Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The altar of holocausts is described with its vessels, grating, and bars. Second, at verse 9, the court of the tabernacle is described with its columns, and the curtains by which it was surrounded on all sides. Third, at verse 20, the oil for the lamps and their lighting is described.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 27:1-21
1. You shall also make an altar of acacia wood, which shall be five cubits long and the same in width, that is, square, and three cubits high. 2. And the horns on its four corners shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3. And you shall make for its use pots to receive the ashes, and tongs and fleshhooks, and firepans: all the vessels you shall make of bronze. 4. And a grating in the form of a net of bronze: and at its four corners there shall be four bronze rings, 5. which you shall place below the hearth of the altar; and the grating shall reach to the middle of the altar. 6. You shall also make two bars for the altar of acacia wood, which you shall overlay with bronze plates: 7. and you shall draw them through rings, and they shall be on both sides of the altar for carrying it. 8. You shall not make it solid, but empty and hollow within, as it was shown to you on the mountain.
9. You shall also make the court of the tabernacle, on whose southern side toward the south there shall be hangings of twisted fine linen: one side shall be a hundred cubits long. 10. And twenty columns with as many bronze bases, which shall have silver capitals with their engravings. 11. Similarly on the north side along its length there shall be hangings of a hundred cubits, twenty columns and bronze bases of the same number, and their capitals with their engravings shall be silver. 12. And in the width of the court, which faces west, there shall be hangings of fifty cubits, and ten columns, and as many bases. 13. In that width of the court also which faces east, there shall be fifty cubits. 14. Of which fifteen cubits of hangings shall be assigned to one side, with three columns and as many bases: 15. and on the other side there shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, three columns, and as many bases. 16. And at the entrance of the court there shall be a hanging of twenty cubits of hyacinth and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and twisted fine linen, in embroidered work: it shall have four columns, with as many bases. 17. All the columns of the court round about shall be clothed with silver plates, with silver capitals, and bronze bases. 18. The court shall be a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, five cubits high, and it shall be made of twisted fine linen, and shall have bronze bases. 19. All the vessels of the tabernacle for every use and ceremony, both its pegs and those of the court, you shall make of bronze. 20. Command the children of Israel to bring you the purest oil of olive trees, beaten with a pestle: that the lamp may burn always, 21. in the tabernacle of testimony, outside the veil which hangs before the testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall set it, that it may give light before the Lord until morning. It shall be a perpetual worship through their successions by the children of Israel.
Verse 1: You Shall Also Make an Altar of Acacia Wood
1. YOU SHALL ALSO MAKE AN ALTAR OF ACACIA WOOD. — Note: There was a twofold altar: one of incense, which was in the Holy Place, for burning incense upon it morning and evening to God; the other of holocausts, on which burnt offerings and all manner of sacrifices were offered and burned to God. Hence this altar was not under the tabernacle, but before it, placed in the court under the open sky, because of the fire, smoke, and smell of the victims.
Second, this altar was made of acacia wood, which was covered with bronze plates on the inside and outside, so that it would not be damaged by fire.
Third, this altar was five cubits long, the same in width, and three cubits high, so that the priests could easily reach it. Solomon, however, made a larger altar in the temple; for, as is said in II Paralipomenon chapter IV: "He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits in height." Furthermore, from the four corners of this bronze altar there projected four bronze horns, jutting out like obelisks.
Fourth, this altar was hollow inside, but nevertheless was filled up to its midpoint either with earth, as Abulensis and Richard maintain, or rather with uncut and unpolished stone, as Ribera maintains; for so the Lord had commanded, Exodus chapter xx, verse 24; and that Moses and Solomon did so is clear from I Maccabees chapter IV, verse 56. Therefore in this altar, which was three cubits high, the stone structure ascended to the midpoint, that is, to a cubit and a half; then upon that was placed the hearth of the grating, about which I shall now speak; and all around it was encompassed by boards of acacia wood overlaid with bronze.
Fifth, this altar had on top a bronze grating, full of openings in the manner of a net; this grating covered the entire width and length of the top of the altar: it was therefore nearly five cubits long and the same in width: for this was the length and width of the altar. Upon this grating the victims were placed, so that they would be burned by the fire beneath in the altar (for it was hollow, as I said), and their ashes would fall through the openings of the grating beneath the altar; hence from this grating there hung a bronze hearth, or bronze firebox, inside the altar at its middle, namely above the stone structure which I mentioned a little before. In this hearth, suspended by chains attached to the four horns of the altar, wood and fire were placed for burning the flesh that was placed on the grating above.
Sixth, it is likely that this altar had a window on its eastern side, through which the ashes would be removed and wood would be placed upon the hearth or firebox, and for this and other uses it had tongs, fleshhooks, pots, and firepans. So Bede, about which more in its place, at verse 4.
Seventh, this altar had four bronze rings, through which two bars, of acacia wood covered with bronze, were inserted for carrying the altar. The grating of the altar itself had the same number of rings and bars, distinct from the rings and bars of the altar; for the grating was removed and separated from the altar, so that it could be carried separately.
Eighth, on this altar morning and evening every day, first a lamb was sacrificed, as a perpetual offering, then other victims, whether votive, or voluntary, or prescribed by law on account of an occurring feast. Hence God sent fire from heaven, which He willed should be continually fed and maintained by the priests with wood placed upon this altar, lest it ever be extinguished, so that it would always be ready for burning victims, Leviticus chapter vi. Finally, see the detailed representation of this altar in Vilalpando, book IV On the Temple, chapter LXXV.
Allegorically, this wooden altar signified the cross of Christ, on which Christ was immolated as on a sacrificial altar: hence this altar was outside the tabernacle in the court, because Christ suffered outside the camp, as the Apostle says, Hebrews chapter XIII, that is, outside Jerusalem.
Second, it was made of acacia wood, because neither the cross nor the flesh of Christ saw corruption. Furthermore, it is overlaid with bronze, because resonant bronze signifies the preaching of the cross of Christ: bronze is also a symbol of the fortitude of Christ's cross, which crushed all the forces of the devil, the world, and sin.
Third, it has four horns, because the cross of Christ was preached by the Apostles and spread through the four regions of the whole world: "For their sound has gone forth into all the earth."
Fourth, this altar was empty inside, but placed upon earth or stone, because the cross of Christ was fixed and placed upon Mount Calvary.
Fifth, the grating, on which the flesh of the victim was burned with fire placed beneath, signifies the most bitter sufferings of Christ, by which on the cross He was scorched for us both by pain and by love, according to that saying of Psalm CI: "My bones have dried up like kindling." Which St. Jerome translates, "my bones wasted away as if fried"; St. Augustine, "my bones were fried as in a frying pan"; others, "my bones were burned like a hearth, or like a firebrand."
Sixth, on the eastern side of the altar there was a window through which wood and fuel for the fire were inserted into the hearth, because from the eastern side, where the earthly Paradise was situated, the sin of Adam came, which furnished the matter and fuel for the sorrows and sufferings of Christ.
Seventh, what the rings and bars signify, I shall say in the tropological interpretation.
Eighth, on this altar a lamb was sacrificed daily, because Christ was immolated on the cross, He who is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. On this altar the divine fire burns perpetually, because the charity of Christ on the cross was not extinguished, but rather blazed forth more intensely, and kindled all the Martyrs and faithful to undertake the cross and death with Christ and for Christ.
Tropologically, the altar of holocaust is the heart of man, afflicting itself through penance and mortifying its own vices, and offering sacrifice to God; this altar is in the court, because mortification and the suppression of the passions must be practiced first before one can approach the altar of incense, which is in the Holy Place, that is, the love and union of God. Again, the fire by which incense was burned on the golden altar in the Holy Place was brought from the altar of holocaust, because the fervor and ardor of prayer springs from the continual mortification of the flesh and the passions. Therefore whoever devotes himself to prayer and neglects mortification does just as if one wished to light spices without fire.
A model of penance as well as of mortification was St. Magdalene, who, as St. Gregory says, homily 33 on the Gospels, "found in herself as many holocausts as she had had pleasures: she converted the number of her sins into the number of her virtues, so that everything that had despised God in her through guilt might wholly serve God in penance."
Hence second, this altar was made of acacia wood, that is, of the pure heart's desire; overlaid with bronze as a substitute for the fragrances with which I was once delighted in the palaces of kings, so that on the day of judgment the Lord may free me from that unspeakable stench of hell. Let him hear St. Bernard, in a sermon: "What martyrdom, he says, is more grievous than to hunger amid feasts, to shiver amid many costly garments, to be pressed by poverty amid the riches which the world offers, which the evil one displays, which our appetite desires? Therefore to the poor and likewise to the Martyrs the kingdom of heaven is promised, because by poverty indeed it is purchased, but in suffering for Christ it is received without delay."
Sixth, the pots for ashes are the memory of the passion and death of Christ and the Martyrs, who by their example went before us on this way of the cross and mortification; the forks, tongs, and fire receptacles are the heralds and holy Doctors, who continually nurture and kindle this sacred fire of mortification in us.
Seventh, the rings and poles are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which all labor and pain of penance is sweetened, so that by them we seem to be carried and driven toward hard and lofty things.
Eighth, the victims immolated here are the various concupiscences, for whose burning one must continually nurture the fire of charity in the heart. So says Bede, Book II, On the Tabernacle, chapter 21.
Hear St. Gregory, Homily 22 on Ezekiel: "What, he says, is the altar? Is it not the mind of those who live well, who mindful of their sins wash themselves with tears, who mortify the flesh through abstinence; where from the sorrow of compunction the fire burns, and the flesh is consumed, according to that saying of the Apostle, Romans 12: That you may present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God; a living sacrifice is a body afflicted for the Lord: a sacrifice, because it is now dead to this world; living, because it does all the good that it can; but one compunction is that which is born from fear, another that which is born from love."
Then, applying these things to both altars, namely of holocausts and of incense, he continues thus: "Hence in the tabernacle two altars are commanded to be made, one outside, the other inside; one in the court, the other before the ark; one covered with bronze, the other with gold; on the bronze one flesh is burned, on the golden one fragrances are kindled. For many bewail the evils they have done, and burn their vices with the fire of compunction, yet still suffer the suggestions of those vices in their hearts; what are they but a bronze altar? on which flesh burns, because carnal deeds are still mourned by them. But others, free from carnal vices, burn with the flame of love in tears of compunction, they desire to be present with the citizens above, they desire to see the King in His beauty, and do not cease to weep daily from love of Him; what are they but a golden altar? in whose hearts fragrances are kindled, because virtues burn; but this golden altar is before the veil, because the hearts of the Saints burn with holy desire for Him whom they cannot yet see with unveiled face."
So St. Francis, when asked, "Which prayers are more pleasing to God?" replied: "Those which the mortification of one's own flesh accompanies." Billius says beautifully in his Emblems:
Lest your prayers follow their fruits with a limping foot,
Make your flesh fall in death along with your vices.
The twofold altar of the temple once taught this without words:
One had incense, but the other had slaughtered sheep.
He who slew his members offered slaughtered beasts:
He who makes pious vows, that one gave incense to God.
OF SETIM WOOD — as regards the surrounding boards. For internally, in its lower part, this altar, up to its middle, was full of unhewn stone; but in its upper part it was entirely covered by a bronze grating: therefore this altar of setim was like a square chest, which lacks a bottom and a lid, and is hollow inside.
Moreover these setim boards were covered with dense bronze plates, lest they be damaged by the nearby fire; indeed Lipomanus not improbably holds that by a miracle both the boards were preserved unharmed from fire, and the sacrifices from flies. Hence the idolaters, who were troubled by flies during their sacrifices, worshipped the god Beelzebub to drive them away. St. Jerome on Ezekiel 41, and others cited by Bede, hold that this setim wood was brought from the earthly paradise, and was similar to asbestos stone, which is not harmed by fire, but comes out purer, about which I spoke above.
Verse 2: The Horns on the Four Corners
2. AND THE HORNS ON THE FOUR CORNERS SHALL BE OF THE SAME. — "Horns," that is, projecting corners in the form of horns, for the ornament of the altar, shall be drawn not from elsewhere, but from the very bronze of the altar itself in continuous workmanship.
Verse 3: Tongs, Forks, and Fire Receptacles
3. AND YOU SHALL MAKE, etc. TONGS. — In Hebrew, יעים iaim; the Septuagint translates it as covers, others as brooms; the root יעה iaa means to remove: hence iaim are instruments with which we take up or remove something, such as tongs and shovels, that is, spades, in the way our Translator renders it, Numbers 4:14. Pagninus thinks that our Translator, namely St. Jerome, translates this word iaim in the books of Kings and Chronicles sometimes as dishes, sometimes as ladles, sometimes as flesh-hooks, sometimes as forks.
But he did not sufficiently perceive the mind and practice of St. Jerome and Sacred Scripture, which neither here nor elsewhere entirely enumerates all the vessels of the tabernacle or temple at once distinctly; hence it commonly omits the lids of pots and cauldrons, but now sets down these, now those. Seeing this, St. Jerome in his translation did not render word for word, nor bind himself to the Hebrew enumeration of vessels at the present passage, especially if he had mentioned them elsewhere; but he indifferently expressed some vessels which he knew belonged to the tabernacle, encompassing the rest in a general clause, saying: "And the other vessels."
Moreover, in this passage he omitted the bowls, which are expressed in the Hebrew, because he had named them in chapter 25:29, where their proper place was: for these bowls were kept not on the altar of holocausts, but on the table of the showbread, so that they might be brought out when they were needed, for pouring libations on the altar of holocausts.
AND FORKS — with which flesh is drawn out of the pot. Hence the Septuagint translates them as flesh-hooks, from seizing flesh, whether they were three-pronged or single-pronged. Hence our Translator renders the Hebrew word מזלגת mizleget as forks, tridents, and hooks, that is, forks both of three prongs and of one.
AND FIRE RECEPTACLES — that is, vessels for taking up live coals. Hence some translate them as censers; the Septuagint as a hearth: these vessels served among other things for this purpose, that in them the sacred fire drawn from the altar of holocaust might be carried to the altar of incense in the evening and morning, for burning incense in them; for, as I shall say in chapter 30, incense was burned not directly on the altar itself, but in these censers placed upon the altar. So Bede, Book II, chapter 10.
Verse 4: A Grating in the Form of a Net
4. AND A GRATING IN THE FORM OF A NET, OF BRONZE. — The Hebrews, Abulensis, and Lyranus think that this grating was not usually placed inside the altar, but was around its circumference, like a certain belt raised one and a half cubits, up to the middle of the altar, and this solely for the adornment and beauty of the altar. But this opinion contradicts the text of Sacred Scripture, which places this grating not inside, but upon the altar.
I say therefore: This grating covered the upper part, or surface of the altar, yet in such a way that it could conveniently be put into and drawn out of the altar when needed. On this grating the flesh of the victims to be burned was placed, and accordingly it was entirely bronze, and made in the form of a net; from this grating there hung a small hearth, of the same length and width as the grating. This small hearth was attached to the upper grating by long bronze nails, or rather rods or plates, so that between the grating and the hearth there was a space of one and a half cubits: for this grating was in the middle of the altar, as is said in chapter 38, verse 4; and the height of the altar was three cubits, whence also the grating is said to have reached to the middle of the altar here in verse 5, not by itself, but through this hearth attached to it; for this hearth was like the bottom of the grating, in which the body of the grating itself as it were terminated.
This small hearth was like a fireplace, in which the fire burned, and wood was placed on it for burning the sacrifices placed on the grating; and accordingly it was entirely bronze, as was the grating itself. Hence it is also probable that there was a window, or small door in the side of the altar, through which wood could be inserted, and ashes and coals extracted, as Bede reports from Cassiodorus's description, Book II, chapter 12, and Richard of St. Victor, although Ribera denies this small door: Because, he says, the grating could be pulled out upward, and then wood placed on its hearth. But this would have been difficult and troublesome, especially when victims had already been placed on the grating; for often wood had to be placed under the same victims, so that they would be entirely burned: hence often with the same victim one would have had to remove the grating.
Again, in this hearth there were four bronze rings, into which two poles were inserted, for carrying it with the grating separately from the boards of the altar. And these rings were at the four lowest extremities of the hearth, and therefore here in verse 5, they are said to be beneath the hearth.
From this it is clear that the opinion of Abulensis and Villalpando, Book IV, On the Temple, chapter 81, is not true, namely, that the wood was to be placed not on the hearth or fireplace, which they deny belongs to the grating, but on the altar or the grating above, and that the flesh of the victim to be burned was to be placed on top of them. For from what has been said it is established that the wood was placed on the fire, which was beneath the altar in the hearth: nevertheless I do not deny that wood was also placed on the altar itself or the grating, especially if the victim was large, and because of the multitude of victims had to be burned and consumed quickly; for the fire, broken and weakened through the net of the grating, did not have sufficient force to burn larger victims immediately; but it had sufficient force to consume the daily evening holocaust: for this had to be burned all night with a slow fire, as is clear from Leviticus 6:9.
Finally, around this altar there was a very great multitude of priests and Levites, especially on feast days, when many victims had to be sacrificed. For some slaughtered them, others skinned them, others cut them up, others washed them, etc., but all with wondrous silence and reverence. Hear Aristeas, in his book On the Seventy Translators: "Such silence prevails that, although nearly seven hundred ministers are continually present, and the multitude of those offering libations is immense, you would think not a single person is present in the place: for all things are performed with the utmost veneration and great devotion to God."
Verse 8: Hollow Inside
8. YOU SHALL MAKE IT HOLLOW INSIDE. — So that, namely, in this cavity of the altar, there may be an interior space for fire and wood, for burning the flesh placed above on the grating.
Understand that this altar was hollow up to its middle: for from there down to the pavement it was full of earth, or rather unhewn stone, as I have already said.
Verse 9: The Court of the Tabernacle
9. YOU SHALL ALSO MAKE THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE. — Note: This court was made so that it might surround the tabernacle and the altar of holocausts on every side, both for adornment and for the sake of reverence. Therefore the tabernacle stood in the middle of the court, as the dwelling place of the glory of God conversing among men, hearing and guiding them, so that the Hebrews, invited by this presence and provident governance, might worship the one true God alone and abstain from idolatry.
Second, this court was not covered above, but was open to the sky, which Daniel Barbarus on Vitruvius, Book 6, chapter 5, calls a cavaedium; hence Villalpando, Book III, On the Temple, chapter 25, page 201, thinks that atrium is derived from the Greek αἴθριον, as if you should say, airy, in the air, under the open sky: although others maintain that atrium is so called because it rises from the earth, as if aterreum or aterium; and others, because at Atria in Etruria courts were first constructed in front of houses. Yet this court was surrounded on its sides all around by curtains, that is, by hangings or tapestries made of twisted fine linen, and these hangings were like walls, or partitions of the court itself. Moreover, these hangings were suspended from bronze columns, which were clad with silver plates, and had silver capitals, but bronze bases.
Third, the court was square, or rather rectangular; for it was 100 cubits long, 50 wide, and 5 high, as is clear from verse 18; it was surrounded by sixty bronze columns, namely 20 on the southern side, 20 on the northern, 10 on the western and 10 on the eastern; and one column was distant from another by 5 cubits: moreover on the columns there protruded pegs, that is, nails, from which the curtains, that is, the hangings, were suspended, as I have said.
Fourth, the court at its entrance had, says Philo and Abulensis, 50 cubits of length up to the tabernacle, and as many in width, so that it could hold the people. For this court was the place of prayer of the people: hence by the Evangelists and by Josephus it is called the temple. For in this court Christ dwelt and taught, and from it He cast out the buyers and sellers: for Christ never entered the tabernacle, or the Holy Place; for only the Aaronic priests were permitted to enter this. Therefore in this court the laity prayed, offered their victims to the priests, watched the sacrifices, and feasted from them, eating the peace offerings before the Lord, that is, before the tabernacle, which was as it were the house of God, as is clear from Deuteronomy 12:7, and chapter 16, verse 11; for the laity could never approach the court of the priests, and consequently neither the altar of holocausts which was in it. Finally, at the entrance of this court women after childbirth, lepers, and other unclean persons were purified and cleansed.
Fifth, in this court there was a bronze laver and the altar of holocausts, on which all victims were sacrificed.
Sixth, the tabernacle had only one court, in which, however, it is probable that the priests and Levites had their own designated stations assigned to them, near the altar of holocausts. Hence in the temple of Solomon, where all these things were more beautifully arranged, there was a double court: one inner court next to the tabernacle, where were the altar of holocausts, the bronze laver, and the station of the priests; the second, outer court of the laity, which Solomon distinguished from the former court of the priests by a wall three cubits high, so that the laity from their court could see over this wall into the court of the priests, and watch the sacrifices that were performed there on the altar of holocausts, but could not enter it.
Seventh, no Gentile or unclean person was permitted to enter this court under penalty of death; for the court was like the temple of the people, whence for the Gentiles and the unclean Herod built and added another outermost court, so that they might from a distance attend the sacred rites and sacrifices. Villalpando adds, on Ezekiel, vol. II, page 243, that in Solomon's temple the altar of holocausts was positioned facing three gates of the court: because it was, he says, in the middle of the court, so that when any gate was opened, whether the Eastern, Southern, or Northern, the altar itself and the holocausts could be seen by the people through these three gates, and consequently by the Gentiles from their own court, which had three gates, corresponding equally to three gates of the court of the priests and the people.
Mystically, the court signified the faithful who are beginning to serve God, the Holy Place those who are making progress, the Holy of Holies the perfect and the blessed: hence in the court there was the laver or basin, that is, penance; and the altar of holocaust, that is, the mortification of vices. So Bede. See what was said on chapter 26, verse 1.
This court, therefore, is the arena and the pursuit of virtue. "In this life, says St. Augustine, letter to Macedonius, virtue is nothing other than to love what ought to be loved: to love it, is prudence; to be turned aside from it by no troubles, is fortitude; by no allurements, is temperance; by no pride, is justice." And St. Ambrose on Psalm 118: "No virtue, he says, exists without labor, because labor is the progress of virtue."
A spur is what Seneca gives: "Virtue, he says, is the one thing that can grant us immortality, and make us equal to the gods." Therefore the reward of virtue is the blessed life: and the Stoics taught that no one can be made blessed without virtue. Hence Horace, Book III, Ode 2:
Virtue, knowing nothing of base defeat,
Shines with unstained honors.
Virtue, opening heaven to those who deserve not to die,
Attempts the way by a path denied to others.
And Ovid, Book IV, Tristia, elegy 3:
Fill with your virtues this sorrowful subject matter,
Glory goes its way along a steep and headlong path.
Who would have known Hector, if Troy had been fortunate?
The road of virtue is made through public misfortunes.
The path to virtue is exercise. Hence Hesiod:
Before virtue the gods have placed sweat:
Long and steep is the road to it, and rough at first;
But when you have reached the summit, it will be easy thereafter.
And Aristotle, Ethics II, 1: "Virtues are not in us by nature, he says, nor contrary to nature; but we are born and made for them, both to receive them by nature, and to bring them about by habit;" and chapter 3: "All moral virtue is concerned with pleasures and pains," the latter to be endured, the former to be moderated. And Book I, chapter 10: "In no human affair, he says, is there such firmness as in those things which are carried out by virtue: for they are much firmer and more stable than the sciences themselves; and the more excellent each virtue is, the more stable it is."
The saying of Pythagoras is: "The best life must be chosen by us, which habit itself will soon make pleasant. Riches are a weak anchor, glory even weaker, the body likewise, magistracies, honors: all these things are feeble, and destitute of strength. What then are the firm anchors? Prudence, magnanimity, fortitude; no tempest shakes them. This is God's law, that virtue alone is that which is powerful and solid: all other things are trifles and nonsense." Tacitus, Book IV of the Annals: "Virtue, he says, is the proper good of man." Curtius, Book VII: "Nature, he says, has placed nothing so high that virtue cannot reach it." The dogma of the Stoics is, "nothing is to be sought besides virtue, nothing to be fled besides vice."
Theodota the courtesan, taunting Socrates: "I, she said, far surpass you. For while you cannot alienate anyone of mine from me, I, when I please, call all of yours to me." To whom Socrates replied: "This is not surprising: for you indeed drag everyone along a downhill path, but I compel them toward virtue, to which the ascent is steep and unfamiliar to most."
Thomas More gave the same reply to Luther when he boasted of the multitude of his followers.
Antisthenes used to say that virtue is a matter of deeds, not of words.
Virtue is named from vir (man), says Cicero; therefore a manly spirit befits men and virtue.
Agapetus the Deacon, writing to Justinian: Just as, he says, those who have begun to climb stairs do not stop ascending until they have reached the highest step: so the devotee of virtue will always strive to climb higher.
Philo, in his book On the Planting of Noah: Just as, he says, the rising sun illuminates the whole sky with its rays: so also the virtues with their rays in man, when they have penetrated the whole mind, make it most luminous. The same author, Book I of the Allegories: Just as, he says, in an animal the first part is the head; the second, the chest; the third, the loins: and in the soul, the first part is the rational; the second, the irascible; the third, the concupiscible: so the first of the virtues is prudence, which directs the head and reason; the second, fortitude, which composes anger and stabilizes the chest; the third, temperance, which is occupied around the loins and the concupiscible part.
These things the Gentiles and Jews said about moral and natural virtue; what shall the Christian now say about divine and supernatural virtue, which is the work of God's grace? For without this no one can strive toward the Holy of Holies in heaven.
Now let us come to the text, and explain the difficulties that occur in the literal sense.
CURTAINS. — So are commonly called here the hangings or tapestries, by which this court was covered on all sides. Hence the Septuagint translates them as curtains.
Verse 10: Twenty Columns with Bronze Bases
10. AND TWENTY COLUMNS WITH AS MANY BRONZE BASES. — In Hebrew, and twenty columns, and twenty bases of bronze, namely you shall make. For the columns of the court were not wooden, but bronze, as were the bases. Hence no other material than bronze is mentioned here for them; but in the columns of the tabernacle another material is specified, namely setim wood, as is clear from chapter 26, verses 32 and 37. Moreover, that the columns of the court were bronze, not wooden, our Translator expressly teaches in the construction of the tabernacle, chapter 38, verses 10 and 12. Therefore Philo is mistaken, who says that these columns were made of cedar, and likewise asserts that the boards of the tabernacle were made of cedar: for he thinks that setim is cedar.
Just as, therefore, between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, there were four columns of gilded setim wood, supporting the veil covering the Holy of Holies; again, just as at the entrance of the Holy Place or tabernacle, there were five similar columns, supporting the curtain of the tabernacle: so around the tabernacle and court, 60 bronze columns are here commanded to be made, namely 20 on the southern side, and 20 on the northern, 10 on the western, and 10 on the eastern, from which hangings are to be suspended, which might surround and enclose the court like walls.
WHICH SHALL HAVE SILVER CAPITALS WITH ENGRAVINGS. — Hebrew and Chaldean: silver shall be the capitals of the columns with bands, or rings, which namely are to be drawn around the columns with silver threads: for the Hebrew letter ו vav signifies a hooked nail, or the head of a nail; whence the name vav was given to the letter. Nor do the Septuagint disagree, who translate: and their columns, and the clasps of the columns shall be covered with silver, which it is surprising that the Complutensian Bible translates as, and their clasps, and their tongs shall be plated with silver: for ψαλίς is a ring, which our Translator calls an engraving; but ψαλίδες in Vitruvius are projecting or fronted stones, or that which projects in an arch or building, in which way by a similar form the Septuagint call the projecting capitals of columns. So I translate the Septuagint thus: and the rings of the columns, and their projecting capitals shall be plated with silver, which is the same as what the Hebrew, Chaldean, and our Translator have. These engravings therefore were not incisions or carvings, but thin plates, or threads surrounding and encircling both the capitals of the columns, and their body and bases; for this is what the Greek περικεχρυσωμέναι and the Hebrew חשוקים chaschukim signify, as is clear from chapter 38, verses 10 and 12. So Abulensis.
Verse 11: On the North Side
11. LIKEWISE ALSO ON THE NORTH SIDE (which is the side of the length of the court, just as the southern side opposite to it) ALONG THE LENGTH THERE SHALL BE CURTAINS (hangings of fine linen) OF A HUNDRED CUBITS. — For the length of the court was one hundred cubits; hence its hangings were extended 100 cubits in length, on both the southern and northern parts. For from that side its length was viewed, just as its width was viewed from the eastern and western sides; therefore the court was rectangular: for its length was double its width. For it was 100 cubits long, but 50 wide.
Josephus asserts that the tabernacle was placed in the middle of the court, which some understand precisely of the geometric middle, and accordingly hold that the tabernacle had before it, on the side of its length, namely to the East, 35 cubits of court; behind it, to the West, it had as many cubits of court: for twice 35 make 70, which added to the 30 cubits of the tabernacle's own length make 100 cubits, which was the length of the whole court.
But since 35 cubits behind the tabernacle would have been largely useless, and would have much reduced the front space of the court, where the people mostly gathered for the sacred rites and sacrifices that were performed before the tabernacle in this front or eastern part of the court — for a space of 35 cubits could not hold so many people — hence it is more probable, as Philo, Abulensis, and others say, that the tabernacle was equidistant from three sides of the court, namely from the two sides and from the back. That distance was 20 cubits; therefore on the front side the tabernacle had before it not 35, but 50 cubits of court, which held an immense number of people. For if you add to these 50 cubits of court, the 30 cubits of the tabernacle's own length, and finally the 20 cubits of court behind the tabernacle, you will complete 100 cubits, which was the length of the whole court.
Again, on its northern side the tabernacle was distant from the columns and perimeter of the court by twenty cubits, and the same on the southern side; for if you add to these 40 cubits of court, which arise from twenty on each side, the 10 cubits of the tabernacle's own width, you will complete 50 cubits, which was the width of the whole court.
Note: Each column of the court with its hanging was five cubits high, as is clear from verse 18; but the tabernacle was double the height: for it was ten cubits high, and this so that it might be conspicuous, and could be seen from a distance outside the court.
Tropologically, Rupert says: The sixty columns of the court, namely 20 from the south, 20 from the north, 10 from the east, and 10 from the west, signify assiduous and constant labor in observing God's precepts, by which we tend toward heaven. For six signifies the time of the present life, 10 the Decalogue (and six times ten make 60, which is the number of columns of the court), by the perfect observance of which throughout our whole life, we shall arrive at the future perfection of glory in heaven.
Therefore whoever strives there, and toward the summit of virtue, let him labor and be steadfast as a column, according to that saying of Horace, Book III of the Odes:
The just man, steadfast in his purpose,
Neither the zeal of citizens commanding wrong,
Nor the face of a threatening tyrant,
Shakes from his firm resolve,
Nor the mighty hand of thundering Jove.
For constancy is needed for overcoming, first, the softness of soul and inclination to pleasures innate in us; second, for overcoming the steep difficulties and temptations that occur in works of virtue, especially heroic ones; third, constancy is required for perseverance. For many begin well, but gradually grow faint.
Diogenes, as Laertius testifies in Book VI, said to someone advising him to rest from his labors now that he was old: "What, he said, if I were running in the stadium, should one slacken one's pace when near the goal, or rather press on harder?" — as if to say: I ought not to grow cold when I approach the end of life and the contest, but rather to be more inflamed.
A mirror of constancy was Cato of Utica, whom, when his affairs were desperate, his friends urged to take refuge in Caesar's clemency; he replied: "It is for those who have been conquered, and who have done wrong, to beg; Cato has neither been conquered nor captured, who showed himself unconquered throughout his whole life, and far surpassed Caesar in honor and justice."
And Socrates, who when condemned to death, turning to the judges: "One must obey, he said, the immortal God rather than you. And so as long as I breathe, I shall not cease from philosophizing and admonishing you." This was his maxim: "Just as a statue or column rests on its base, so a good man, relying on an honorable principle, ought in no way to be moved." Hence Xanthippe, the wife of Socrates, used to declare about him that she had always seen him returning home with the same expression with which he had left.
Theodorus, to Lysimachus threatening him with a most cruel death: "Threaten these things, he said, to your purple-robed courtiers; it makes no difference at all to Theodorus whether he rots in the ground or on a cross."
Seneca: "A good man, he says, is one who has brought his soul to such a state by his disposition, that he not only does not wish to sin, but is not even able to."
Anaxarchus, when he was being pounded in a hollow rock by Nicocreon, tyrant of Cyprus, said with unbroken spirit: "Pound, pound the vessel of Anaxarchus; but the constancy of Anaxarchus you will not crush."
Zeno used to say, "it is easier to submerge an inflated wineskin than to compel any upright man to do something against his will. For an unconquered soul, confirmed in the decrees of right reason, yields to no one."
When Rome was captured by Alaric, a Goth invited a very beautiful woman to his service and love. But when he saw that she resisted his lust out of devotion to chastity, he aimed a drawn sword at her throat, and finally even struck her. When the maiden, drenched in blood, would not even then yield from her resolve, then, admiring her constancy, he brought her to the basilica of St. Peter, and giving six gold coins for her sustenance, commended her to the guardians of the temple. So Sigonius, Book X, On the Western Empire.
Well known is the constancy of Saints Vincent, Lawrence, Ambrose, Athanasius, Anthony, Hilarion, Lucy, Agnes, Mattathias, the Maccabees, etc.
The same thing that the columns signify is also signified by the 50 cubits of the court's width: for the number fifty signifies the beginnings of believers, which are celebrated in the remission of sins and the hope of future blessedness.
The same is signified by the 100 cubits of the court's length: for the number one hundred, which arises from ten multiplied by itself (for ten times ten make one hundred), which is double of 50, bears the figure of heavenly life: hence Noah in his hundredth year completed the ark; to Abraham at a hundred years the son of promise Isaac is born; Abraham at a hundred years travels in the land of promise; Isaac received a hundredfold of the seed sown at Gerar, that is, in his sojourning: so Christ promised a hundredfold to those who leave temporal things, that is, ample joy from fraternal fellowship, and from the hope of heavenly life now, and then, namely in heaven, immense joy from the possession of the heavenly kingdom.
The court therefore has one hundred cubits, because those who are children of the Church must take upon themselves the labor of temporal patience and continence for the sake of eternal life in heaven. So Bede.
St. Chrysostom, Homily 77 on Matthew: "Always to stand, he says, and never to have fallen, is divine and wonderful."
St. Gregory Nazianzen, oration On Himself: "I, he says, am the very same person, and I do not change, like polyps on the rocks to which they cling."
St. Cyprian, Book IV, letter 3: "It befits serious men, once founded with solid stability upon a strong rock, to be moved not, I say, by a light breeze, but not even by a wind, nor by a storm."
St. Anselm in the Similitudes, chapter 173: "A square stone, he says, has six equal sides; on whichever of these it falls, it will stand firmly. So the just man must see to it that he persists in his resolution. And the six sides of this stone are these: prosperity, adversity, personal freedom, subjection, being in private, and being in public; in each of these, if he is pushed by the devil, let him stand, and not be moved from his resolution."
Now let us return to the columns of the court.
So St. Francis, when asked how he could endure the cold and frost of winter in so thin a garment, replied: "If we were covered by the flame of the heavenly homeland through desire, we would easily protect ourselves from this cold."
And St. Dorothea, tortured by the prefect Fabricius, when she was being led to capital punishment: "I rejoice, she said, that I am going to my Spouse, whose paradise, fertile with all flowers, blooms more beautifully than can be said." And from this paradise, after her death, she sent roses in February to Theophilus who had demanded them, and thus converted him to Christ. Do you wish to be perfect? Do you wish to be heavenly? Think of heavenly things, set your mind on things above, fulfill the will of God. Moreover "the will of God, which Christ both did and taught, is humility in conduct, stability in faith, modesty in words, justice in deeds, mercy in works, discipline in morals; not to know how to do injury, and to be able to tolerate it when done, to keep peace with one's brethren, to love God with one's whole heart; to love in Him what is the Father, to fear what is the Lord, to prefer nothing at all to Christ, because He preferred nothing to us," says St. Cyprian, treatise On the Lord's Prayer.
Verse 13: The Eastern Breadth of the Court
Verse 13. IN THAT BREADTH OF THE COURT ALSO WHICH FACES TO THE EAST, THERE SHALL BE FIFTY CUBITS. — The meaning of this verse and the following ones up to verse 17 is this: Just as the length of the court will be one hundred cubits, so the breadth will be 50 cubits, and this on every side, both to the West, as I said in the preceding verse, and to the East, as I say here. These 50 cubits of breadth in the court before the tabernacle, namely in the Eastern part of the court, through their columns and veils that surround and enclose it, are to be distributed so that a passage and entrance to the court and tabernacle lies open through the middle 20 cubits; the remaining thirty are to be divided on each side, so that 15 cubits are left to the South, and the same number to the North, with three columns and bases on each side. From this it follows that between individual columns there were 5 cubits, or a veil of 5 cubits was interposed. For there were ten columns in the breadth of the court: and five times ten makes fifty, which was the breadth of the court.
Verse 16: The Entrance of the Court
Verse 16. BUT AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE COURT THERE SHALL BE A HANGING OF TWENTY CUBITS, OF BLUE, AND PURPLE, AND SCARLET TWICE-DYED, AND FINE TWISTED LINEN; IT SHALL HAVE FOUR COLUMNS. — Here is described the entrance and, as it were, the gate of the court, which was accordingly more splendid. For it had an embroidered veil of fine linen, purple, scarlet, and blue, whereas the remaining veils of the court were of plain fine linen. This entrance had four columns, on which this veil was hung, and accordingly it was 20 cubits wide: for each column was 5 cubits distant from another, as I said; between these four columns there were, as is clear, three intercepted passageways, through which, when the veil was drawn back or raised, entrance into the court lay open.
Verse 17: Columns Covered with Silver Plates
Verse 17. ALL THE COLUMNS OF THE COURT ROUND ABOUT SHALL BE COVERED WITH PLATES OF SILVER. — Not as if the entire columns were covered with these plates, as the ark, table, and boards of the tabernacle were entirely covered with gold plates; but rather that these columns were encircled round about with thin silver plates, like threads, with the middle space between the bands left empty, which is like openwork, and is called engraving, as our Interpreter commonly calls it here: for this is what the Hebrew word חשׁוק chashuc signifies, which name Moses did not use for the plates of the ark, table, and boards: for there he used the word צפה tsippa, which means to cover or overlay. So Abulensis.
Verse 18: Bronze Bases
Verse 18. AND IT SHALL HAVE BASES OF BRONZE. — Josephus, book III, chapter 5, says these bronze bases were pointed, similar to the bottom of a spear, and thus were fixed into the ground by their sharp edge.
Verse 19: The Ceremonies and the Pegs
Verse 19. AND THE CEREMONIES. — In Hebrew, for all worship, or ceremonial ministry for worshipping God. Thus our Interpreter understands the word "ceremony," chapter XXXVIII, verse 21; otherwise this word "ceremony" generally signifies ceremonial precepts, which prescribe the rite of worshipping God according to the good pleasure of God Himself.
YOU SHALL MAKE BOTH ITS PEGS AND THOSE OF THE COURT OF BRONZE. — The pegs, that is, pins, which were made for this purpose both in the court and in the tabernacle, so that fastened to the tops of the columns they would project outward, and by means of the ropes of the veils or curtains placed upon them, they would thus raise them from the ground and suspend them. Josephus adds that rings were also made, into which ropes were threaded, which, fastened to the ground with golden cubit-long pins, would secure the columns and fortify the tabernacle against the force of the winds.
Verse 20: Oil from Olive Trees
Verse 20. LET THEM BRING YOU OIL FROM OLIVE TREES, MOST PURE, AND BEATEN WITH A PESTLE. — Note: the Seventy translate "beaten," as if to say: Not ground, which is full of lees and dregs, but either flowing spontaneously, or certainly pressed out by beating with a pestle from the flesh alone, or pulp, of the olive.
Verses 20 and 21: The Tabernacle of Testimony
Verses 20 and 21. THAT THE LAMP MAY BURN ALWAYS IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. — Instead of "testimony," the Hebrew has מועד moed, which first signifies "testimony," just as עיד heid, from which it is derived, signifies "to testify." Second, properly and genuinely moed signifies an assembly, congregation, gathering, church, from the root יעד iaad, that is, "to assemble." Therefore the tabernacle is called moed, that is, "of assembly," because there God would meet with Moses and speak with Him, as is clear from chapter XXV, verse 22, and chapter XXIX, verse 42. Our Interpreter, however, translates moed as "testimony," and calls it the "tabernacle of the testimony," because the tabernacle contained the law, which was the testimony of the divine will and covenant.
Verse 21: Outside the Veil
Verse 21. OUTSIDE THE VEIL WHICH IS SPREAD BEFORE THE TESTIMONY. — "The testimony," that is, the ark containing the testimony, that is, the law, or the tablets of the law. Hence Oecumenius on chapter IX to the Hebrews, and Elias of Crete, in Oration 3 On the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus after the beginning, count three tabernacles: the first, the outermost, namely the court, which was enclosed by curtains on the sides but open above, about which Moses treated in this chapter, which they think is called by the Apostle, Hebrews IX, 1, the "worldly sanctuary," or as it is in Greek, κόσμικον, that is, "mundane," because it was common to all, says Chrysostom: in this was the bronze altar of holocausts under the open sky. The second tabernacle was the Holy Place, which was like the temple of the Priests, which the Apostle calls the "first tabernacle": this was enclosed on every side and connected to the Holy of Holies: in this were the candelabrum, the altar of incense, and the table of the showbread. The third tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, open only to the high priest: in it was the ark with the propitiatory and the Cherubim, likewise the urn with manna and the rod of Aaron. But on this matter I have spoken at Hebrews IX, 1.
LET IT SHINE UNTIL MORNING BEFORE THE LORD. — From this it is clear that the lamps did not burn during the day in the candelabrum, although Cajetan and Lipomanus think so, but only at night; therefore what he said a little before: "That the lamp may burn always," he here explains so that "always" means the same as "every night"; in the evening therefore the priests would light the lamps, so that they would burn all night; but in the morning they would extinguish them, clean them, arrange them, and pour in oil. That this is so is clear both from this passage, and from Leviticus chapter XXIV, 3, and II Paralipomenon chapter XIII, 11, and I Kings III, 3. So Abulensis, Oleaster, and others.
Josephus, however, book III of the Antiquities, chapter IX, states that the priest in the morning extinguished four lamps and allowed the remaining three to keep burning; but in the evening he again lit the four which he had extinguished in the morning, so that all seven would shine through the night. This opinion seems to be supported by the fact that the tabernacle was covered on every side both by day and by night, and had no window through which it might admit light; therefore it seems to have needed some lamp burning even during the day.
But this is not so certain: for Josephus did not see this tabernacle, but the temple; and Scripture in the three or four passages already cited makes no mention of any lamp burning during the day, but simply and consistently states that the lamp was lit in the evening and shone until morning; by which it sufficiently implies that it was extinguished in the morning, and by "lamp" it means not one, but all seven, as it seems, which were in the candelabrum. For I said before that the tabernacle admitted light through the front veil when it was drawn back and raised up somewhat: for this veil served as a door in the tabernacle.
You will say: Josephus, book VIII of the Antiquities, chapter II, says that Solomon made one candelabrum that would burn during the day.
I reply: in Greek, instead of "during the day," the text has καθ' ἡμέραν, which literally signifies "by day," that is, "daily," which is true, because the lamp had to burn daily through the night: otherwise Josephus would be entirely contrary to Scripture, since he says this had to be done according to the prescription of the law: for Scripture nowhere commands that a lamp be lit during the day; indeed, here and elsewhere it commands it to be lit only during the night.
In the Holy Place, therefore, the lamps burned only at night, and all of them for a mystery, namely to signify that living lamps, that is, teachers and priests, illuminate the more unlearned only in the night of this world, that is, in this Church (hence Plato said, "Good men need not a long life, but a glorious and illustrious one"); for in the day of eternity, when we shall be in the Holy of Holies, there will be no lamp, no sun, no moon; but its lamp is the Lamb, Revelation chapter XXI, verse 23. For this reason also in the Holy of Holies there was no candelabrum placed; but all things there were dark, to conceal God speaking there, and to signify that we contemplate the future glory of heaven here only through darkness and enigmas. So Bede, book III On the Tabernacle, chapter 1, and Radulphus, book XVII on Leviticus, chapter IV.
Perpetual Worship
THE WORSHIP SHALL BE PERPETUAL. — This rite of lighting the lamps in the evening shall be perpetual, understand: in your law and religion, because it will last throughout the entire time of the law and of Judaism; hence is added, "through their successions," namely of the Aaronic priests, who shall continually receive oil from the children of Israel for lighting the lamps daily.
Mystically, the people offer oil, that is, a pure, fruitful, and devout conscience, so that the priests may kindle it with the fire of charity and heavenly light. So Bede.