
    • A bell and a pomegranate alternated around the hem of the robe.
    • The robe was to be worn for ministering.
    • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
27. 39:27
    • They made the tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver.
    • The tunics were for Aaron and for his sons.
28. 39:28
    • They made the turban of fine linen.
    • They made the ornamental headgear of fine linen.
    • They made the linen undergarments of finely twisted linen.
29. 39:29
    • They made the sash of finely twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.
    • The sash was the work of an embroiderer.
    • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
30. 39:30
    • They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold.
    • They wrote on it an inscription engraved as a seal is engraved.
    • The inscription read: Holy to the LORD.
31. 39:31
    • They fastened a cord of blue to the plate.
    • The cord was to attach the plate on the turban, above.
    • This was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.
32. 39:32
    • All the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished.
    • The sons of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
    • So they did.
33. 39:33
    • They brought the tabernacle to Moses.
    • They brought the tent and all its furnishings.
    • They brought its clasps, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases.
34. 39:34
    • They brought the covering of ram skins dyed red.
    • They brought the covering of tachash skins, whose material is uncertain.
    • They brought the veil that serves as a screen.
35. 39:35
    • They brought the ark of the testimony.
    • They brought its poles.
    • They brought the atonement cover.
36. 39:36
    • They brought the table.
    • They brought all its vessels.
    • They brought the bread of the Presence.
37. 39:37
    • They brought the pure lampstand.
    • They brought its lamps, the lamps set in their row.
    • They brought all its vessels.
    • They brought the oil for the light.
38. 39:38
    • They brought the golden altar.
    • They brought the anointing oil.
    • They brought the fragrant incense.
    • They brought the screen for the entrance of the tent.
39. 39:39
    • They brought the bronze altar.
    • They brought its bronze grating.
    • They brought its poles and all its vessels.
    • They brought the basin and its stand.
40. 39:40
    • They brought the hangings of the court.
    • They brought its pillars and its bases.
    • They brought the screen for the gate of the court.
    • They brought its cords and its pegs.
    • They brought all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting.
41. 39:41
    • They brought the finely woven garments for serving in the holy place.
    • They brought the holy garments for Aaron the priest.
    • They brought the garments of his sons for serving as priests.
42. 39:42
    • The sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
43. 39:43
    • Moses looked at all the work.
    • They had done it as the LORD had commanded.
    • So they had done it.
    • Moses blessed them.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

39:1

Chapters 35–39 report the carrying out, item by item, of the instructions given to Moses in chapters 25–31, which is why the wording keeps echoing the earlier commands. "The LORD" in capitals stands where the Hebrew has the personal name of God, four consonants usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers traditionally do not pronounce. The "holy place" is the sanctuary, the curtained tent and its enclosure where the priests served.

39:2

An ephod was a sleeveless garment worn over the priest's robe, something like an apron hanging front and back, joined at the shoulders and held by a woven band at the waist. The Hebrew word is usually left untranslated because no English garment matches it.

39:3

"Cunning work" in 1611 English meant expert, skilled workmanship, with no hint of trickery. The technique described is a real one: gold hammered into foil, sliced into hair-thin strips, and woven in among the threads as metallic yarn.

39:5

The KJV's "curious girdle" is a skillfully woven waistband. "Curious" then meant made with great care and precision, and a "girdle" was a belt or sash worn around the outside of the clothes.

39:6

A seal (the King James "signet") was a small carved stone pressed into soft clay or wax to leave a mark identifying its owner. The stones were cut with the same fine engraving technique.

39:7

The Hebrew word rendered "remembrance" means a reminder or memorial: the priest carried the names of the tribes on his shoulders whenever he served.

39:8

The breastpiece was a folded square of cloth worn on the chest over the ephod, forming a pouch. Exodus 28 says it held the Urim and Thummim, objects used to seek a decision from God.

39:9

A span was the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger on a spread hand, about nine inches or twenty-three centimetres. So the folded breastpiece was roughly a nine-inch square.

39:10

The names of the twelve stones in verses 10–13 are uncertain. The Hebrew words are ancient trade names, and no one now knows exactly which minerals they meant; modern translations differ widely. "Sardius" is a deep red stone (some translations say ruby or carnelian) and "carbuncle" is an older English word for a red gem.

39:11

"Diamond" here is a traditional guess rather than a certainty; ancient jewellers had no way of cutting diamonds, so some other hard pale stone is likely. "Emerald" and "sapphire" are also uncertain, sapphire probably standing for the deep blue stone lapis lazuli.

39:12

"Ligure" is an old English name for a yellow or orange stone, often identified with jacinth or with amber.

39:13

A beryl is green or blue-green. Jasper is a stone that can be red, brown, or green.

39:14

The twelve tribes were the family groups descended from the twelve sons of Jacob, who was also called Israel; together they made up the nation. Each tribe's name was cut into one of the stones.

39:21

A "lace" in 1611 English is a cord or tie used to lace something into place, like a bootlace. It has nothing to do with the delicate openwork fabric the word means now.

39:22

This robe was a long sleeveless blue garment worn under the ephod and reaching below the knees.

39:23

The King James compares the neck opening to that of a "habergeon", a coat of mail or armor, which had a reinforced collar so the head-hole would not tear. The Hebrew term is uncertain and may simply mean a stout garment.

39:24

Pomegranates are a round red fruit with a small crown at the top, common in the region. Here they are ornaments made of colored yarn, hanging from the lower edge of the robe.

39:25

Exodus 28:35 says the bells were to be heard when Aaron went into the holy place and came out again.

39:27

A "coat" in the KJV is a tunic: a long shirt-like garment worn next to the body and reaching to the ankles, not an overcoat.

39:28

The turban was a length of linen wound round the head; the headbands were simpler versions for Aaron's sons. The undergarments (King James "breeches") were short linen trousers reaching from waist to thigh, which Exodus 28:42 says were to cover the body while the priests served.

39:29

A sash is a long band of cloth wrapped around the waist and tied, like a wide soft belt.

39:30

This was a thin strip of gold worn across the front of the turban. "Holy" in Hebrew means set apart or dedicated, so the inscription marks the wearer, and the object, as belonging to the LORD and reserved for his service.

39:32

The tabernacle was the portable tent-sanctuary the Israelites carried with them, built to the specifications of chapters 25–31. It is also called the tent of meeting because it was the appointed place where God met with Moses and the people.

39:33

The tent stood on a wooden framework: upright frames set into heavy metal bases, kept in line by crossbars running through rings, with the fabric panels joined edge to edge by clasps.

39:34

The Hebrew word behind "fine leather" (King James "badgers' skins") is of unknown meaning; suggestions include dolphin or porpoise hide, goat or antelope skin, and specially treated leather. The "curtain that serves as a screen" is the heavy embroidered veil that hung inside the tent, separating off the innermost room.

39:35

The ark was a gilded wooden chest carried on poles through rings at its corners; the "testimony" it held was the pair of stone tablets inscribed with the commandments. The mercy seat was its solid gold lid; the Hebrew word means covering, and "mercy seat" is a phrase coined by the early English translator William Tyndale.

39:36

The King James calls this "shewbread": twelve loaves kept on the table in the holy place, set out fresh each sabbath and then eaten by the priests.

39:37

The lampstand (Hebrew menorah) was a gold stand with six branches and a central shaft, holding seven lamps that burned olive oil and stood inside the tent.

39:38

The gold altar was the small altar for burning incense, which stood inside the tent, as distinct from the large bronze altar outside. The anointing oil was a perfumed olive-oil mixture poured on people and objects to mark them as set apart for the sanctuary's service.

39:39

The bronze altar stood in the open courtyard; animals were burned on it as offerings, and the grating held the fire and let ash fall through. The basin, called a "laver" in the King James, was a bronze bowl of water in which the priests washed their hands and feet before serving.

39:40

The courtyard was the open enclosure around the tabernacle, its walls formed of linen curtains hung on posts and held upright by guy ropes and tent pegs.

39:43

The wording of this verse deliberately echoes the end of the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2: the finished work is looked over, seen to be exactly as it should be, and then blessed.