Exodus · Chapter 38
And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns +--0thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
John Wesley
V. 8. This laver signified the provision that is made in the gospel for cleansing our souls from the pollution of sin by the merit of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the looking-glasses of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle. It should seem these women were eminent for devotion, attending more constantly at the place of public worship than others, and notice is here taken of it to their honour. These looking-glasses were of the finest brass, burnished for that purpose. In the laver, either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for looking-glasses, that the priests when they came to wash might there see their faces, and so discover the spots to wash them clean.
Adam Clarke
Verse 8. He made the laver] See Clarke note on “Exodus 30:18”, &c.
The looking-glasses] The word tarm maroth, from har raah, he saw, signifies reflectors or mirrors of any kind. Here metal, highly polished, must certainly be meant, as glass was not yet in use; and had it even been in use, we are sure that looking-GLASSES could not make a BRAZEN laver. The word therefore should be rendered mirrors, not looking-glasses, which in the above verse is perfectly absurd, because from those maroth the brazen laver was made. The first mirrors known among men were the clear, still, fountain, and unruffled lake; and probably the mineral called mica, which is a very general substance through all parts of the earth. Plates of it have been found of three feet square, and it is so extremely divisible into laminæ, that it has been divided into plates so thin as to be only the three hundred thousandth part of an inch. A plate of this forms an excellent mirror when any thing black is attached to the opposite side. A plate of this mineral, nine inches by eight, now lies before me; a piece of black cloth, or any other black substance, at the back, converts it into a good mirror; or it would serve as it is for a square of glass, as every object is clearly perceivable through it. It is used in Russian ships of war, instead of glass, for windows. The first artificial mirrors were apparently made of brass, afterwards of polished steel, and when luxury increased they were made of silver; but they were made at a very early period of mixed metal, particularly of tin and copper, the best of which, as Pliny tells us, were formerly manufactured at Brundusium: Optima apud majores fuerant Brundisina, stanno et ære mixtis.-Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii., cap. 9. But, according to him, the most esteemed were those made of tin; and he says that silver mirrors became so common that even the servant girls used them: Specula (ex stanno) laudatissima Brundisii temperabantur; donec argenteis uti cæpere et ancillæ; lib. xxxiv., cap. 17. When the Egyptian women went to the temples, they always carried their mirrors with them. The Israelitish women probably did the same, and Dr. Shaw states that the Arabian women carry them constantly hung at their breasts. It is worthy of remark, that at first these women freely gave up their ornaments for this important service, and now give their very mirrors, probably as being of little farther service, seeing they had already given up the principal decorations of their persons. Woman has been invidiously defined by Aristotle, an animal fond of dress, (though this belongs to the whole human race, and not exclusively to woman.) Had this been true of the Israelitish women, in the present case we must say they nobly sacrificed their incentives to pride to the service of their God. Woman, go thou and do likewise.
Of the women-which assembled at the door] What the employment of these women was at the door of the tabernacle, is not easily known. Some think they assembled there for purposes of devotion. Others, that they kept watch there during the night; and this is the most probable opinion, for they appear to have been in the same employment as those who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in the days of Samuel, who were abused by the sons of the high priest Eli, 1 Samuel 2:22. Among the ancients women were generally employed in the office of porters or doorkeepers. Such were employed about the house of the high priest in our Lord’s time; for a woman is actually represented as keeping the door of the palace of the high priest, John 18:17: Then saith the DAMSEL that KEPT THE DOOR unto Peter; see also Matthew 26:69. In 2 Samuel 4:6, both the Septuagint and Vulgate make a woman porter or doorkeeper to Ishbosheth. Aristophanes mentions them in the same office, and calls them shkiv, Sekis, which seems to signify a common maid-servant. Aristoph, in Vespis, ver. 768:—
JOti thn quran anewxen h shkiv laqra
Homer, Odyss., y, ver. 225-229, mentions Actoris, Penelope’s maid, whose office it was to keep the door of her chamber:—
Aktoriv
JH nwin eiruto qurav pukinou qalamoio.
And Euripides, in Troad., ver. 197, brings in Hecuba, complaining that she who was wont to sit upon a throne is now reduced to the miserable necessity of becoming a doorkeeper or a nurse, in order to get a morsel of bread.
h tan
Para proquroiv fulakan katecousa,
H paidwn qrepteira.
Sir John Chardin observes, that women are employed to keep the gate of the palace of the Persian kings. Plautus, Curcul., act 1., scene 1, mentions an old woman, who was keeper of the gate.
Anus hic solet cubitare, custos janitrix.
Many other examples might be produced. It is therefore very likely that the persons mentioned here, and in 1 Samuel 2:22, were the women who guarded the tabernacle; and that they regularly relieved each other, a troop or company regularly keeping watch: and indeed this seems to be implied in the original, wabx tsabeu, they came by troops; and these troops successively consecrated their mirrors to the service of the tabernacle. See Calmet on John 18:16.
Joseph Benson
Verse 8. He made the laver of brass — The brass font for the priests to wash in before service, Exodus 30:18. This laver signified the provision that is made in the gospel for cleansing our souls from the pollution of sin by the atoning blood of Christ and the regenerating Spirit of God, that we may be fit to serve God in holy duties. That is here said to be made of the looking-glasses, (or mirrors rather, for they were not glasses,) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle — Mirrors, before the invention of glass, were made of polished brass. Pliny says those of brass and tin mixed together were esteemed the best, before those of silver came to be in use. These here mentioned, no doubt, were of the finest kind of brass, and the women who gave them seem to have been eminent for devotion, attending more constantly than others at the place of public worship, which, is here taken notice of to their honour. In the laver these mirrors were either artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots to wash them clean.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 8. The laver. This was made of pieces of polished brass, used by the women as mirrors. It stood near the altar, and here the priest washed his hands and his feet. This laver presignified the cleansing waters of baptism, or rather of regeneration, in which we are cleansed by the blood and the Spirit of Christ from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, that we may afterwards proceed to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord.—Looking glasses. This is an accommodated reading; glasses not being used till after our Saviour’s time. The Hebrew har raah, is he saw, as in Genesis 29:32; “the Lord hath looked on my affliction.” Here the word looked is equivalent to that of a reflector. Among the Greeks those reflectors were made of mixed metals, copper, tin and brass. The apostle refers to these in 1 Corinthians 13:12: “Now we see in a speculum darkly.”
And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:
John Wesley
V. 9. And he made the court-The walls of the court, were like the rest, curtains, or hangings. This represented the state of the Old Testament church, it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the inclosure being of curtains only, intimated that that confinement of the church to one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle-dispensation, moveable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.
Adam Clarke
Verse 9. The court] See Clarke on “Exodus 27:9”.
Joseph Benson
Verse 9. He made the court — The inner utensils of the court being thus completed, they proceeded to make the court itself, which was a large oblong square, fenced in with thick, well-wrought hangings; the size, dimensions, and workmanship of each side whereof have been described in Exodus 27:9-19. This court represented the state of the Old Testament church; it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the enclosure being of curtains only, intimated that that confinement of the church to one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle dispensation, moveable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.
Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
Adam Clarke
Verse 17. The hooks-and their fillets] The capitals, and the silver bands that went round them; see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 26:32”.
And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
John Wesley
V. 21. By the hand of Ithamar-Here we have a breviate of the account which by Moses’s appointment the Levites took and kept of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the tabernacle’s use, and how it was employed. Ithamar the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account. All the gold amounted to twenty nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels over; Which some compute to be about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds worth of gold, according to the present value of it. The silver amounted to about thirty-four thousand pounds of our money. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and of the silver by way of tribute, shews that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expences, provided that nothing be done with partiality.
Adam Clarke
Verse 21. This is the sum of the tabernacle.] That is, The foregoing account contains a detail of all the articles which Bezaleel and Aholiab were commanded to make; and which were reckoned up by the Levites, over whom Ithamar, the son of Aaron, presided.
Joseph Benson
Verse 21. This is the sum of the tabernacle — That is, this is the charge of the foregoing work of the tabernacle, under the direction of the two chief workmen. For the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar — The particle for is not in the original, and therefore it may be better rendered, By the ministry of the Levites, under the conduct of Ithamar. By Moses’s appointment the Levites took and kept an account of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the use of the tabernacle, and how it was employed. Ithamar, the son of Aaron, was appointed to draw up this account. The gold amounted to twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, which sum of gold, at the rate of f5,250 to a talent, and f1. 15s. to a shekel of gold, will be found to have amounted to upward of f150,000 English. As to the silver, there being six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty, who offered each of them half a shekel, as verse 26 informs us, three hundred and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels were thus raised, which sum amounts to thirty-five thousand two hundred and seven pounds, English. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and silver by way of tribute, shows that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expenses, provided that nothing be done by partiality.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And Bezaleel the son Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
Adam Clarke
Verse 24. All the gold that was occupied for the work, &c.] To be able to ascertain the quantum and value of the gold, silver, and brass, which were employed in the tabernacle, and its different utensils, altars, &c., it will be necessary to enter into the subject in considerable detail. In the course of my notes on this and the preceding book, I have had frequent occasion to speak of the shekel in use among the ancient Hebrews, which, following Dean Prideaux, I have always computed at 3s. English. As some value it at 2s. 6d., and others at 2s. 4d., I think it necessary to lay before the reader the learned dean’s mode of computation as a proper introduction to the calculations which immediately follow. “Among the ancients, the way of reckoning their money was by talents. So the Hebrews, so the Babylonians, and so the Romans did reckon. And of these talents they had subdivisions which were usually in minas and drachms; i.e., of their talents into minas, and their minas into drachms. The Hebrews had, besides these, their shekels and half-shekels, or bekas; and the Romans their denarii, which last were very nearly of the same value with the drachms of the Greeks. What was the value of a Hebrew talent appears from Exodus 38:25,26, for there 603,550 persons being taxed at half a shekel a head, they must have paid in the whole 301,775 shekels; and that sum is there said to amount to one hundred talents, and 1775 shekels over: if therefore we deduct the 1775 shekels from the number 301,775, and divide the remaining sum, i.e., 300,000, by a hundred, this will prove each of those talents to contain three thousand shekels. Each of these shekels weighed about three shillings of our money; and sixty of them, Ezekiel tells us, Ezekiel 45:12, made a mina; and therefore fifty of those minas made a talent. And as to their drachms, it appears by the Gospel of St. Matthew that it was the fourth part of a shekel, that is, nine-pence of our money. For there (Matthew 17:24) the tribute money annually paid to the temple, by every Jew, (Talmud in shekalim,) which was half a shekel, is called didracmon (i.e., the two drachm piece;) and therefore, if half a shekel contained two drachms, a drachm must have been the quarter part of a shekel, and every shekel must have contained four of them: and so Josephus tells us it did; for he says, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 9, that a shekel contained four Attic drachms, which is not exactly to be understood according to the weight, but according to the valuation in the currency of common payments. For according to the weight, the heaviest Attic drachms did not exceed eight-pence farthing half-farthing, of our money; and a Hebrew drachm, as I have said, was nine-pence; but what the Attic drachm fell short of the Hebrew in weight might be made up in the fineness, and its ready currency in all countries, (which last the Hebrew drachm could not have,) and so might be made equivalent in common estimation among the Jews. Allowing therefore a drachm, as well Attic as Jewish, as valued in Judea, to be equivalent to nine-pence of our money, a BEKA or half-shekel will be one shilling and six-pence; a SHEKEL, three shillings; a MINA, nine pounds; and a TALENT, four hundred and fifty pounds. So it was in the time of Moses and Ezekiel; and so was it in the time of Josephus among that people, for he tells us, Antiq., lib. xiv., c. 12, that a Hebrew mina contained two LITRAS and a half, which comes exactly to nine pounds of our money: for a litra, being the same with a Roman libra, contained twelve ounces troy weight, that is, ninety-six drachms; and therefore two litras and a half must contain two hundred and forty drachms, which being estimated at nine-pence a drachm, according to the Jewish valuation, comes exactly to sixty shekels, or nine pounds of our money. And this account agrees exactly with that of Alexandria. For the Alexandrian talent contained 12,000 Attic drachms; and 12,000 Attic drachms, according to the Jewish valuation, being 12,000 of our nine-pences, they amount to 450 pounds of sterling money, which is the same in value as the Mosaic talent. But here it is to be observed, that though the Alexandrian talent amounted to 12,000 Attic drachms, yet they themselves reckoned it but at 6000 drachms, because every Alexandrian drachm contained two Attic drachms; and therefore the Septuagint version being made by the Alexandrian Jews, they there render the Hebrew word shekel, by the Greek didracmon, which signifies two drachms, because two Alexandrian drachms make a shekel, two of them amounting to as much as four Attic drachms. And therefore computing the Alexandrian money according to the same method in which we have computed the Jewish, it will be as follows: One drachm of Alexandria will be of our money eighteen pence; one didrachm or shekel, consisting of two drachms of Alexandria, or four of Attica, will be three shillings; one mina, consisting of sixty didrachms or shekels, will be nine pounds; and one talent, consisting of fifty minas, will be four hundred and fifty pounds, which is the talent of Moses, Exodus 38:25,26: and so also is it the talent of Josephus, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 7; for he tells us that a Hebrew talent contained one hundred Greek (i.e., Attic) minas. For those fifty minas, which here make an Alexandrian talent, would be one hundred Attic minas in the like method of valuation; the Alexandrian talent containing double as much as the Attic talent, both in the whole, and also in all its parts, in whatever method both shall be equally distributed. Among the Greeks the established rule was, Jul. Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, that one hundred drachms made a mina, and sixty minas a talent. But in some different states their drachms being different, accordingly their minas and talents were within the same proportion different also. But the money of Attica was the standard by which all the rest were valued, according as they more or less differed from it. And therefore, it being of most note, wherever any Greek historian speaks of talents, minas, or drachms, if they be simply mentioned, it is to be always understood of talents, minas, or drachms of Attica, and never of the talents, minas, or drachms of any other place, unless it be expressed. Mr. Brerewood, going by the goldsmith’s weights, reckons an Attic drachm to be the same with a drachm now in use in their shops, that is, the eighth part of an ounce; and therefore lays it at the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, or the eighth part of a crown, which is or ought to be an ounce weight. But Dr. Bernard, going more accurately to work, lays the middle sort of Attic drachms at eight-pence farthing of our money, and the minas and talents accordingly, in the proportions above mentioned. The Babylonish talent, according to Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, contained seven thousand of those drachms. The Roman talent (see Festus Pompeius) contained seventy-two Italic minas, which were the same with the Roman libras; and ninety-six Roman denariuses, each being of the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, made a Roman libra. But all the valuations I have hitherto mentioned must be understood only of silver money, and not of gold; for that was much higher. The proportion of gold to silver was among the ancients commonly as ten to one; sometimes it was raised to be as eleven to one, sometimes as twelve, and sometimes as thirteen to one. In the time of King Edward the First it was here, in England, at the value of ten to one; but it is now gotten at sixteen to one; and so I value it in all the reductions which I make in this history of ancient sums to the present value. But to make the whole of this matter the easier to the reader, I will lay all of it before him for his clear view in this following table of valuations:—
HEBREW money £ s. d.
A Hebrew drachm 9
Two drachms made a beka or half-shekel, which was the
tribute money paid by every Jew to the temple
1 6
Two bekas made a shekel 3 0
Sixty shekels made a mina 9 0 0
Fifty minas made a talent 450 0 0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one 7200 0 0
ATTIC money, according to Mr. BREREWOOD
An Attic drachm.................... 7½
A hundred drachms made a mina 3 2 6
Sixty minas made a talent 187 10 0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one 3000 0 0
ATTIC money, according to Dr. BERNARD
An Attic drachm 8¼
A hundred drachms made a mina 3 8 9
Sixty minas made a talent 206 5 0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one 3300 0 0
BABYLONISH money, according to Mr.
BREREWOOD
A Babylonish talent of silver containing seven
thousand Attic drachms
218 15 0
A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one 3500 0 0
BABYLONISH money, according to Dr. BERNARD
A Babylonish talent in silver £240 12 6
A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one 3850 0 0
ALEXANDRIAN money
A drachm of Alexandria, containing two Attic
drachms, as valued by the Jews
1 6
A didrachm of Alexandria, containing two
Alexandrian drachms, which was a Hebrew shekel
3 0
Sixty didrachms or Hebrew shekels made a mina 9 0 0
Fifty minas made a talent 450 0 0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one 7200 0 0
ROMAN money
Four sesterciuses made a Roman denarius which
was the same with a Roman libra
7½
Ninety-six Roman denariuses made an Italic mina,
which was the same with a Roman libra
3 0 0
Seventy-two Roman libras made a talent 216 0 0
See the Old and New Testament connected, &c. Vol. 1., preface, pp. xx-xxvii.
There were twenty-nine talents seven hundred and thirty shekels of GOLD; one hundred talents one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels of SILVER; and seventy talents two thousand four hundred shekels of BRASS.
If with Dean Prideaux we estimate the value of the silver shekel at three shillings English, we shall obtain the weight of the shekel by making use of the following proportion. As sixty-two shillings, the value of a pound weight of silver as settled by the British laws, is to two hundred and forty, the number of penny-weights in a pound troy, so is three shillings, the value of a shekel of silver, to 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel required.
In the next place, to find the value of a shekel of gold we must make use of the proportion following: As one ounce troy is to 3£. 17s. 10½d., the legal value of an ounce of gold, so is 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel as found by the last proportion, to 2£. 5s. 2½ 42/93d., the value of the shekel of gold required. From this datum we shall soon be able to ascertain the value of all the gold employed in the work of this holy place, by the following arithmetical process: Reduce 2£. 5s. 2½ 42/93d. to the lowest term mentioned, which is 201,852 ninety-third parts of a farthing. Multiply this last number by 3000, the number of shekels in a talent, and the product by 29, the number of talents; and add in 730 times 201,852, on account of the 730 shekels which were above the 29 talents employed in the work, and we shall have for the last product 17,708,475,960, which, divided successively by 93, 4, 12, and 20, will give 198,347£. 12s. 6d. for the total value of the gold employed in the tabernacle, &c. The value of the silver contributed by 603,550 Israelites, at half a shekel or eighteen pence per man, may be found by an easy arithmetical calculation to amount to 45,266£. 5s.
The value of the brass at 1s. per pound will amount to 513£. 17s. The GOLD of the holy place weighed 4245 pounds.
The SILVER of the tabernacle 14,602 pounds.
The BRASS 10,277 pounds troy weight,
The total value of all the gold, silver, and brass of the tabernacle will consequently amount to 244,127£. 14s. 6d. And the total weight of all these three metals amounts to 29,124 pounds troy, which, reduced to avoirdupois weight, is nearly ten tons and a half. When all this is considered, besides the quantity of gold which was employed in the golden calf, and which was all destroyed, it is no wonder that the sacred text should say the Hebrews spoiled the Egyptians, particularly as in those early times the precious metals were probably not very plentiful in Egypt.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
Adam Clarke
Verse 26. A bekah for every man] The Hebrew word yqb beka, from yqb baka, to divide, separate into two, seems to signify, not a particular coin, but a shekel broken or cut in two; so, anciently, our farthing was a penny divided in the midst and then subdivided, so that each division contained the fourth part of the penny; hence its name fourthing or fourthling, since corrupted into farthing.
THERE appear to be three particular reasons why much riches should be employed in the construction of the tabernacle, &c. 1. To impress the people’s minds with the glory and dignity of the Divine Majesty, and the importance of his service. 2. To take out of their hands the occasion of covetousness; for as they brought much spoils out of Egypt, and could have little if any use for gold and silver in the wilderness, where it does not appear that they had much intercourse with any other people, and were miraculously supported, so that they did not need their riches, it was right to employ that in the worship of God which otherwise might have engendered that love which is the root of all evil. 3. To prevent pride and vainglory, by leading them to give up to the Divine service even the ornaments of their persons, which would have had too direct a tendency to divert their minds from better things. Thus God’s worship was rendered august and respectable, incitements to sin and low desires removed, and the people instructed to consider nothing valuable, but as far as it might be employed to the glory and in the service of God.
EXODUS
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.
Daniel Whedon
THE AMOUNT OF METALS USED FOR THE TABERNACLE, 21-31.
21. This is the sum — Literally, the things reckoned, meaning, according to what follows, the weight of the gold, silver, and brass employed in the construction of the sanctuary and what belonged to it. The amount, as summed up, is recorded as: —
Gold=29 talents and 730 shekels.
Silver=100 talents and 1,775 shekels,
Brass=70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
The uncertainty attaching to the exact weight and value of the gold, silver, and brass talents and shekels makes it impossible to determine precisely the gross amount of the cost of the tabernacle. Then, further, the different relative value of a given amount of these metals in ancient and in modern times would greatly affect any estimate. The weight of the metals here mentioned, as estimated in the Speaker’s Commentary, is as follows, in avoirdupois weight:
Gold, — 1 ton — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 13 lbs.
Silver, — 4 tons — 4 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 20 lbs.
Bronze, —2 tons — 19 cwt. — 2 qrs. — 11 lbs.
The entire value of these metals, at the lowest approximate estimate in American currency, would be over a million dollars. This estimate of the cost of the tabernacle does not include the large amount of other material for curtains, boards, and pillars, nor take into account at all the value of the labour, which the men and women of Israel gave as freely as they did the gold and silver and other things. On the question whence the Israelites obtained such vast amounts of precious things, see note on Exodus 25:3.
We are not to think of the tabernacle as of a modern Christian Church. The latter, as a house of worship, serves mainly for the comfort and convenience of an assembly of worshippers, and each true worshipper is supposed to have risen in spirit into the profound realities of which the tabernacle and its services were only symbols. Serving the purpose of material symbols of the unseen and eternal, the tabernacle was appropriately made of the most costly materials, for these, with their various values, were, for the time, “object lessons” of the better things to come.
John Wesley
V. 1. The altar of burnt-offering-On this all their sacrifices were offered. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God hath in accepting them.
Adam Clarke
Verse 1. The altar of burnt-offering] See Clarke note on “Exodus 27:1”; and for its horns, pots, shovels, basins, &c., see the meaning of the Hebrew terms explained, Exodus 27:3-5.
Joseph Benson
Verse 1. Having finished the furniture of the house itself, Bezaleel, and those who were employed under him, proceeded next to that of the court of the tabernacle, where the sacrifices and services were commonly performed; wherein first they made the great brazen altar for burnt-sacrifices, with all its appurtenances, in mode and form exactly agreeable to the orders given about it in Exodus 27:1-3. On this all their sacrifices were offered. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God hath in accepting them.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Verse 1. The altar. The tabernacle had two celebrated altars, the altar of incense within the sanctuary, and the altar of burnt-offering mentioned here, which was without. The exterior frame was wood, the platform was a hollow network of brass, that the ashes might pass through, and that the air having free access to the fire, the victims might be quickly consumed. Many hallowed implements also appertained to the altar, as shovels and pans to bring the coals and take away the ashes, and hooks to turn the pieces of the victims. It was provided also with brazen dishes or censers, in which the priest conveyed the fire into the holy place when he burnt incense. From these mysteries I learn that my sinful soul ever needs to take refuge at the atoning altar; and my heart has need to be constantly warmed with the flame of redeeming love: and I would never cease to offer up to God, through Jesus my great High-priest, the sacrifices of prayer and praise. Let the sinner likewise flee and take hold of the horns of this altar, on which the great propitiatory sacrifice has been offered up, and there wait for pardon and acceptance through the atoning blood.