Go to Related Reading
About this book

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 Samaritan Exodus 38:8

Hebrew Bible · Samaritan

Share:

Summary

In Exodus, priests wash hands and feet at a bronze basin made from women’s mirrors before entering the tabernacle. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, “serving women” and “armies” sound alike, suggesting the basin’s design may represent an army of angels.

Passages

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Samaritan Exodus 38:8

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
6 And he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. 7 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them; he made it hollow with planks. 8 And he made the basin of bronze and its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 9 And he made the courtyard; for the south side southward the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits; 10 and its pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Exodus

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 ..."
Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, trans. Benyamim Tsedaka (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 220.

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

Your feedback

Exodus 38:8 and Samaritan Exodus 38:8

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library