Exodus 35:4–39:43

Willing Workers

35:4 8 Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 35:5 ‘Take9 an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart10 bring11 an offering to the Lord:12 gold, silver, bronze, 35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather,13 acacia wood, 35:8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 35:9 onyx stones, and other gems14 for mounting15 on the ephod and the breastpiece. 35:10 Every skilled person16 among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 35:11 the tabernacle with17 its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 35:12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 35:13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 35:14 the lampstand for18 the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 35:15 and 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; 35:16 the 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; 35:17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 35:18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 35:19 the 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.”

35:20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 35:21 Everyone19 whose heart stirred him to action20 and everyone whose spirit was willing21 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.22 35:22 They came, men and women alike,23 all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry,24 and everyone came who waved25 a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

35:23 Everyone who had26 blue, purple, or27 scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather28 brought them.29 35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as30 an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood31 for any work of the service brought it.32 35:25 Every woman who was skilled33 spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 35:26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled34 spun goats’ hair.

35:27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted35 for the ephod and the breastpiece, 35:28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

35:29 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 through36 Moses had commanded them37 to do.

35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen38 Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 35:31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God—with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 35:32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 35:33 and in cutting stones for their setting,39 and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.40 35:34 And he has put it in his heart41 to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35:35 He has filled them with skill42 to do all kinds of work43 as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are44 craftsmen in all the work45 and artistic designers.46 36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person1 in whom the Lord has put skill2 and ability3 to know how4 to do all the work for the service5 of the sanctuary are to do the work6 according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

36:2 Moses summoned7 Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom8 the Lord had put skill—everyone whose heart stirred him9 to volunteer10 to do the work, 36:3 and they received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do11 the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning.12 36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work13 they were doing 36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than14 is needed for the completion15 of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!”16

36:6 Moses instructed them to take17 his message18 throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more.19 36:7 Now the materials were more than enough20 for them to do all the work.21

The Building of the Tabernacle

36:8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer. 36:9 The length of one curtain was forty-two feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet—the same size for each of the curtains. 36:10 He joined22 five of the curtains to one another, and the other23 five curtains he joined to one another. 36:11 He made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 36:12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another. 36:13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.24

36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.25 36:15 The length of one curtain was forty-five feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet—one size for all eleven curtains. 36:16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 36:17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set. 36:18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit.26 36:19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.27

36:20 He made the frames28 for the tabernacle of acacia wood29 as uprights.30 36:21 The length of each31 frame was fifteen feet, the width of each32 frame was two and a quarter feet, 36:22 with33 two projections per frame parallel one to another.34 He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 36:24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames—two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise35 two bases under the next frame for its two projections, 36:25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 36:26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next36 frame. 36:27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames. 36:28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 36:29 At the two corners37 they were doubled at the lower end and38 finished together at the top in one ring. So he did for both. 36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

36:31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle 36:32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west. 36:33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames. 36:34 He overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places39 for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.

36:35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made40 it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks,41 and he cast for them four silver bases.

36:37 He made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, 36:38 and its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their tops42 and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.43

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border1 of gold for it. 37:3 He cast four gold rings for it that he put2 on its four feet, with3 two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 37:4 He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, 37:5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.

37:6 He made4 an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches. 37:7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid, 37:8 one cherub on one end5 and one cherub on the other end.6 He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. 37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings7 upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim8 faced each other,9 looking toward the atonement lid.10

The Making of the Table

37:10 He made the table of acacia wood; its length was three feet, its width one foot six inches, and…

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8	sn 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).
9	tn Heb “from with you.”
10	tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.
11	tn 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.”
12	tn 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.
13	tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
14	tn Heb “and stones.”
15	tn Heb “filling.”
16	tn Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.
17	tn 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.
18	tn “for” has been supplied.
19	tn Heb “man.”
20	tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.
21	tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).
22	tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
23	tn 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).
24	tn Heb “all gold utensils.”
25	tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.
26	tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.”
27	tn 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.
28	tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
29	tn Here “them” has been supplied.
30	tn 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.
31	sn 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.
32	tn Here “it” has been supplied.
33	tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
34	tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.
35	tn Heb “and stones of the filling.”
36	tn Heb “by the hand of.”
37	tn Here “them” has been supplied.
38	tn 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.
39	tn Heb “to set.”
40	tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.
41	sn 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.
42	tn 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.
43	tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”
44	tn Here “They are” has been supplied.
45	tn Heb “doers of all work.”
46	tn Heb “designers of designs.”
1	tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”
2	tn Heb “wisdom.”
3	tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”
4	tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.
5	tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”
6	tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.
7	tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to”—“to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.
8	tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”
9	tn Or “whose heart was willing.”
10	sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.
11	tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive “to do it” comes after “sanctuary”; it makes a smoother rendering in English to move it forward, rather than reading “brought for the work.”
12	tn Heb “in the morning, in the morning.”
13	tn Heb “a man, a man from his work”; or “each one from his work.”
14	tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim léhavi’) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply … to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.
15	tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).
16	tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object—“to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.
17	tn The verse simply reads, “and Moses commanded and they caused [a voice] to cross over in the camp.” The second preterite with the vav may be subordinated to the first clause, giving the intent (purpose or result).
18	tn Heb “voice.”
19	tn The verse ends with the infinitive serving as the object of the preposition: “from bringing.”
20	tn This part of the sentence comes from the final verb, the Hiphil infinitive—leave over, meaning, have more than enough (see BDB 451 s.v. יָתַר).
21	tn Heb “for all the work, to do it.” sn This lengthy section (35:1–36:7) forms one of the most remarkable sections in the book. Here there is a mixture of God’s preparation of people to do the work and their willingness to give and to serve. It not only provides insight into this renewed community of believers, but it also provides a timeless message for the church. The point is clear enough: In response to God’s commission, and inspired by God’s Spirit, the faithful and willing people rally to support and participate in the Lord’s work.
22	tn The verb is singular since it probably is referring to Bezalel, but since he would not do all the work himself, it may be that the verbs could be given a plural subject: “they joined.”
23	tn The words “the other” have been supplied.
24	tn Heb “one.”
25	tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”
26	tn The construction uses the infinitive construct from the verb “to be” to express this purpose clause: “to be one,” or, “so that it might be a unit.”
27	tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
28	tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqérashim) means “boards” or “frames” or “planks” (see Ezek 27:6) or “beams,” given the size of them. The literature on this includes M. Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 192; B. A. Levine, “The Description of the Tabernacle Texts of the Pentateuch,” JAOS 85 (1965): 307–18; J. Morgenstern, “The Ark, the Ephod, and the Tent,” HUCA 17 (1942/43): 153–265; 18 (1943/44): 1–52.
29	tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.
30	tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).
31	tn Heb “the frame.”
32	tn Heb “the one.”
33	tn Heb “two hands to the one frame.”
34	tn Heb “joined one to one.”
35	tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”
36	tn Heb “under the one frame” again.
37	tn This is the last phrase of the verse, moved forward for clarity.
38	tn This difficult verse uses the perfect tense at the beginning, and the second clause parallels it with יִהְיוּ (yihyu), which has to be taken here as a preterite without the consecutive vav (ו). The predicate “finished” or “completed” is the word תָּמִּים (tammim); it normally means “complete, sound, whole,” and related words describe the sacrifices as without blemish.
39	tn Literally “houses”; i.e., places to hold the bars.
40	tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.
41	tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”
42	tn The word is “their heads”; technically it would be “their capitals” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The bands were bands of metal surrounding these capitals just beneath them. These are not mentioned in Exod 26:37, and it sounds like the posts are to be covered with gold. But the gradation of metals is what is intended: the posts at the entrance to the Most Holy Place are all of gold; the posts at the entrance to the tent are overlaid with gold at the top; and the posts at the entrance to the courtyard are overlaid with silver at the top (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 387, citing Dillmann without reference).
43	sn For a good summary of the differences between the instruction section and the completion section, and the reasons for the changes and the omissions, see B. Jacob, Exodus, 1022–23.
1	tn Or “molding.”
2	tn “that he put” has been supplied.
3	tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.
4	tn Heb “and he made.”
5	tn Heb “from/at [the] end, from this.”
6	tn The repetition of the expression indicates it has the distributive sense.
7	tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings”—“spreaders of wings.”
8	tn “The cherubim” has been placed here instead of in the second clause to produce a smoother translation.
9	tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”
10	tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”

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