Exodus 35
Sabbath Regulations
1Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ▼▼ Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2In six days ▼▼ This is an adverbial accusative of time.
work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ▼▼ The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ▼▼ See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99–101, 153–55, 204–6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.
Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 3You must not kindle a fire ▼▼ Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17.
in any of your homes ▼▼ Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.”
on the Sabbath day.” ▼▼ The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1–11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12–18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1–3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4–36:7).
Willing Workers
4 ▼▼ The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1–11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4–19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20–29); the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30–35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1–7).
Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 5‘Take ▼▼ Heb “from with you.”
an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart ▼▼ “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.
bring ▼▼ The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”
an offering to the Lord: ▼▼ The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.
gold, silver, bronze, 6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 7ram skins dyed red, fine leather, ▼ acacia wood, 8olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9onyx stones, and other gems ▼▼ Heb “and stones.”
for mounting ▼▼ Heb “filling.”
on the ephod and the breastpiece. 10Every skilled person ▼▼ Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.
among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11the tabernacle with ▼▼ In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this.
its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 12the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 13the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 14the lampstand for ▼▼ “for” has been supplied.
the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 15and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 17the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 18tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 19the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.” 20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 21Everyone ▼
▼ Heb “man.”
whose heart stirred him to action ▼▼ The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.
and everyone whose spirit was willing ▼ came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ▼▼ Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
22They came, men and women alike, ▼▼ The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).
all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, ▼▼ Heb “all gold utensils.”
and everyone came who waved ▼ a wave offering of gold to the Lord. 23 Everyone who had ▼
▼ The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.”
blue, purple, or ▼▼ The conjunction in this verse is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had.
scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather ▼ brought them. ▼▼ Here “them” has been supplied.
24Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as ▼▼ This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said.
an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood ▼▼ U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents.
for any work of the service brought it. ▼▼ Here “it” has been supplied.
25Every woman who was skilled ▼▼ Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 26and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled ▼▼ The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.
spun goats’ hair. 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted ▼
▼ Heb “and stones of the filling.”
for the ephod and the breastpiece, 28and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through ▼
▼ Heb “by the hand of.”
Moses had commanded them ▼▼ Here “them” has been supplied.
to do. 30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen ▼
▼ Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3–4.
Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 32to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 33and in cutting stones for their setting, ▼▼ Heb “to set.”
and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft. ▼▼ Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.
34And he has put it in his heart ▼▼ The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work.
to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35He has filled them with skill ▼▼ The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling.
to do all kinds of work ▼▼ The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”
as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are ▼▼ Here “They are” has been supplied.
craftsmen in all the work ▼▼ Heb “doers of all work.”
and artistic designers. ▼▼ Heb “designers of designs.”
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