Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The altar of holocaust is fashioned; and in verse 8, the bronze laver from the mirrors of the women; and in verse 9, the court with its columns and veils; finally, in verse 24, the talents of gold, silver, and bronze offered and expended for the construction of the tabernacle are enumerated.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 38:1-31
1. He also made the altar of holocaust of setim wood, five cubits square and three cubits in height; 2. its horns proceeded from its corners, and he covered it with bronze plates. 3. And for its use he prepared various bronze vessels: pots, tongs, flesh-hooks, hooks, and fire-pans. 4. And he made its grate of bronze in the form of a net, and under it in the middle of the altar a hearth, 5. casting four rings at the four corners of the grate, for inserting the bars to carry it, 6. which bars he also made of setim wood and covered with bronze plates: 7. and he inserted them into the rings that projected from the sides of the altar. The altar itself was not solid, but hollow, made of boards and empty inside. 8. He also made the bronze laver with its base from the mirrors of the women who kept watch at the entrance of the tabernacle. 9. He also made the court, on whose southern side there were hangings of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits long, 10. with twenty bronze columns and their bases; the capitals of the columns and the entire engraved work were of silver. 11. Likewise on the northern side, the hangings, columns, bases, and capitals of the columns were of the same measurement, workmanship, and metal. 12. And on the side facing west, there were hangings of fifty cubits; ten columns with their bronze bases, and the capitals of the columns and the entire engraved work were of silver. 13. Furthermore, facing east, he prepared hangings of fifty cubits, 14. of which fifteen cubits of three columns with their bases occupied one side; 15. and on the other side (because he had made the entrance to the tabernacle between the two) there were likewise hangings of fifteen cubits, with three columns and as many bases. 16. All the hangings of the court were woven of fine twisted linen. 17. The bases of the columns were bronze, but their capitals with all their engravings were of silver; and he also covered the columns of the court themselves with silver. 18. And at its entrance he made a hanging of embroidered work from violet, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, which was twenty cubits in length; the height was five cubits, according to the measure that all the hangings of the court had. 19. The columns at the entrance were four, with bronze bases, and their capitals and engravings were of silver. 20. He also made the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around of bronze. 21. These are the instruments of the tabernacle of the testimony, which were enumerated according to the command of Moses for the ceremonies of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest; 22. which Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, had completed at the Lord's command through Moses, 23. with his associate Oholiab, son of Ahisamech, of the tribe of Dan, who was himself also an excellent worker in wood, and a weaver and embroiderer in violet, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. 24. All the gold that was expended in the work of the Sanctuary, and that was offered in gifts, amounted to twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, according to the measure of the Sanctuary. 25. And it was offered by those who were counted from twenty years old and above, from six hundred three thousand five hundred and fifty armed men. 26. There were furthermore one hundred talents of silver, from which the bases of the Sanctuary and the entrance where the veil hangs were cast. 27. One hundred bases were made from one hundred talents, each talent being reckoned for each base. 28. And from the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, he made the capitals of the columns, which he also covered with silver. 29. Of bronze also there were offered seventy-two thousand talents and four hundred shekels besides, 30. from which the bases at the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony were cast, and the bronze altar with its grate, and all the vessels belonging to its use; 31. and the bases of the court, both around its circuit and at its entrance, and the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around.
Verse 8: He Made the Bronze Laver from the Mirrors of the Women
8. HE ALSO MADE THE BRONZE LAVER WITH ITS BASE FROM THE MIRRORS OF THE WOMEN. — For "from the mirrors," the Hebrew has bemarot, that is, "in visions" or "in mirrors," as if to say: He made the laver so polished and smooth that it served as a mirror, in which, of course, the women and others coming to the tabernacle could see themselves. So says Cajetan. But the Hebrew letter beth, meaning "in," is often taken for min, meaning "from" or "of." Hence others generally translate "from mirrors," which some first explain not as meaning that the laver was made from mirrors, but that it had mirrors hanging around it, in which the priests could look at themselves to see whether they were spotted with blemishes. Others think the laver was made from mirrors, that is, from the bronze coverings of mirrors. So says Abulensis. But all these explanations are groundless, for the Septuagint translates ek katoptron, and the Chaldean and others generally understand mar'it as mirrors, and they hold that this washing laver was properly made from them. Nor should it seem surprising that these mirrors were made of bronze, for Pliny, Book XXXIII, chapter ix, and Book XXXIV, chapter xvii, teaches that formerly the best mirrors were the Brundisian ones, made of tin and bronze most carefully polished and smoothed, but that later silver mirrors were preferred. Some plausibly hold that these mirrors did not make up the entire laver, but were skillfully inserted around it and, as it were, woven in — which seems quite easy to arrange and elegant, provided we acknowledge that the laver was composed of these mirrors, and that they were not merely hung from or attached to the laver. For in a similar way golden chalices are set with diamonds and other gems, at great cost and with great ornament and elegance; and of these it can truly be said that they are made of or consist of diamonds, even though they consist of gold for the greater part.
Note here the ancient devotion and custom by which holy women of old, especially when they dedicated themselves entirely to the service of God, consecrated to God their mirrors and ornaments, through which they had previously served vanity and the world, now being converted and consecrating these things together with themselves to God.
Thus Sophia, the mother-in-law, and Constantina, wife of the Emperor Maurice, offered their crowns in the church of God. Thus St. Lutgardis, a most holy and chaste matron, besides her patrimony, also offered to the church her entire collection of feminine adornments, which she possessed in rich abundance, so that divine worship might thereby be advanced.
Thus Pulcheria, daughter of Arcadius, from her own patrimony built a noble temple to the Virgin Mother of God, in which she took care that the vestments of the Blessed Virgin were preserved with the most magnificent care, and adorned them with gems, necklaces, and even her own garments; and thus she dedicated both her possessions and herself, including her virginity, to the Blessed Virgin, and she led a religious life at court with her royal sisters and with her brother the Emperor Theodosius, and later with Marcian her husband the Emperor, her virginity always remaining intact; and from this position she administered the empire under both most piously and most happily, such a leader of so great an undertaking was this woman: Cedrenus and others are witnesses.
Of the Roman lady Paula, St. Jerome writes in her epitaph that, as soon as she had dedicated herself to God, she exchanged all her ornaments, and indeed her entire collection of feminine adornments, for sacred furnishings. The same was done by St. Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew, King of Hungary, and wife of the Landgrave of Thuringia, a matron of wondrous holiness, mother and handmaid of the poor, as can be seen in her Life.
Hear also of the pagans. Livia, wife of Augustus, dedicated in the Capitol a crystal weighing about 50 pounds: Pliny is the witness, Book XXXVII, chapter II. When the Romans had decreed to send a golden bowl to Delphi as a tithe of their spoils, and had no gold at hand, the matrons immediately of their own accord stripped the golden ornaments from their bodies and provided them all, weighing eight talents, for the gift. And therefore the senate decreed that a funeral oration should be delivered in their praise; Plutarch in his Life of Camillus is the witness.
WHO KEPT WATCH AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. — For "who kept watch," the Septuagint translates "who fasted"; the Chaldean, "who prayed"; Cajetan translates it as "exercising." The Hebrew tsobeath properly signifies "who served in the army" or "who kept watch." There were therefore, says R. Abraham, in Israel God-fearing women who, despising the vanity of the world and striving to please God alone, offered their mirrors to the Lord and came each day to the entrance of the tabernacle to pray and to hear the precepts of God. This practice was even more common after this solemn tabernacle was constructed, and especially after the temple was built: for then a definite dwelling was constructed at the entrance or in the court of the tabernacle for such pious women, dedicated to prayer, fasting, and service of the tabernacle. Such was Anna the prophetess, Luke chapter II, verse 27; and Scripture speaks of these women in I Kings chapter II, verse 22, and II Maccabees chapter III, verse 20. Among these the Blessed Virgin lived and was raised, after she was presented in the temple at the age of three. This was, as it were, a religious community of devout women of that time, which was a type and shadow of our Religious women, who can rightly trace their origin and antiquity from these. Indeed, the pagans also established a similar community of virgins who kept watch in the temples and guarded the sacred fire of Vesta — hence they were called Vestals.
Therefore the multitude of religious virgins, who in convents and churches, presented in the very flower of their age, follow the banner of the Virgin Mother of God, is an army of soldiers. For, as St. Chrysostom says in Homily 8 on Matthew, "The battle against the devil is common to women and men, and often in such combat women have fought more bravely than men and have shone with illustrious trophies." And to pass over other things in silence, a weak woman has within herself a greater enemy — namely, the fickleness and wantonness of mind as well as of flesh — than a man: therefore the victory of a woman is nobler than that of a man. Who would not marvel at Thecla, Agnes, Catherine, Ursula? "This," says St. Ambrose in Book I On Virgins, "is that heavenly army which the praising host of angels promises on earth. Hence that passage in Song of Songs chapter VII: What will you see in the Shulamite, but the dances of the camps!" The congregations of virgins are like camps because they wage war against the enemy; like choirs, because they sing divine praises, says Theodosius. Hence St. Ambrose, in the same passage: "What shall I say," he says, "of the virgins of Bologna, who, leaving their parents' home, stretch forth in the tabernacles of Christ as tireless soldiers of chastity: now they resound with spiritual songs, now they earn their livelihood by their labors?"
Therefore let virgins set before themselves another mirror by which to adorn their mind and character through imitation — namely, the Blessed Virgin, in whom, as St. Ambrose says in Book II On Virgins, "as in a mirror shines the beauty of chastity and the form of virtue." Truly says St. Bernard, Epistle 413: "The daughters of Babylon," he says, "are dressed in purple and fine linen, but their conscience lies in rags; they shine with necklaces, but they are sordid in their morals. On the contrary, you, Sophia the virgin, are ragged on the outside but resplendent with beauty on the inside — but for divine eyes, not human ones: within is what delights, because within is He whom it delights." The images of Silenus were such that, when closed on the outside, they showed the ridiculous appearance of a flute-player, but when opened, they revealed a deity. Such was Socrates, says Alcibiades. And such should the virgin be — worthless on the outside, beautiful and divine within.
Hence St. Paula, as St. Jerome testifies, if she saw any virgin who was rather too well-groomed, would rebuke the erring one with a frown and a sad expression, saying: "Elegance of body and dress is uncleanness of the soul."
Therefore let virgins and women who dedicate themselves to God cast away their mirrors that serve the fragile beauty of the flesh, and devote them as sacred offerings to God. Rightly does virginity in Nazianzen's poem depict its own appearance thus:
"Unkempt hair is my adornment, a worthless cloak my garment."
Verse 9: Hangings
9. Hangings. — He thus calls here throughout the veils of the court, in verses 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18.
Verse 17: The Bases of the Columns Were of Bronze
17. THE BASES OF THE COLUMNS WERE OF BRONZE, BUT THEIR CAPITALS WITH ALL THEIR ENGRAVINGS WERE OF SILVER. — "Capitals," rightly: for Oleaster teaches well from chapter XXVII, verses 10 and 11, that this Hebrew word vav signifies this; for there all translate vavim as "capitals." But because here another Hebrew word is used that signifies "head," therefore the Septuagint and Chaldeans here translate vavim as "hooks": both are correct, for vav signifies a nail and its head — such is the shape of the Hebrew letter vav, which the Septuagint and Chaldeans call a hook. And it is likely that the capitals of the columns were such that, like a nail, they ended in a point at the bottom and in a knob at the top, which knob was the head of these capitals, or the head of the hooks. Therefore you may translate the Hebrew thus: he fixed the silver capitals of the columns with their engravings, and the silver covering, or knob of the capitals. Understand verse 19 in the same way.
Verse 21: These Are the Instruments of the Tabernacle
21. THESE ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE TABERNACLE, etc. FOR THE CEREMONIES (that is, for the service, as the Hebrew and Septuagint have it) OF THE LEVITES. — For the Levites served in the disassembly and transport of the tabernacle when the camp had to be moved, and again in its reassembly when the camp was to be pitched. Over these Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron, presided, to whom therefore the count of each of the tabernacle's instruments had to be reported. Just as Eleazar, the brother of Ithamar and the elder son, presided over the other Levites who carried the actual vessels and furnishings of the tabernacle, who were solely the Kohathites, that is, the descendants of Kohath, son of Levi. On this, see more in Numbers IV.
Verses 25 and 26: Those Who Were Counted from Twenty Years Old
25 and 26. AND IT WAS OFFERED BY THOSE WHO WERE COUNTED (who were numbered) FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND ABOVE, FROM SIX HUNDRED THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ARMED MEN; THERE WERE FURTHERMORE ONE HUNDRED TALENTS OF SILVER. — "It was offered" — not the gold mentioned previously, for he had already said that it was collected not from the census of the people but from voluntary gifts; rather, what was commanded to be offered in the census according to the law of chapter XXX, 13, namely a half-shekel of silver from each individual, so that one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels of silver were offered by six hundred three thousand five hundred and fifty Hebrews (for that many were counted and numbered). But our Translator left this to be understood from chapter XXX, 13; and lest he repeat the same thing too often, he omitted it, as is his custom, especially since the distribution of the silver collected through the census follows immediately. Therefore what he translates as "there were furthermore one hundred," etc. is the same as if he were to say, "there were therefore," or "whence there were furthermore" — that is to say: In the census, the prescribed amount was offered by six hundred three thousand five hundred and fifty, namely a half-shekel from each head; whence it came about that "furthermore," that is, besides those 29 talents of gold mentioned in verse 24, one hundred talents of silver were collected from the census of the people. That this is so, and that this is the meaning, is clear from the Hebrew, which reads verbatim: and the silver, namely the number and weight that was offered by those numbered in the congregation, was one hundred talents, one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels according to the weight of the sanctuary; a half-shekel per head, or from each head, was offered. The Septuagint and Chaldean have it in the same way, but our Translator omitted much of this for the reason already stated. So say Abulensis, Lipomanus, and the Hebrews.
25. Armed men. — This word is not in the Hebrew but is understood: for only those fit for war and who could bear arms were counted, as I said at chapter XXXVIII, verse 14.
Verse 27: One Hundred Bases
27. ONE HUNDRED BASES. — For there were 40 on the south, 40 on the north, 16 on the western side, and 4 under the four columns dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, as was prescribed in chapter XXVI, verses 19 and 32. So say Abulensis, Cajetan, and others.
Verse 28: From the One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Five
28. AND FROM THE ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE. — Understand, shekels, as the Septuagint and Chaldean express, and as is clear from the foregoing. HE MADE THE CAPITALS OF THE COLUMNS, WHICH HE ALSO COVERED WITH SILVER — that is to say: Whatever remained beyond the 100 talents of silver collected from the census, namely 1,775 shekels, Moses spent on the capitals of the columns and on covering the columns with silver. Not that these 1,775 shekels were sufficient for this, but that they were spent on this purpose; and the remainder that was lacking was supplied from other money voluntarily offered by the people, which is not counted here, but which Scripture mentions in chapter XXXV, 24. For Moses wished here only to record the purpose for which the money collected from the census was spent.
Note: For "he made the capitals," the Hebrew has "he covered the capitals," as if to say: He made the knob of the capitals of silver. The Septuagint translates "he adorned their capitals"; but it plainly seems that an error crept into their text, so that instead of katergyrosen (he silvered), there crept in the similar katechryosen (he gilded). For the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and our Translator teach that these capitals of the columns were silvered, not gilded, and this is clear from verse 19.
Verse 29: Of Bronze Also There Were Offered
Verse 29. THERE WERE ALSO OFFERED SEVENTY TALENTS OF BRONZE, TWO THOUSAND, AND FOUR HUNDRED SHEKELS OVER AND ABOVE. — The Hebrew and Chaldean have it thus: the bronze offered was seventy talents, and two thousand, and four hundred shekels. The Septuagint, as we now have them, understand it so that the two thousand refers not to talents but to shekels; Cajetan, Lipomanus, Vatablus, and other more recent scholars follow them. But then more talents of silver would have been offered and spent than of bronze. Furthermore, with so little bronze, 60 bronze columns could not have been made, about which I spoke in chapter 27, verse 10, nor the bases, the altar, the pots, the pegs, etc., since the silver bases of the boards alone each contained a talent, as we saw in chapter 27. Therefore everything will agree very well if you distinguish and punctuate thus: "There were offered of bronze seventy talents, two thousand (supply: talents, nor is it surprising that the larger number is placed after the smaller here; for this is customary among the Hebrews) and four hundred shekels"; so that there were two thousand talents of bronze, and 70 talents, and 400 shekels besides. Moreover, no one is unaware that very many errors have crept into the numbers in the Septuagint, just as here three hundred have crept in above the other numbers.
Note: Two thousand talents with 70 talents and 400 shekels make 258,766 pounds; therefore all these things could not be carried on six wagons, given to the Gershonites and Merarites for transporting the vessels of the tabernacle, Numbers 7:3. For one wagon with two oxen cannot carry three thousand pounds; but at most two thousand five hundred, as wagon-drivers attest; therefore to transport 258,766 pounds, one hundred wagons were needed. Therefore what could not be loaded on six wagons was partly loaded on other wagons, partly carried by the Levites themselves, and finally the portion of bronze that was not used for the vessels of the tabernacle but was left over, being profane, was transported not by the Levites but by laymen of other tribes in carts.
Note secondly: For "he clothed," in Hebrew it is chissac, that is, he encircled, he went around, that is, he clothed all around and in a circuit.
On the Hebrew Talent and Its Value
From this it is clearly inferred (as Vilalpando and a few others rightly observe) that the Hebrew talent contained three thousand shekels. I demonstrate this as follows: for the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint say here, first, that those who were counted here and offered the census price were six hundred and three thousand with 550; and since each of them offered a half-shekel, it follows that the total amount offered, or the sum of shekels, was half the number of the offerers, so that there were as many whole shekels as there were offerers halved. Therefore, since those offering the half-shekel were six hundred and three thousand and 550, it follows that the whole shekels offered by them amounted to three hundred thousand and 1,775. Second, the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint say that the total offered by them was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. But the total offered was, as I have said, three hundred thousand shekels and 1,775 shekels; therefore three hundred thousand shekels and 1,775 shekels equal 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. Now remove the 1,775 shekels common to both sides; then there remain 100 talents equivalent to three hundred thousand shekels. Therefore divide three hundred thousand shekels by 100 talents, and you will have three thousand shekels for each talent. Here therefore, by clear arithmetical demonstration, it is concluded that the Hebrew talent contained three thousand shekels — whether of silver, if it was a silver talent; or of gold, if it was a golden talent.
You will object: Josephus assigns six thousand shekels to a talent; for in Book III, chapter VII, he says the lampstand (which was made from a talent of gold) weighed 100 minas; but a mina had 60 shekels, as is clear from Ezekiel XLV, 12, and from Josephus, Book XIV of Antiquities, chapter XII. Now multiply one hundred minas by sixty shekels, and you will find six thousand shekels for 100 minas, and consequently for a talent. Some, such as Arias Montanus, Didacus, Covarruvias, Torniellus, Robert Cenalis in his book On Measures, and others, because of this argument, think there was a double talent among the Hebrews — one smaller and common, already mentioned, of three thousand shekels, and the other larger and sacred, of six thousand shekels, from which the lampstand was made. But this diversity and variety of the talent cannot be proven from Scripture, nor is it likely that Moses used the word "talent" equivocally and variably. Moreover, Moses here ordered that the shekels offered by the people be weighed against the shekel of the sanctuary, Exodus XXX, 24; therefore he also weighs the talent against the talent of the sanctuary. But the talent of the sanctuary was large, and according to those who posit two kinds, it was the larger compared to the secular and common one; therefore the larger talent must be taken here, not the smaller. Vilalpando demonstrates this at greater length in his Apparatus of the City and Temple, Part II, Book II, Disputation IV, chapter XXXIII, folio 409.
To Josephus I respond that either an error crept into his numbers here, as often elsewhere, or that Josephus takes the mina here in a smaller sense, namely one containing not 60 but only 30 shekels: for then 100 minas would make three thousand shekels. Since therefore the Hebrew talent contained three thousand shekels, and the shekel contained 4 drachmas — that is, it weighed as much as 4 Spanish reales, 5 stivers in silver, and 4 French crowns in gold — it follows that a talent of gold contained and was worth 12,000 French crowns; while a talent of silver contained and was worth three thousand florins.
From this it follows first, that the Hebrew talent was larger than the Euboic, which was worth 400 gold pieces, and the Attic, which was worth 600.
It follows second, that the Hebrew talent weighed ninety-three pounds of gold and twelve ounces — I take the pound here as the larger one of sixteen ounces. This is clear, for the shekel contained four drachmas, or a half-ounce (for eight drachmas make an ounce); therefore 32 shekels (which make 128 French crowns) make one pound of gold. Therefore, by multiplication, a talent containing three thousand shekels contained 93 pounds of gold and 12 ounces. But if you take the smaller or common pound of twelve ounces, then the talent contained 125 pounds.
It follows third, that from one talent, that is from 93 larger pounds, the lampstand of the temple could easily have been made, Exodus XXV, 39. Again, that David could not have worn the crown of Milcom, which weighed one talent, but only from it, that is from a part of it, made himself a diadem, as is explained in I Paralipomenon XX, 2: for it would not have been fitting for the holy king to wear the actual crown of an idol.
It follows fourth, that Gehazi with two talents of silver could easily have bought fields, vineyards, cattle, and maidservants, as is stated in IV Kings chapter V, 23 and 26; for a talent of silver was three thousand silver shekels, that is, three thousand florins. Therefore two talents of silver were worth six thousand florins.
It follows fifth, since a mina contained 60 shekels (Ezekiel XLV, 12), that a talent contained 50 minas. A mina therefore contained approximately two pounds; consequently the shields of 300 minas that Solomon made (III Kings X, 17) weighed nearly six hundred pounds, and therefore could scarcely be carried by one man, and were more for display of magnificence than for use — hence he also made other shields of 600 shekels.
It follows sixth, since David left for Solomon for the temple, as recorded in I Paralipomenon XXII, 14, one hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, that he left him two thousand four hundred millions of gold pieces. By a million I mean ten hundred thousand gold pieces. For one hundred thousand talents of gold make twelve hundred millions of gold; and precisely the same amount in gold would be produced by a million talents of silver, for the ratio of silver to gold is tenfold — one gold shekel being worth 10 (and in this era, 12) silver shekels. This sum of gold could scarcely now be found in all of Europe; therefore David acquired it not so much by his own industry as by God's blessing, so that kings may learn that if they serve God, they will be glorious and wealthy like David and Solomon. The manner of collecting it — from Ophir, from tributes, from wars and spoils, from gifts — is gathered by Vilalpando and Pizneda in their treatise On Solomon. Wherever he obtained it, it is certain from Scripture that he had so much gold and silver; hence Scripture says that in the time of Solomon there was such an abundance of gold in Jerusalem as there is of stones, and silver was not even valued. But I shall say more about the talent and weights at the end of the Pentateuch.