Exodus · Chapter 31

Verses 1, 2. See, I have called Bezaleel — The grandson of Hur, probably that Hur who had helped to hold up Moses’s hands, chap. 17., and was at this time in commission with Aaron for the government of the people in the absence of Moses. Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, is appointed next to Bezaleel, and partner with him. Hiram, who was the head workman in the building of Solomon’s temple, was also of the tribe of Dan, 2 Chronicles 2:14.

V. 2. See I have called Bezaleel, the grandson of Hur, probably that Hur who had helped to hold up Moses’s hand, Exodus 17:10-12, and was at this time in commission with Aaron for the government of the people in the absence of Moses.

Aholiab of the tribe of Dan is appointed next to Bezaleel, and partner with him. Hiram, who was the head-workman in the building of Solomon’s temple, was also of the tribe of Dan, 2 Chronicles 2:14.

Verse 2. I have called by name Bezaleel] That is, I have particularly appointed this person to be the chief superintendent of the whole work. His name is significant, lalxb betsal-el, in or under the shadow of God, meaning, under the especial protection of the Most High. He was the son of Uri, the son of Hur, the son of Caleb or Chelubai, the son of Esron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah. See 1 Chronicles 2:5, 9, 18-20, and see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 17:10”.

Verses 1, 2. See, I have called Bezaleel — The grandson of Hur, probably that Hur who had helped to hold up Moses’s hands, chap. 17., and was at this time in commission with Aaron for the government of the people in the absence of Moses. Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, is appointed next to Bezaleel, and partner with him. Hiram, who was the head workman in the building of Solomon’s temple, was also of the tribe of Dan, 2 Chronicles 2:14.

2. I have called by name — The artistic construction of the house of God is no ordinary work, and after its plan and dimensions and the most minute details of its furniture and materials had been given to Moses, Jehovah designated a chosen architect, as called and qualified (verse 3) for carrying out the plans and specifications. This distinguished workman was Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. Aaron and Hur had stayed up the hands of Moses during the conflict with Amalek, (Exodus 17:10-13,) and now the grandson of that Hur is made the chief assistant of Moses in the construction of the tabernacle. May not the piety of the grandfather have had something to do with the mechanical ability of the grandson?

V. 3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God; and Exodus 31:6. In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom. Skill in common employments is the gift of God; It is he that puts even this wisdom into the inward parts, Job 38:36. He teacheth the husbandman discretion, Isaiah 28:26, and the tradesman too, and he must have the praise of it.

Verse 3. I have filled him with the spirit of God] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 28:3”.

In wisdom] hmkj, chochmah, from חכם chacham, to be wise, skilful, or prudent, denoting the compass of mind and strength of capacity necessary to form a wise man: hence our word wisdom, the power of judging what is wise or best to be done; from the Saxon, [Anglo-Saxon], to teach, to advise, and [Anglo-Saxon], to judge; hence [Anglo-Saxon], the doom or judgment of the well taught, wise, or prudent man.

Understanding] hnwbt tebunah, from בנ ban or bun, to separate, distinguish, discern; capacity to comprehend the different parts of a work, how to connect, arrange, &c., in order to make a complete whole. Knowledge] דעת daath, denoting particular acquaintance with a person or thing; practical, experimental knowledge.

Verse 3. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God — And, verse 6, In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom. Skill in common employments is the gift of God; it is he that puts even this wisdom into the inward parts, Job 38:36. He teacheth the husbandman discretion, Isaiah 28:26; and the tradesman too, and he must have the praise of it. Although it is probable that the arts were carried to a great height at this period in Egypt; yet, considering the state of slavery in which the Israelites had been held there, and the hard labour to which they had been compelled, it is not to be supposed that many of them had made any proficiency therein, or were qualified for such curious workmanship as had been prescribed. But that God who often chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise; who took the apostles from their fishing-boats, and from other low occupations, and enabled them to speak fluently and correctly in the languages of all nations to which they were sent to preach; endued the persons here mentioned with the skill requisite for the work to which they were appointed. A late commentator remarks here, “Neither Moses nor Aaron, nor any of Aaron’s sons, were appointed to this service; the honour already conferred must suffice for them, and if they attended to their proper work, they would find that also sufficient. Nor were Moses’s sons appointed; for it was the Lord’s will that his disinterestedness and divine legation should appear illustrious in the obscurity of his posterity.”

Verse 3. I have filled him with the Spirit of God. How just to ascribe the glory to God for the powers of genius, seeing he has assuredly disposed the minds of men to the arts and sciences, as much as he allures and draws the soul to piety. It often wounds our feelings to hear the egotisms of our mechanics, who being practical men, despise scientific men, who are notwithstanding the ultimate guides of ingenious artists.

3. Filled him with the spirit of God — There is no need of explaining this as equivalent merely to the phrase “a divine spirit,” or translating “a spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit of God is intended, which quickened all Bezaleel’s mental faculties, and enriched him with such a degree of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that he was recognized as divinely gifted with the required qualifications for all manner of workmanship which the construction and erection of the tabernacle called for.

Verse 4. Cunning works] tbvjm machashaboth, works of invention or genius, in the goldsmith and silversmith line.

4, 5. To devise cunning works — To plan and execute designs; to think out and elaborate such works of art in metal, stone, and wood, and other material, as would be required in the sanctuary, or in connexion with its services.

Verse 5. In cutting of stones, &c.] Every thing that concerned the lapidary’s, jeweller’s, and carver’s art.

Verse 5. In cutting of stones — That is, in cutting and setting the precious stones, and in graving on them what God commanded. In carving of timber — Rather in cutting of timber, as the same word is rendered in the beginning of the verse; for we do not read of any carved work about the tabernacle.

4, 5. To devise cunning works — To plan and execute designs; to think out and elaborate such works of art in metal, stone, and wood, and other material, as would be required in the sanctuary, or in connexion with its services.

Verse 6. In the hearts of all that are wisehearted I have put wisdom] So every man that had a natural genius, as we term it, had an increase of wisdom by immediate inspiration from God, so that he knew how to execute the different works which Divine wisdom designed for the tabernacle and its furniture. Dark as were the heathens, yet they acknowledged that all talents, and the seeds of all arts, came from God. Hence Seneca: Insita nobis omnium artium semina, magisterque ex occulto Deus producit ingenia.

In the same way Homer attributes such curious arts to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, and Vulcan, the god of handicrafts. JWv dJ ote tiv cruson periceuetaiargurw anhr

Idriv, on `Hfaistov dedaen kai Pallav aqhnh

Tecnhn pantoihn, carienta de erga teleiei.

Odyss., l. vi., ver. 232.

As by some artist, to whom VULCAN gives

His skill divine, a breathing statue lives;

By PALLAS taught, he frames the wondrous mould,

And o’er the silver pours the fusile gold.

POPE.

And all this the wisest of men long before them declared; when speaking of the wisdom of God he says, I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions; Proverbs 8:12. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 28:3”, to which the reader is particularly desired to refer. There is something remarkable in the name of this second superintendent, baylha Aholiab, the tabernacle of the father, or, the father is my tabernacle; a name nearly similar in its meaning to that of Bezaleel, see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 31:2”.

6. Aholiab — The grandson of Hur was not to be alone in this responsible work of the sanctuary. A representative of the tribe of Dan was to be associated with him in the labour and responsibility. From Exodus 35:35, and Exodus 38:23, we infer that Aholiab had more particular charge of the textile fabrics, and the weaving and embroidering, but Bezaleel had superintendency of all. With these were associated also others who were wise hearted, that is, skilled to perform similar artistic work; for many workmen would be needed for the preparation of all that was shown to Moses in the mount. With this account of the call and qualifications of the workmen is joined a brief recapitulation (verses 7-11) of the several articles which have been described in the foregoing chapters.

Verse 8. The pure candlestick] Called so either because of the pure gold of which it was made, or the brightness and splendour of its workmanship, or of the light which it imparted in the tabernacle, as the purest, finest oil was always burnt in it.

Verse 8. The pure candlestick — Bright, resplendent, being of pure gold, and always kept clean and bright, Exodus 29:37; Leviticus 24:4. The same original word occurs Exodus 24:10, where the divine glory is compared to the body of heaven in its clearness or splendour.

Ver. 8. The pure candlestick; because always kept bright and clean, or because made of pure gold.

Verse 9. The altar of burnt-offering] See Clarke note on “Exodus 27:1”.

The laver and his foot] The pedestal on which it stood.

Verse 10. Clothes of service] Vestments for the ordinary work of their ministry; the holy garments-those which were peculiar to the high priest.

Verse 10. The clothes of service — Wherewith the ark, the table, the candlestick, and golden altar, were covered when the camp removed, Numbers 4:6.

10. Clothes of service — These are perhaps best understood of the ministerial official robes of the high priest, described in Exodus 28:6-38, as distinguished from “the coat of fine linen,” (Exodus 28:39,) and the other garments worn in common by Aaron and his sons, (Exodus 28:40-43.) Others understand by these clothes of service the inner curtains of the tabernacle, or the cloth wraps in which the vessels of the tabernacle were bound up when they were carried from place to place in the march to Canaan. The passage might also be translated, “And the clothes of service, even the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons;” thus making the clothes of service include the holy garments both of Aaron and his sons.

THE SABBATH LAW, 12-17.

Verse 11. The anointing oil] See Clarke note on “Exodus 30:23”. Sweet incense] See Clarke on “Exodus 30:23”; and “Exodus 30:24”.

V. 13. It is a sign between me and you-The institution of the sabbath was a great instance of God’s favour, and a sign that he had distinguished them from all other people: and their religious observance of it, was a great instance of their duty to him. God, by sanctifying this day among them, let them know that he sanctified them, and set them apart for his service, otherwise he would not have revealed to them his holy sabbaths to be the support of religion among them. The Jews by observing one day in seven, after six days labour, testified that they worshipped the God that made the world in six days, and rested the seventh; and so distinguished themselves from other nations, who having first lost the sabbath, the memorial of the creation, by degrees lost the knowledge of the creator, and gave the creature the honour due to him alone.

Verse 13. My Sabbaths ye shall keep] See Clarke note on “Genesis 2:3”; and “Exodus 20:8”.

Verse 13. Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep — This had been mentioned thrice before, Exodus 16:23, and 20:8, and 23:12; but seems here to be repeated lest they should think the sacred work enjoined in this chapter would warrant their breaking in upon the holy rest of that day. Wherefore the clause had better be translated, Nevertheless my sabbaths shall ye keep; for Ëa ach is often an exceptive particle, and is so rendered here by Arias, Montanus, Le Clerc, Junius, and Tremellius. It is a sign between me and you — Some late commentators have quoted Poole here, as follows: “The sabbath is a five-fold sign; 1st, Commemorative of God’s creation and dominion over them and all things, to whom they hereby profess their subjection. 2d, Indicative, showing that they were made to be holy, and that their sanctification could be had from none but God, as it here follows and from the observation of God’s days and appointments. 3d, Distinctive, whereby they owned themselves to be the Lord’s peculiar people, by a religious keeping of those sabbaths, which the rest of the world grossly neglected, and profanely scoffed at. 4th, Prefigurative of that rest which Christ should purchase for them, namely, a rest from the burden of the ceremonial, and the curses and rigours of the moral law, as also from sin and the wrath of God for ever, Hebrews 4. 5th, Confirmative, both assuring them of God’s good will to them, and that, as he blessed the sabbath for their sakes, so he would bless them in the holy use of it, with temporal, spiritual, and everlasting blessings; and assuring God of their standing, and that they would stand to the covenant made between God and them. So that this was a mutual stipulation or ratification of the covenant of grace on both sides.” Certainly the institution of the sabbath was a great instance of God’s favour, and a sign that he had separated them from all other people; and their religious observance of it was a great instance of their duty to him. God, by sanctifying this day among them, let them know that he sanctified them, and set them apart for his service, otherwise he would not have revealed to them his holy sabbaths, to be the support of religion among them. The Jews, by observing one day in seven, after six days’ labour, testified that they worshipped the God that made the world in six days, and rested the seventh; and so distinguished themselves from other nations, who, having first lost the sabbath, the memorial of the creation, by degrees lost the knowledge of the Creator, and gave the creature the honour due to him alone.

Ver. 13. My sabbaths ye shall keep. This precept seems to be here repeated, to limit the time for doing the forementioned works. Though the work of the tabernacle and its utensils be holy, and for a holy use, yet I will not have it done upon my holy day. Ezekiel 20:12.—I the Lord doth sanctify you. I have selected you out of all people, and consecrated you to myself, to my service and worship, a great part whereof is the due observance of the sabbath.

13. My sabbaths ye shall keep — How repeatedly the sanctity of the sabbath day is affirmed! In Exodus 20:8-11, (where see notes,) we have it formally enjoined in the decalogue. In Exodus 23:12, it is again set forth in connexion with the law of the sabbatic year, and so again and again throughout the Pentateuch. In Exodus 35:2, 3, it introduces the account of the preparations for building the tabernacle, as if resuming the narrative broken off at the conclusion of this chapter to introduce the account of the idolatry of the people at Sinai. Hence it has been supposed that a special reason for the emphasizing of the sabbath law in this connexion was to deter the people from labour on the tabernacle on that day, which in their zeal to complete the sanctuary they might have presumed to do, even in violation of the former commandment. The expression my sabbaths gives emphasis to the thought that the weekly sabbath was a peculiar treasure of Jehovah. It is a sign — Old as the creation, (comp. verse 17 and Genesis 2:2, 3, and note on Exodus 20:11,) and a constant reminder that God and his people may enjoy a common rest.

V. 14. It is holy unto you-That is, it is designed for your benefit as well as for God’s honour; it shall be accounted holy by you.

Verse 14. Every one that defileth it] By any kind of idolatrous or profane worship.

Shall surely be put to death] The magistrates shall examine into the business, and if the accused be found guilty, he shall be stoned to death. Shall be cut off] Because that person who could so far contemn the Sabbath, which was a sign to them of the rest which remained for the people of God, was of course an infidel, and should be cut off from all the privileges and expectations of an Israelite.

Verses 14-16. It is holy unto you — That is, it is designed for your benefit as well as for God’s honour; it shall be accounted holy by you. It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord — It is separated from common use to the service of God; and by the observance of it we are taught to rest from worldly pursuits, and devote ourselves, and all we are, have, and can do, to God’s glory. It was to be observed throughout their generations, in every age, for a perpetual covenant — This was to be one of the most lasting tokens of the covenant between God and Israel.

14. Surely be put to death — It is to be noted that all the commandments of the first table have the death penalty attached to their violation, and so it is taught that the wilful breaking of any of these laws was to be treated as a capital crime. None of them are so regarded under the Gospel. Idolatry, image-worship, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking, and dishonouring of parents are nowhere under a Christian civilization punishable with death. Has God therefore changed? No, but man has changed, and under the discipline of a dispensation “written and engraven in stones,” (2 Corinthians 3:7,) “the ministration of death” has accomplished its work, and elevated the moral sense of man to a higher plane. With the higher and clearer revelations of divine truth the lower forms of the ancient moral discipline have been superseded. So, too, the avenger of blood is no longer tolerated, and the lex talionis is abolished by the light and methods of a higher civilization. But it would be in the highest degree absurd to argue, that because the ancient penalty of the sabbath law is no more in force, therefore the sabbath itself is no longer binding. Equally absurd is the notion of some modern critics that, because the sabbath law is variously repeated in the Pentateuch, with reasons and penalties in one place which are not found in another, therefore, these laws are of diverse authorship, and contradictory. A legislature may modify, change, or supplement its own action in the progress of a single session; much more may we suppose that the legislation through Moses would have received many supplements under his own immediate direction. Thus every new association or event which could be made to enhance in the people’s minds the sanctity and worth of the sabbath would and should have been utilized for such a worthy end.

V. 15. It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord-It is separated from common use, for the service of God; and by the observance of it we are taught to rest from worldly pursuits, and devote ourselves, and all we are, have, and can do, to God’s glory.

Verses 14-16. It is holy unto you — That is, it is designed for your benefit as well as for God’s honour; it shall be accounted holy by you. It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord — It is separated from common use to the service of God; and by the observance of it we are taught to rest from worldly pursuits, and devote ourselves, and all we are, have, and can do, to God’s glory. It was to be observed throughout their generations, in every age, for a perpetual covenant — This was to be one of the most lasting tokens of the covenant between God and Israel.

V. 16. It was to be observed throughout their generations, in every age, for a perpetual covenant-This was to be one of the most lasting tokens of the covenant between God and Israel.

Verse 16. A perpetual covenant.] Because it is a sign of this future rest and blessedness, therefore the religious observance of it must be perpetually kept up. The type must continue in force till the antitype come.

Verses 14-16. It is holy unto you — That is, it is designed for your benefit as well as for God’s honour; it shall be accounted holy by you. It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord — It is separated from common use to the service of God; and by the observance of it we are taught to rest from worldly pursuits, and devote ourselves, and all we are, have, and can do, to God’s glory. It was to be observed throughout their generations, in every age, for a perpetual covenant — This was to be one of the most lasting tokens of the covenant between God and Israel.

V. 17. On the seventh day he rested-And as the work of creation is worthy to be thus commemorated, so the great Creator is worthy to be thus imitated, by a holy rest the seventh day.

Verse 17. Rested, and was refreshed.] God, in condescension to human weakness, applies to himself here what belongs to man. If a man religiously rests on the Sabbath, both his body and soul shall be refreshed; he shall acquire new light and life.

Verse 17. On the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed — And, as the work of creation is worthy to be thus commemorated, so the great Creator is worthy to be imitated by a holy rest on the seventh day. The expression, was refreshed, is spoken after the manner of men. It seems to signify that delight and complacency with which God surveyed all his works, and pronounced them good, Genesis 1:31. Of this divine pleasure we may form some faint idea, by comparing it to that solace and refreshment which a benevolent mind enjoys upon bringing into execution some noble and arduous, some generous and well concerted plan for advancing the glory of God and good of mankind.

Ver. 17. Was refreshed. Which denotes the pleasure or delight God took in reflecting upon his works, beholding that every thing he had made was very good. Genesis 1:31.

V. 18. These tables of stone, were not prepared by Moses, but probably by the ministry of angels. They were written with the finger of God-That is, by his will and power immediately, without the use of any instrument. They were written in two tables, being designed to direct us in our duty, towards God, and towards man. And they were called tables of testimony, because this written law testified the will of God concerning them, and would be a testimony against them if they were disobedient.

Verse 18. When he had made an end of communing] When the forty days and forty nights were ended.

Two tables of testimony] See Clarke note on “Exodus 34:1”. Tables of stone] That the record might be lasting, because it was a testimony that referred to future generations, and therefore the materials should be durable.

Written with the finger of God.] All the letters cut by God himself. Dr. Winder, in his History of Knowledge, thinks it probable that this was the first writing in alphabetical characters ever exhibited to the world, though there might have been marks or hieroglyphics cut on wood, stone, &c., before this time; see Exodus 17:14. That these tables were written, not by the commandment but by the power of God himself, the following passages seem to prove: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mountain, and be thou there; and I will give thee tables of stone WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN, that thou mayest teach them;” Exodus 24:12. “And he gave unto Moses, upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD;” Exodus 31:18. “And Moses went down from the mount, and the two tables of testimony were in his hand; the tables were Written on both their sides. And the tables were THE WORK OF GOD, and the WRITING WAS THE WRITING OF GOD, graven upon the tables;” Exodus 32:15, 16. “These words [the ten commandments] the Lord spake in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more, BUT HE WROTE THEM on two tables of stone;” Deuteronomy 5:22. It is evident therefore that this writing was properly and literally the writing of God himself. God wrote now on tables of stone what he had originally written on the heart of man, and in mercy he placed that before his eyes which by sin had been obliterated from his soul; and by this he shows us what, by the Spirit of Christ, must be rewritten in the mind, 2 Corinthians 3:3; and this is according to the covenant which God long before promised to make with mankind, Jeremiah 31:33. See also what is said on this subject, Clarke’s note, “Exodus 20:1”, and see Clarke note “Exodus 34:1”; and “Exodus 17:14”.

“No time,” says Dr. A. Bayley, “seems so proper from whence to date the introduction of letters among the Hebrews as this, for after this period we find continual mention of letters, reading, and writing, in the now proper sense of those words. See Deuteronomy 27:8; 31:9. Moses, it is said, epaideuqh, was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians-in all the learning they possessed; but it is manifest that he had not learned of them any method of writing, otherwise there had been no want of God’s act and assistance in writing the two tables of the law, no need of a miraculous writing. Had Moses known this art, the Lord might have said to him, as he does often afterwards, Write thou these words; Exodus 34:27. Write on the stones the words of this law; Deuteronomy 27:3. Write you this song for you; Deuteronomy 31:19. Perhaps it may be said, God’s writing the law gave it a sanction. True; but why might it not also teach the first use of letters, unless it can be proved that they were in use prior to this transaction? It might be thought too much to assert that letters no more than language were a natural discovery; that it was impossible for man to have invented writing, and that he did not invent it: yet this may appear really the case from the following reflections:-1. Reason may show us how near to an impossibility it was that a just and proper number of convenient characters for the sounds in language should naturally be hit upon by any man, for whom it was easy to imitate and vary, but not to invent. 2. From evidence of the Mosaic history, it appears that the introduction of writing among the Hebrews was not from man, but GOD. 3. There are no evident vestiges of letters subsisting among other nations till after the delivery of the law at Mount Sinai; nor then, among some, till very late.” EXODUS

Verse 18. He gave unto Moses the two tables of testimony — After his forty days’ stay upon the mount, God dismissed him, giving him the ten articles of the moral law, written upon two tables of stone, to be delivered to the people, and to be laid up in the ark, as the standing record of the divine will relating to the principal branches of their duty. In the most ancient times, it must be observed, laws were wont to be engraven upon tables of brass, marble, wood, &c. These tables of stone, it appears, were not prepared by Moses, but probably by the ministry of angels. They were written with the finger of God — That is, by his will and power immediately, without the use of any instrument. They were written in two tables, being designed to direct us in our duty toward God and toward man. They were called tables of testimony, because this written law testified the will of God concerning them, and would be a testimony against them, if they were disobedient.

Ver. 18. Written with the finger of God. By God’s own powerful operation, and not by the art of man; or as the Jews say, by the express command and direction of God, by the ministration of an angel. This was not the first writing; the order and power of the alphabet among the Persians, the Goths, and the Hebrews, having one origin, undoubtedly from Noah, proves the contrary.

THE TWO TABLES, 18.

18. Two tables of testimony — These were soon broken, (Exodus 32:19,) and others were subsequently hewn, (Exodus 34:1-4.) Their size must have been smaller than the dimensions of the ark in which they were deposited, and sufficiently small and light for Moses to carry in his hand. They were doubtless some two or three inches in thickness, to prevent their being easily broken; but they need not have been one foot square to contain all the words of the decalogue. See, further, note on Exodus 32:15. The fact that they were written with the finger of God is no greater a miracle than that they should have been spoken “out of the midst of the fire.” Deuteronomy 4:12. But the ministry of angels may be assumed as one of the means by which these tables, as well as the utterance of the words, were produced. See note on Exodus 20:1. The expression finger of God is simply an anthropomorphic way of designating the divine agency in the preparation of the tables, and is not designed to teach that the infinite Being has a physical “body or parts.”