Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Hebrews offer more than is needed for the tabernacle, wherefore Moses forbids further offerings. Second, verse 8, the tabernacle is constructed: namely ten embroidered curtains, goat-hair coverings, coverings of skins; and verse 20, boards; verse 31, bars; verse 35, veils before the Holy of Holies and before the Holy Place.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 36:1-38
1. So Bezalel and Oholiab and every wise man, to whom the Lord had given wisdom and understanding, that they might know how to work skillfully all things necessary for the uses of the Sanctuary, and which the Lord had commanded, set to work. 2. And when Moses had called them and every skilled man to whom the Lord had given wisdom, and who of their own accord had offered themselves to do the work, 3. he delivered to them all the offerings of the children of Israel. And while they were intent upon the work, the people daily offered their voluntary gifts in the morning. 4. Whereupon the artisans were compelled to come, 5. and they said to Moses: The people offer more than is necessary. 6. Moses therefore commanded a herald's voice to proclaim: Let neither man nor woman offer anything more for the work of the Sanctuary. And so they ceased from offering gifts, 7. because the things offered were sufficient and more than enough. 8. And all the wise of heart, to complete the work of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with varied work and the art of embroidery: 9. of which each one had twenty-eight cubits in length and four in breadth. One measure was for all the curtains. 10. And he joined five curtains one to another, and the other five he coupled one to another. 11. He made also loops of hyacinth on the edge of one curtain on each side, and on the edge of the other curtain likewise, 12. that the loops might come opposite to each other and might be joined together. 13. Whereupon he also cast fifty golden rings to clasp the loops of the curtains, and so one tabernacle was made. 14. He made also eleven coverings of goat hair to cover the roof of the tabernacle: 15. one covering was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; all the coverings were of one measure: 16. of which he joined five apart, and six others separately. 17. And he made fifty loops on the edge of one covering, and fifty on the edge of another covering, that they might be joined to each other; 18. and fifty buckles of bronze, by which the roof might be fastened together, that one covering might be made of all the coverings. 19. He made also a cover for the tabernacle of red-dyed ram skins, and another covering over it of violet skins. 20. He made also the boards of the tabernacle of setim wood, standing upright. 21. The length of one board was ten cubits, and the breadth was a cubit and a half. 22. There were two tenons for each board, that one might be joined to the other. So he made for all the boards of the tabernacle, 23. of which twenty were on the south side toward the south, 24. with forty bases of silver. Two bases were placed under one board on either side of the corners where the tenons of the sides terminate at the angles. 25. On the side also of the tabernacle that looks toward the north, he made twenty boards, 26. with forty bases of silver, two bases for each board. 27. But toward the west, that is, toward that part of the tabernacle which faces the sea, he made six boards, 28. and two others at each corner of the tabernacle behind: 29. which were joined from below to the top, and were carried equally into one frame. So he did on both sides at the corners: 30. so that there were eight boards together and they had sixteen bases of silver, namely two bases under each board. 31. He made also bars of setim wood, five to hold together the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32. and five others to fit together the boards on the other side; and besides these, five other bars for the western side of the tabernacle toward the sea. 33. He also made another bar, which should come through the middle of the boards from corner to corner. 34. And the boards themselves he overlaid with gold, having cast their bases of silver. And he made their rings of gold, through which the bars might be drawn: and he covered the bars themselves with plates of gold. 35. He made also the veil of hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen, with embroidered work, varied and distinct; 36. and four columns of setim wood, which with their capitals he overlaid with gold, having cast their bases of silver. 37. He made also a hanging in the entrance of the tabernacle of hyacinth, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, with needlework; 38. and five columns with their capitals, which he covered with gold, and cast their bases of bronze.
On the Hebrew Repetition
This is the Hebrew minute and detailed repetition of all the things which the Lord commanded to be done in chapters 25, 26, 27, 28, and 30, so as to show that they were here accomplished and completed. A similar repetition is customary among Orientals and other peoples, as can be seen among the Muscovites, who as often as they address their Duke or Prince, so often do they repeat and recite all his titles in a long series of order.
Note: Our translator in this repetition does not render word for word, but the sense, and briefly embraces the Hebrew repetition, even drawing some things by way of explanation from what was said above; for this is permitted to the liberty, skill, and judgment of the translator.
Verse 3: The People Offered Their Vows
3. The people OFFERED their vows (voluntary gifts). — So says the Chaldean.
Verse 9: Moses Commanded It to Be Proclaimed
9. MOSES THEREFORE COMMANDED IT TO BE PROCLAIMED BY THE HERALD'S VOICE — In Hebrew: Moses caused a voice to pass through the camp, that is, he proclaimed it by the trumpet and voice of a herald.
Verse 14: To Cover the Roof of the Tabernacle
Verse 14. TO COVER THE ROOF OF THE TABERNACLE — that is, for the construction of the roof, or for completing the roof which would cover and protect the tabernacle: for, as I said at chapter 35, verse 11, miscan, that is the tabernacle, is precisely what is here called the lowest part of the tabernacle, namely the veil of the embroidered curtains; but the second, made of goat hair, which covered the first embroidered one, is called the roof, in Hebrew ohel, just as the third is called michse, which was a covering of skins.
Verse 18: By Which the Roof Might Be Fastened Together
18. BY WHICH THE ROOF MIGHT BE FASTENED TOGETHER — "Roof," that is, the second veil, or the goat-hair cloth covering the tabernacle, as I said at verse 14.
Verse 33: He Also Made Another Bar
33. HE ALSO MADE ANOTHER BAR — Our translator made no mention of this bar in chapter 26, verse 28. The Seventy, however, and others did make mention of it there; for in the Hebrew nearly the same words are there as here, except that the order of words is somewhat changed, and here the article is added, as if designating another specific bar. This bar is therefore different from the preceding bars, and it passed through the boards themselves, that is, penetrating the interior of their thickness; for these boards were rather thick, whence the Seventy call them columns. So say Lyranus, Hugo, Abulensis, and the Carthusian. For the remaining bars did not pass through the interior but only along the exterior backs of the boards, through rings attached to the backs of the boards for this purpose. This bar, as Abulensis correctly observes, was on the western side of the tabernacle, which covered the Holy of Holies: for that side alone had corners; therefore this bar was placed so that it might more firmly bind together all the sides of the tabernacle. Josephus also mentions this bar, in Book III, chapter 5, where, having enumerated the bars of the tabernacle, he says that besides these there was one row of bars behind, namely one that went through all the boards, by which the sides of both walls were held together by hooks.
Verse 34: The Boards He Overlaid with Gold
34. AND THE BOARDS THEMSELVES (that is, the boards which were truly joined together like a floor) HE OVERLAID WITH GOLD.
Verse 36: Which with Their Capitals He Overlaid with Gold
36. WHICH WITH THEIR CAPITALS HE OVERLAID WITH GOLD — so that the columns were merely covered with gold, that is, with gold plates, but the capitals were of solid gold, as God had commanded Moses in chapter 26, verse 32.
Verse 37: He Made Also a Hanging
37. HE MADE ALSO A HANGING — "Hanging" here and in what follows is the same as a veil.
Verse 38: Which He Covered with Gold
38. WHICH HE COVERED WITH GOLD — Understand similarly from chapter 26, verse 37, that the columns were covered with gold plates, but the capitals were of solid gold; namely, so that the hooks or capitals of the columns were of gold, while the columns themselves were covered with engravings, that is, golden rings going around in a circle, just as the columns of the court were surrounded by similar rings of silver. This is clear from the Hebrew; and so there was a just proportion in all things, since the columns of the court were adorned with silver spirals, those of the tabernacle with golden ones; while those of the Holy of Holies (inasmuch as the two innermost and nearest to the oracle) were covered not with spirals but with solid gold plates.
The Royal Bibles at the end have these final words of the chapter: "Which also he covered with gold." But this is redundant; for the bronze bases of the columns were not gilded: for the rest see chapter 26.