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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 38

1 Bezalel made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood 7½ feet long and 7½ feet wide—it was square—and its height was 4½ feet. 2 He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3 He made all the utensils of the altar—the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans—he made all its utensils of bronze. 4 He made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom. 5 He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, to provide places for the poles. 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. 11 For the north side the hangings were 150 feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 12 For the west side there were hangings 75 feet long, with their 10 posts and their 10 bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 13 For the east side, toward the sunrise, it was 75 feet wide, 14 with hangings on one side of the gate that were 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases, 15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, the hangings were 22½ feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 16 All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen. 17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. 18 The curtain for the gate of the courtyard was of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was 30 feet long and, like the hangings in the courtyard, it was 7½ feet high, 19 with four posts and their four bronze bases. Their hooks and their bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze. 21 This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted by the order of Moses,⁠ being the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 22 Now Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses; 23 and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, a designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen. 24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary (namely, the gold of the wave offering) was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 25 The silver of those who were numbered of the community was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel, 26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, 603,550 in all. 27 The 100 talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain—100 bases for 100 talents, one talent per base. 28 From the remaining 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them. 29 The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. 30 With it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the bases for the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 38:8 and Onkelos Exodus 38:8

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 38 mentions women who gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, whose mirrors were used for the creation of the bronze basin, but does not say why. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos fills in this gap, saying the women came to pray.

Passages

Exodus 38:8

Hebrew Bible
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,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Onkelos Exodus 38:8

Targum
7 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it by them; he made it hollow, with boards. 8 And he made the Basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who come to pray at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 9 And he made the court: for the south side the curtains of the court were of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits,
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Exodus

References

"... Maimonides, in his Guide of the Perplexed, praises our targumist over twenty times for his rationalistic removal of hundreds of metaphoric anthropomorphic portrayals of God. The rationalistic orientation of our targumist is also evident in his tendency to change scriptural words to inform us of the purpose or end of a particular action when the Bible is otherwise unclear. For example, it is difficult to understand what action the women were performing in Exodus 38:8 when they brought mirrors as they 'gathered' at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The targumist explains that the women gathered 'to pray.' This explanation indicates that they gave priority to prayer over personal appearance ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006).

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 38:8 and Onkelos Exodus 38:8

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