Keluaran 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ¹ In the third month after the Israelites went out ²  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ³  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Keluaran 21:11

21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. ⁴ 

Keluaran 26:12-13

26:12 Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent – the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle. ⁵  26:13 The foot and a half ⁶  on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it. ⁷ 

Keluaran 27:2

27:2 You are to make its four horns ⁸  on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, ⁹  and you are to overlay it with bronze.

Keluaran 28:22

28:22 “You are to make for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,

Keluaran 29:38

29:38 “Now this is what you are to prepare ¹⁰  on the altar every day continually: two lambs a year old.

Keluaran 36:30

36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

Keluaran 36:33

36:33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames.

Keluaran 37:20

37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,

Keluaran 39:4

39:4 They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together.

Keluaran 39:15

39:15 They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,

[19:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ² tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ³ tn Heb “on this day.”

[21:11]  ⁴ sn The lessons of slavery and service are designed to bring justice to existing customs in antiquity. The message is: Those in slavery for one reason or another should have the hope of freedom and the choice of service (vv. 2-6). For the rulings on the daughter, the message could be: Women, who were often at the mercy of their husbands or masters, must not be trapped in an unfortunate situation, but be treated well by their masters or husbands (vv. 7-11). God is preventing people who have power over others from abusing it.

[26:12]  ⁵ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 353) cites b. Shabbat 98b which says, “What did the tabernacle resemble? A woman walking on the street with her train trailing behind her.” In the expression “the half of the curtain that remains,” the verb agrees in gender with the genitive near it.

[26:13]  ⁶ tn Literally “cubit.”

[26:13]  ⁷ sn U. Cassuto states the following: “To the north and to the south, since the tent curtains were thirty cubits long, there were ten cubits left over on each side; these covered the nine cubits of the curtains of the tabernacle and also the bottom cubit of the boards, which the tabernacle curtains did not suffice to cover. It is to this that v. 13 refers” (Exodus, 353).

[27:2]  ⁸ sn The horns of the altar were indispensable – they were the most sacred part. Blood was put on them; fugitives could cling to them, and the priests would grab the horns of the little altar when making intercessory prayer. They signified power, as horns on an animal did in the wild (and so the word was used for kings as well). The horns may also represent the sacrificial animals killed on the altar.

[27:2]  ⁹ sn The text, as before, uses the prepositional phrase “from it” or “part of it” to say that the horns will be part of the altar – of the same piece as the altar. They were not to be made separately and then attached, but made at the end of the boards used to build the altar (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 363).

[29:38]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is “you will do,” “you will make.” It clearly refers to offering the animals on the altar, but may emphasize all the preparation that was involved in the process.