Exodus 40:34

Hebrew Bible

32 Whenever they entered the tent of meeting, and whenever they approached the altar, they would wash, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 But when the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on all their journeys;

1 Kings 8:10

Hebrew Bible

8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 10 Once the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 11 The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness.

 Notes and References

"... 1 Kings 8:10–11 presents a challenge to interpreters, and not because of the words and their meaning, for they are clear enough. During the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the Ark is carried “into the inner sanctuary of the Temple, into the most holy place” by the priests (1 Kings 8:6) ... Overall, 1 Kings 8 is filled with key Deuteronomistic teachings, from its erection of the central sanctuary in Jerusalem to its strong emphasis on the so- called Name Theology, in which divine presence is localized via Yahweh’s šēm (1 Kings 8:16, 17, 19, 20, 29, 33, 35, 42–44, 48). With this in mind, the vocabulary of 1 Kings 8:10–11 seems at first glance strikingly out of place. A comparison with Priestly vocabulary (e.g., the mention of the ʿānān and the kābôd Yahweh filling sacred space in Exodus 40:34–35) has led many scholars to see the hand of a Priestly editor at work. Thus Gary Knoppers’ summary represents the situation well: “Virtually all scholars recognize the presence of both a preexilic source and some priestly editing in 1 Kings 8:1– 13.” ..."

Lewis, Theodore J. The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (p. 366) Oxford University Press, 2020

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