Keluaran 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ¹  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ²  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ³ 

Keluaran 28:8

28:8 The artistically woven waistband ⁴  of the ephod that is on it is to be like it, of one piece with the ephod, ⁵  of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

Keluaran 31:18

31:18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God. ⁶ 

Keluaran 37:3

37:3 He cast four gold rings for it that he put ⁷  on its four feet, with ⁸  two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

Keluaran 37:16

37:16 He made the vessels which were on the table out of pure gold, its ⁹  plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.

Keluaran 38:21

The Materials of the Construction

38:21 This is the inventory ¹⁰  of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted ¹¹  by the order ¹²  of Moses, being the work ¹³  of the Levites under the direction ¹⁴  of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

Keluaran 38:27

38:27 The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base.

[3:1]  ¹ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

[3:1]  ² tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

[3:1]  ³ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[28:8]  ⁴ tn This is the rendering of the word חֵשֶׁב (kheshev), cognate to the word translated “designer” in v. 6. Since the entire ephod was of the same material, and this was of the same piece, it is unclear why this is singled out as “artistically woven.” Perhaps the word is from another root that just describes the item as a “band.” Whatever the connection, this band was to be of the same material, and the same piece, as the ephod, but perhaps a different pattern (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 301). It is this sash that attaches the ephod to the priest’s body, that is, at the upper border of the ephod and clasped together at the back.

[28:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “from it” but meaning “of one [the same] piece”; the phrase “the ephod” has been supplied.

[31:18]  ⁶ sn The expression “the finger of God” has come up before in the book, in the plagues (Exod 8:15) to express that it was a demonstration of the power and authority of God. So here too the commandments given to Moses on stone tablets came from God. It too is a bold anthropomorphism; to attribute such a material action to Yahweh would have been thought provoking to say the least. But by using “God” and by stating it in an obviously figurative way, balance is maintained. Since no one writes with one finger, the expression simply says that the Law came directly from God.

[37:3]  ⁷ tn “that he put” has been supplied.

[37:3]  ⁸ tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.

[37:16]  ⁹ tn The suffixes on these could also indicate the indirect object (see Exod 25:29).

[38:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word is פְּקוּדֵי (pÿqude), which in a slavishly literal way would be “visitations of” the tabernacle. But the word often has the idea of “numbering” or “appointing” as well. Here it is an accounting or enumeration of the materials that people brought, so the contemporary term “inventory” is a close approximation. By using this Hebrew word there is also the indication that whatever was given, i.e., appointed for the tabernacle, was changed forever in its use. This is consistent with this Hebrew root, which does have a sense of changing the destiny of someone (“God will surely visit you”). The list in this section will also be tied to the numbering of the people.

[38:21]  ¹¹ tn The same verb is used here, but now in the Pual perfect tense, third masculine singular. A translation “was numbered” or “was counted” works. The verb is singular because it refers to the tabernacle as a unit. This section will list what made up the tabernacle.

[38:21]  ¹² tn Heb “at/by the mouth of.”

[38:21]  ¹³ tn The noun is “work” or “service.” S. R. Driver explains that the reckonings were not made for the Levites, but that they were the work of the Levites, done by them under the direction of Ithamar (Exodus, 393).

[38:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by the hand of.”