^35:1Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.¹^35:2In six days² work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day³ for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.⁴ Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. ^35:3You must not kindle a fire⁵ in any of your homes⁶ on the Sabbath day.”⁷

Willing Workers

^35:4⁸ 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, ^35:6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, ^35:7ram skins dyed red, fine leather,¹³ acacia wood, ^35:8olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ^35:9onyx stones, and other gems¹⁴ for mounting¹⁵ on the ephod and the breastpiece. ^35:10Every skilled person¹⁶ among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: ^35:11the tabernacle with¹⁷ its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; ^35:12the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; ^35:13the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence;

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2 This is an adverbial accusative of time.
3 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, ). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
4 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,” 92 (1980): 32–43.
5 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,” 28 (1978): 301–17.
6 Heb “dwelling places”; , “habitations.”
7 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).
8 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 Heb “from with you.”
10 “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.
11 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 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 See the note on this phrase in .
14 Heb “and stones.”
15 Heb “filling.”
16 Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.
17 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.