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Exodus

About this book

Instructions for the Tabernacle

Chapter 25

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me; from every person motivated by a willing heart you are to receive my offering. 3 This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, bronze, 4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and other gems to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece. 8 Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.⁠ 9 According to all that I am showing you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—you must make it exactly so.⁠ 10 “They are to make an ark of acacia wood—its length is to be 45 inches, its width 27 inches, and its height 27 inches. 11 You are to overlay it with pure gold—both inside and outside you must overlay it, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold over it. 12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 13 You are to make poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold, 14 and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. 15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. 16 You are to put into the ark the testimony that I will give to you. 17 “You are to make an atonement lid of pure gold; its length is to be 45 inches, and its width is to be 27 inches. 18 You are to make two cherubim of gold; you are to make them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid. 19 Make one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid you are to make the cherubim on the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to be spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings, and the cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the atonement lid. 21 You are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you. 22 I will meet with you there,⁠ and from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites. 23 “You are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be 36 inches, its width 18 inches, and its height 27 inches. 24 You are to overlay it with pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it. 25 You are to make a surrounding frame for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 26 You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach the rings at the four corners where its four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 28 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them. 29 You are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold. 30 You are to set the Bread of the Presence on the table before me continually. 31 “You are to make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece.⁠ 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next branch, and the same for the six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 35 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece, all of it one hammered piece of pure gold. 37 “You are to make its seven lamps and then set its lamps up on it, so that it will give light to the area in front of it. 38 Its trimmers and its trays are to be of pure gold. 39 About 75 pounds of pure gold is to be used for it and for all these utensils. 40 Now be sure to make them according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 25:8 and Neofiti Exodus 25:8

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 25 describes God’s instruction to build a sanctuary so that He may live with the people. The Aramaic translation in Targum Neofiti connects this to the “Shekhinah,” a mediated form of the divine presence found throughout Jewish tradition.

Passages

Exodus 25:8

Hebrew Bible
3 This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, bronze, 4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and other gems to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece. 8 Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. 9 According to all that I am showing you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—you must make it exactly so.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Neofiti Exodus 25:8

Targum
3 This is the contribution you must receive from them: gold, silver, bronze, 4 blue, purple, and precious crimson material, fine linen, and goats’ hair, 5 reddened ram skins, sasgewan skins, and acacia wood, 6 oil for lighting, spices for anointing oil and fragrant incense, 7 precious stones and stones to be set in the ephod and breastpiece. 8 They must build a sanctuary to my Name, and I will make the Glory of my Shekinah dwell among them. 9 ⟨According to⟩ everything I show you about the design of the tabernacle and the design of all its furnishings, that is how you must make it.
300–1000 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Neofiti Exodus

References

"... The term shekhinta, in Hebrew Shekhinah (“dwelling,” “[Divine] presence”), is quite common in the Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible (Targumim) and in other parts of rabbinic literature. It originates from the idea of God’s dwelling in a sanctuary, especially the Jerusalem Temple, and is based on longstanding biblical traditions, but the term itself is perhaps first attested in the Greek text of 2 Maccabees 14:35. God’s dwelling, however, was not imagined as limited to the Temple, particularly at times when there was no functioning temple. The Divine presence was attributed also to other contexts, such as a gathering of judges or of small groups of people, not necessarily in a liturgical setting. One of the best-known expressions of this idea is found in Mishnah tractate Avot (3:2), which reads, “But two who are sitting together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, the Divine Presence [Shekhinah] rests with them.” This and similar sayings find an interesting analogy in the New Testament: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Despite the differences, there seem to be profound connections between the different sayings, beyond a common basis in the Hebrew Bible ..."
Joseph Sievers, “‘Where Two or Three . . .’: Shekhinah and Matthew 18:20: Foundations for Jewish-Christian Dialogue and Beyond?” Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture 6.1 (2017): 25–39.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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