Exodus 27:17 Kommentar

In this chapter directions are given, I. Concerning the brazen altar for burnt-offerings (Exo 27:1-8). II. Concerning the court of the tabernacle, with the hangings of it (Exo 27:9-19). III. Concerning oil for the lamp (Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27 This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Exo 27:1, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Exo 27:9 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Exo 27:20.

All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver,.... This is observed, because only mention is made before of the pillars that were on the south and north sides of the court, as filleted with silver; but inasmuch as those at both ends, east and west, were to be so likewise, this is added: their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass; no notice having been taken of the hooks to the pillars at both ends, though they were as necessary there as elsewhere, and must be supposed, and though the sockets are mentioned, yet not their metal, and therefore are in general included here.

The altar of burnt-offerings, and its dimensions, Exo 27:1; its horns, Exo 27:2; pans, shovels, etc., Exo 27:3; its grate and net work, Exo 27:4, Exo 27:5; its staves, Exo 27:6, Exo 27:7. Court of the tabernacle, with its pillars and hangings, Exo 27:9-15. Gate of the court, its pillars, hangings, length, breadth, and height, Exo 27:16-18. All the vessels used in the court of the tabernacle to be of brass, Exo 27:19. The Israelites to provide pure olive oil for the light, Exo 27:20. Every thing to be ordered by Aaron and his sons, Exo 27:21.

ALTAR FOR BURNT OFFERING. (Exo. 27:1-21) altar of shittim wood--The dimensions of this altar which was placed at the entrance of the sanctuary were nearly three yards square, and a yard and a half in height. Under the wooden frame of this chest-like altar the inside was hollow, and each corner was to be terminated by "horns"--angular projections, perpendicular or oblique, in the form of horns. The animals to be sacrificed were bound to these (Psa 118:27), and part of the blood was applied to them.

The Altar of Burnt-Offering (cf. Exo 38:1-7). - "Make the altar (the altar of burnt-offering, according to Exo 38:1) of acacia-wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad (רבוּע "foured," i.e., four-sided or quadrangular), and three cubits high. At its four corners shall its horns be from (out of) it," i.e., not removable, but as if growing out of it. These horns were projections at the corners of the altar, formed to imitate in all probability the horns of oxen, and in these the whole force of the altar was concentrated. The blood of the sin-offering was therefore smeared upon them (Lev 4:7), and those who fled to the altar to save their lives laid hold of them (vid., Exo 21:14, and Kg1 1:50; also my commentary on the passage). The altar was to be covered with copper or brass, and all the things used in connection with it were to be made of brass. These were, - (1) the pans, to cleanse it of the ashes of the fat (Exo 27:3 : דּשּׁן, a denom. verb from דּשׁן the ashes of fat, that is to say, the ashes that arose from burning the flesh of the sacrifice upon the altar, has a privative meaning, and signifies "to ash away," i.e., to cleanse from ashes); (2) יעים shovels, from יעה to take away (Isa 28:17); (3) מזרקות, things used for sprinkling the blood, from fzarq to sprinkle; (4) מזלגות forks, flesh-hooks (cf. מזלג Sa1 3:13); (5) מחתּת coal-scoops (cf. Exo 25:38). וגו לכל־כּליו: either "for all the vessels thereof thou shalt make brass," or "as for all its vessels, thou shalt make (them) of brass."

"All the pillars of the court round about (shall be) bound with connecting rods of silver." As the rods connecting the pillars of the court were of silver, and those connecting the pillars at the entrance to the dwelling were of wood overlaid with gold, the former must have been intended for a different purpose from the latter, simply serving as rods to which to fasten the hangings, whereas those at the door of the dwelling formed an architrave. The height of the hangings of the court and the covering of the door is given in Exo 38:17 as 5 cubits, corresponding to the height of the pillars given in Exo 28:18 of the chapter before us; but the expression in Exo 38:18, "the height in the breadth," is a singular one, and רחב is probably to be understood in the sense of רחב door-place or door-way, - the meaning of the passage being, "the height of the covering in the door-way." In Exo 28:18, "50 everywhere," πεντήκοντα ἐπὶ πεντήκοντα (lxx), lit., 50 by 50, is to be understood as relating to the extent towards the north and south; and the reading of the Samaritan text, viz., באמּה for בחמשּׁים, is merely the result of an arbitrary attempt to bring the text into conformity with the previous באמּה מאה, whilst the lxx, on the other hand, by an equally arbitrary change, have rendered the passage ἑκατὸν εφ ̓ ἑκατὸν.