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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 39

1 From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. 3 They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into narrow strips to weave them into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and into the fine linen, the work of an artistic designer. 4 They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together. 5 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 He put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 8 He made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. 9 It was square—they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. 10 They set on it four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl—the first row; 11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings. 14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal. 15 They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold, 16 and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper two ends of the breastpiece. 17 They attached the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece; 18 the other two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. 19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the other two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod. 20 They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod. 21 They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 22 He made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver. 23 There was an opening in the center of the robe, like the opening of a collar, with an edge all around the opening so that it could not be torn. 24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen around the hem of the robe. 25 They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates. 26 There was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe, to be used in ministering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 27 They made tunics of fine linen—the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons— 28 and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen. 29 The sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.” 31 They attached to it a blue cord to attach it to the turban above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 32 So all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed, and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses—they did it exactly so. 33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; 34 and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the protecting curtain; 35 the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement lid; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; 37 the pure lampstand, its lamps, with the lamps set in order, and all its accessories, and oil for the light; 38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin with its pedestal; 40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests. 42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected all the work, and they had done it just as the Lord had commanded—they had done it exactly—and⁠ Moses blessed them.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 1:31 and Exodus 39:43

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis and the account of building the tabernacle use the same language about completed work and approval. The shared pattern shows the cosmos formed in a way that echoes the making of the tabernacle.

Passages

Genesis 1:31

Hebrew Bible
29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so. 31 God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Exodus 39:43

Hebrew Bible
41 the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests. 42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected all the work, and they had done it just as the Lord had commanded—they had done it exactly—and Moses blessed them.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

References

"... Particularly instructive in this connection is the Ugaritic text that tells of the building of Baal’s temple and describes the burning of the fire during six days (compare Exodus 35:3) with its extinguishing on the seventh day. In this manner, the work is brought to conclusion, and Baal begins with the preparations for the dedicatory festivities (ANET 2: 134 [Ginsberg]). Similarly, there is undoubtedly significance in Buber and Rosenzweig’s previously mentioned claims, that the completion of work on the Tabernacle is described in language that generally resembles the conclusion of P’s Creation narrative. The following comparison demonstrates this similarity (Genesis 1:31, Exodus 39:43; Genesis 2:1, Exodus 39:32; Genesis 2:2, Exodus 40:33; Genesis 2:3, Exodus 39:43) ... Practically speaking, the Sabbath commandment becomes operative with the building of the Tabernacle, which according to P represents the classic Revelation of God to his people. It appears that the priesthood dramatized the conclusion of Creation by the Sabbath in the same way that the people of the Ancient Near East dramatized the Creation in their cultic dramas. The Sabbath, in fact, represented the conclusion of a cultic cycle, for on the Sabbath they changed the showbread (Leviticus 24:5–9), and the temple guards (2 Kings 11:5, 9) ..."
Moshe Weinfeld, The Place of the Law in the Religion of Ancient Israel, VTSup 100 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 100–101.

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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Genesis 1:31 and Exodus 39:43

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