Exodus 25:4 Kommentar

At this chapter begins an account of the orders and instructions God gave to Moses upon the mount for the erecting and furnishing of a tabernacle to the honour of God. We have here. I. Orders given for a collection to be made among the people for this purpose (Exo 25:1-9). II. Particular instructions, 1. Concerning the ark of the covenant (Exo 25:10-22). 2. The table of showbread (Exo 25:23-30). 3. The golden candlestick (Exo 25:31, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 25 In this chapter an order is given for a freewill offering towards various things for the worship and service of God, and the materials to be offered, which would be useful and acceptable, are mentioned particularly, Exo 25:1, as also another order to build a sanctuary for God, after a model that he would give, Exo 25:8, and, an ark to put in the law on tables of stone, the fashion of which, and the various things belonging to it, are described, Exo 25:10, and a mercy seat with cherubim on it to be set over the ark, where the Lord promises to meet Moses and commune with him, Exo 25:17 and a table with various appurtenances to it to place the shewbread on, Exo 25:23 and a candlestick of gold, whose parts are described, and all the instruments relative to it, Exo 25:31.

And blue, and purple, and scarlet,.... The Jewish doctors are much divided about the sense of the words so rendered by us; some will have one colour, and some another meant; but, according to those learned men, who have taken much pains in searching into the meaning of them, as Bochart and Braunius, it appears that our version of them is most correct: and by these we are not to understand the colours themselves, which could not be brought, nor even the materials for dying them are intended; but wool, or clothes, either silken or linen of those colours: of the former the apostle has taught us to expound them, Heb 9:19 and so Jarchi interprets them of wool thus died, and Josephus (a) also; which was made up into yarn, and wove, and was much used in the garments of the priests, in the curtains of the tabernacle, and in the vail between the holy and the most holy place: and fine linen; the best of which was made in Egypt only, as Aben Ezra says, and much wore there, especially by the priests; and they had such an abundance of it that they traded to other nations with it, see Isa 19:9 and of which the Israelites might bring a considerable quantity with them out of Egypt; and goats' hair; though the word hair is not in the text, it is rightly supplied, as it is by the Septuagint version, and others, for not goats themselves, but their hair must be meant; of this the curtains for the covering of the tabernacle were made; Jarchi interprets it the down of goats, the short, small, fine hair that grows under the other. (a) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 1.

It is very necessary that when we are moved by compunction concerning ourselves, we also be zealous for the life of those entrusted to us. Therefore, let the bitterness of compunction affect us in such a way that it does not turn us away from the care of our neighbors. For what does it profit if, loving ourselves, we abandon our neighbors? Or again, what does it profit if, loving or being zealous for our neighbors, we abandon ourselves? Indeed, in the adornment of the tabernacle, twice-dyed scarlet is commanded to be offered, so that before the eyes of God our charity may be colored with love of God and neighbor. But he truly loves himself who purely loves his Creator. Therefore, the scarlet is dyed twice when the soul is inflamed with love of truth toward both itself and its neighbor.

The Lord addresses Moses out of the Divine glory, and commands him to speak unto the Israelites, that they may give him free-will offerings, Exo 25:1, Exo 25:2. The different kinds of offerings, gold, silver, and brass, Exo 25:3. Purple, scarlet, fine linen, and goats' hair, Exo 25:4. Rams' skins, badgers' skins, (rather violet-coloured skins), and shittim wood, Exo 25:5. Oil and spices, Exo 25:6. Onyx stones, and stones for the ephod and breastplate, Exo 25:7. A sanctuary is to be made after the pattern of the tabernacle, Exo 25:8, Exo 25:9. The ark and its dimensions, Exo 25:10. Its crown of gold, Exo 25:11. Its rings, Exo 25:12. Its staves, and their use, Exo 25:13-15. The testimony to be laid up in the ark, Exo 25:16. The mercy-seat and its dimensions, Exo 25:17. The cherubim, how made and placed, Exo 25:18-20. The mercy-seat to be placed on the ark, and the testimony to be put within it, Exo 25:21. The Lord promises to commune with the people from the mercy-seat, Exo 25:22. The table of shew-bread, and its dimensions, Exo 25:23. Its crown and border of gold, Exo 25:24, Exo 25:25. Its rings, Exo 25:26, Exo 25:27. Staves, Exo 25:28. Dishes, spoons, and bowls, Exo 25:29. Its use, Exo 25:30. The golden candlestick; its branches, bowls, knops, and flowers, Exo 25:31-36. Its seven lamps, Exo 25:37. Tongs and snuffers, Exo 25:38. The weight of the candlestick and its utensils, one talent of gold, Exo 25:39. All to be made according to the pattern showed to Moses on the mount, Exo 25:40.

Blue - תכלת techeleth, generally supposed to mean an azure or sky color; rendered by the Septuagint ὑακινθον, and by the Vulgate hyacinthum, a sky-blue or deep violet. Purple - ארגמן argaman, a very precious color, extracted from the purpura or murex, a species of shell-fish, from which it is supposed the famous Tyrian purple came, so costly, and so much celebrated in antiquity. See this largely described, and the manner of dyeing it, in Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. ix., c. 60-65, edit. Bipont. Scarlet - תולעת tolaath, signifies a worm, of which this colouring matter was made; and, joined with שני shani, which signifies to repeat or double, implies that to strike this color the wool or cloth was twice dipped: hence the Vulgate renders the original coccum bis tinctum, "scarlet twice dyed;" and to this Horace refers, Odar., lib. ii., od. 16, v. 35: - Te Bis Afro Murice Tinctae Vestiunt Lanae - "Thy robes the twice dyed purple stains." It is the same color which the Arabs call al kermez, whence the French cramoisi, and the English crimson. On this subject much may be seen in Bochart, Calmet, and Scheuchzer. Fine linen - שש shesh; whether this means linen, cotton, or silk, is not agreed on among interpreters. Because שש shesh signifies six, the rabbins suppose that it always signifies the fine linen of Egypt, in which six folds constituted one thread; and that when a single fold was meant, בד bad is the term used. See Clarke's note on Gen 41:42. Goats' hair - עזים izzim, goats, but used here elliptically for goats' hair. In different parts of Asia Minor, Syria, Cilicia, and Phrygia, the goats have long, fine, and beautiful hair, in some cases almost as fine as silk, which they shear at proper times, and manufacture into garments. From Virgil, Georg. iii., v. 305-311, we learn that goats' hair manufactured into cloth was nearly of equal value with that formed from wool. Hae quoque non cura nobis leviore tuendae Nec minor usus erit: quamvis Milesia magno Vellera mutentur, Tyrios incocta rubores. Nec minus interea barbas incanaque menta Cinyphii tondent hirci, setasque comantes, Usum in castrorum, et miseris velamina nautis. "For hairy goats of equal profit are With woolly sheep, and ask an equal care. 'Tis true the fleece when drunk with Tyrian juice Is dearly sold, but not for needful use: Meanwhile the pastor shears their hoary beards And eases of their hair the loaden herds. Their camelots, warm in tents, the soldier hold, And shield the shivering mariner from the cold." Dryden.

CONCERNING AN OFFERING. (Exo. 25:1-40) the Lord spake unto Moses, &c.--The business that chiefly occupied Moses on the mount, whatever other disclosures were made to him there, was in receiving directions about the tabernacle, and they are here recorded as given to him.

goats' hair--or leather of goats' skin.