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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 27

1 “You are to make the altar of acacia wood, 7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide; the altar is to be square, and its height is to be 4½ feet. 2 You are to make its four horns on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, and you are to overlay it with bronze. 3 You are to make its pots for the ashes, its shovels, its tossing bowls, its meat hooks, and its fire pans—you are to make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You are to make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and you are to make on the network four bronze rings on its four corners. 5 You are to put it under the ledge of the altar below, so that the network will come halfway up the altar. 6 You are to make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you are to overlay them with bronze. 7 The poles are to be put into the rings so that the poles will be on two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8 You are to make the altar hollow, out of boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so they must make it. 9 “You are to make the courtyard of the tabernacle. For the south side there are to be hangings for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, 150 feet long for one side, 10 with 20 posts and their 20 bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 11 Likewise for its length on the north side, there are to be hangings for 150 feet, with 20 posts and their 20 bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 12 The width of the court on the west side is to be 75 feet with hangings, with their 10 posts and their 10 bases. 13 The width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, is to be 75 feet.⁠ 14 The hangings on one side of the gate⁠ are to be 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 15 On the second side there are to be hangings 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 16 For the gate of the courtyard there is to be a curtain of 30 feet, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four posts and their four bases. 17 All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands; their hooks are to be silver, and their bases bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard is to be 150 feet and the width 75 feet, and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings is to be 7½ feet, with their bronze bases. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze. 20 “You are to command the Israelites that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps will burn regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 27:14 and Onkelos Exodus 27:14

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 27 contains a word translated as ‘and’ that the Aramaic Targum Onkelos preserves, but a later Arabic version drops as unimportant. Some readers treat every small detail as meaningful while others view them as just literary style.

Passages

Exodus 27:14

Hebrew Bible
13 The width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, is to be 75 feet. 14 The hangings on one side of the gate are to be 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 15 On the second side there are to be hangings 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Onkelos Exodus 27:14

Targum
13 And the width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, shall be fifty cubits, 14 and fifteen cubits of curtains on one side, with their pillars three and their bases three. 15 And on the other side fifteen cubits of curtains, with their pillars three and their bases three.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Exodus

References

"... The Bible attaches a letter vav ('and,' 'or,' 'but,' among other meanings) to many words, especially at verse beginnings. Saadiah, who translated the Bible into Arabic in the tenth century CE and who relied on our Targum in doing so, explains that this is frequently a matter of biblical style and that it has no educational purpose and no linguistic implication. Indeed, he states, many vavs are unnecessary. The same applies to the letter hay, the definite article 'the.' Saadiah and Onkelos delete many of these letters in their translations, thereby suggesting, contrary to the view of Rabbi Akiva that is discussed in the Introduction, that not every letter of the Torah has intended meaning. In verse 27:14, Saadiah deletes a vav, but the Targum does not ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 187.

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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Exodus 27:14 and Onkelos Exodus 27:14

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