1.
And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.
(1) These are the words.—Exodus 35:2 is, in the main a repetition of Exodus 31:15, but Exodus 35:3 is new, or, at any rate, only contained by implication in any previous legislation. Kindling fire was in early times a hard piece of manual work, being effected by the friction of two pieces of dry wood.
2.
Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
3.
Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
4.
And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,
5.
Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
6.
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
7.
And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
8.
And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9.
And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10.
And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;
11.
The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
12.
The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
13.
The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
14.
The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
15.
And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
16.
The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
17.
The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
18.
The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
19.
The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.
20.
And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21.
And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.
THE ZEAL OF THE PEOPLE IN OFFERING AND ASSISTING IN THE WORK.
(21) They came, every one whose heart stirred him up.—All classes came, “men and women” (Exodus 35:22), rich and poor, “rulers” (Exodus 35:27), and those whose only skill was to “spin with their hands” (Exodus 35:25). And the great majority gave freely—to the utmost of their power. Still it is implied, both here and in Exodus 35:22; Exodus 35:29, that there were some whose hearts did not stir them up. Enough and to spare, was, however, contributed, and at last the people had to be “restrained from bringing” (Exodus 36:8).
The Lord’s offering—i.e., “their offering to Jehovah.”
22.
And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.
(22) Both men and women . . . brought bracelets . . . —It is not quite certain what the personal ornaments here mentioned are. The LXX. render σφραγῖδας καὶ ἐνώτια καὶ δακτυλίους καὶ ἐμπλόκια καὶ περιδέξια, “signets, and earrings, and rings, and chains, and armlets,” substituting five terms for four. Rosenmüller thinks the khâkh was a “nose ring;” others make it a “brooch” or “buckle.” The last word of the four, kumâz, cannot possibly mean “tablets.” It comes from a root signifying “rounded,” and designates probably a bead necklace, such as was often worn by the Egyptians. On the use of personal ornaments by the Hebrew men, as well as women, see Note on Exodus 32:2.
Jewels of gold.—Literally, articles of gold.
And every man that offered, offered an offering of gold.—By repeating the word “offered,” our translators have spoiled the sense. Moses is enumerating those who came. There came those who offered bracelets, earrings, rings, &c.; there came also those who offered any (other) offering of gold to the Lord.
23.
And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.
(23) Red skins of rams.—Rather, rams’ skins dyed red, as the same words are translated in Exodus 25:5; Exodus 35:7.
Badgers’ skins.—See Note 2 on Exodus 25:5.
24.
Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD's offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.
(24) An offering of silver.—Silver had been enumerated among the offerings which would be accepted (Exodus 25:3; Exodus 35:5), and it was therefore brought; but it is difficult to say what was done with it. All the silver actually employed in the sanctuary came from the half-shekels paid when the people were numbered. (See Exodus 38:25-28.) Perhaps the silver free-will offerings were returned to the donors.
25.
And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
(25) All the women that were wise-hearted—i.e., “all who had sufficient skill.” Spinning was probably a very general accomplishment of the Hebrew women. It was effected in early times by means of a wheel and spindle, with or without a distaff. The only materials used for the fabrics of the sanctuary appear to have been flax and goats’ hair. The flax was dyed before it was spun into thread, as sometimes by the Greeks (Horn. Od. iv. 135).
Of fine linen.—Rather, of white. Most of the Egyptian linen is of a yellowish white, being made from flax imperfectly blanched.
26.
And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.
(26) All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.—It would seem to have been more difficult to produce a thread from goats’ hair than from flax. Only the most skilful undertook the more difficult task.
27.
And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;
(27) The rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set.—The “rulers” here intended are probably the “princes of the tribes” of Israel (Numbers 1:16; Numbers 3:3; Numbers 3:5, &c.). The twelve stones required for the breastplate would naturally be contributed by the twelve chiefs of the tribes whose names they were to bear (Exodus 28:21). The two onyx stones for the ephod (Exodus 28:9-12), may have been the further gift of two of the number, who happened to possess stones of the large size needed.
28.
And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
(28) Spice.-See Exodus 30:23-24; Exodus 30:34.
29.
The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
30.
And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31.
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
32.
And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
33.
And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
34.
And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35.
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.