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The Masoretic Hebrew text of Exodus 38:8 describes the bronze basin as made from mirrors donated by women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The Samaritan tradition interprets this phrase as referring not to women but to “visions of the armies,” understood as angels stationed at the entrance.
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Exodus 38:8
Hebrew Bible
6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar hollow, out of boards. 8 He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 9 Bezalel made the courtyard. For the south side the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, 150 feet long, 10 with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Samaritan Exodus 38:8
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
6 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass. 7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. 8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, according to the visions of the armies that assembled at the gate of the tent of meeting. 9 And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: 10 Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
Date: 130-120 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Exodus 38:8: The Israelite Samaritan commentators and translators understood “the visions of the armies” as angels who were always at the gate of the tent of meeting ..."
Tsedaka, Benyamim
The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version
(p. 220) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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