Knox Bible

1

And this is how the tabernacle is to be fashioned. Make ten curtains of twisted linen thread, worked in threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, with all the embroiderer’s art.✻

According to the Hebrew text, here and in verse 31 but not in verse 36, the embroidery was a pattern of cherubim.

2

All the curtains are to be of the same size, twenty-eight cubits in length and four in width.

3

Five of these must be joined to each other, and then the remaining five in the same way;

4

the sides, the extreme edges of the curtains must be fitted with loops of blue cord, to fasten one to the next,

5

fifty loops at the edge of either set of curtains, so let in that loop meets loop and can be fastened to it.

6

Then make fifty gold clasps, and join the two widths of curtain together, to make a single tent of them.✻

It is clear from verses 15 sqq. that the main structure of the tabernacle was a wooden framework, unroofed, and open at the eastern end, ten cubits high, ten cubits wide (from north to south), and thirty cubits long (from east to west). Over this a huge piece of tapestry, made in strips, and measuring forty cubits by twenty-eight, appears to have been spread like a tablecloth, covering the top and the western end, but falling short of the ground by one cubit on the north and south. The tapestry, like all the structure of the tabernacle, was made of adjustable pieces, for convenience of transport.

7

Next, make eleven coverings of goats’ hair, to protect the tapestry over the tabernacle.

8

The measurements of all these coverings are to be the same; each will be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.

9

Join together first five of the coverings, then the other six; the sixth of these is to hang double over the front of the tapestry.

10

Make fifty loops at the edge of the first set of coverings, then fifty at the edge of the other, to join them together,

11

and fifty brazen clasps, to hold these loops together, so that the whole may form a single protecting roof.

12

Since there is one more of these coverings than is needed for the protection of the tapestry, fold it double and use it to protect the back of the tabernacle.

13

The coverings are a cubit longer on the north and south than the tapestry, and this additional cubit will hang down, to protect the tabernacle itself on either side.

14

Then make another canopy over the roof, of rams’ fleeces dyed red, and yet another, of skins dyed violet.✻

The outer covering of goats’ hair, being thirty cubits wide, reached the ground on the north and south. Its length exceeded that of the tapestry by four cubits, and verse 9 seems to imply that these extra four cubits hung looped over the eastern, open end of the structure. Confusingly, verse 12 appears to speak of this loop as being at the back of the tabernacle; but perhaps the reader is here expected to place himself in imagination inside the building, facing west. The size and position of the two coverings mentioned in verse 14 are a matter of conjecture.

15

Then make upright frames of acacia wood to support the tabernacle.

16

Each must be ten cubits high, and a cubit and a half wide;

17

and at the sides of it, two tenon-pieces must jut out, so that each frame can be mortised to the next; all the frames are to be made in this manner.✻

The Latin version evidently thinks of the frames as mortised to one another; some interpret the Hebrew text as meaning that each frame consisted of two uprights joined together by cross-pieces.

18

Twenty of these will be on the south, facing the midday sun,

19

with forty silver sockets, two at the foot of each frame, close to the corners;

20

and twenty more on the opposite side, that looks northwards;

21

these again will have forty silver sockets, two at the foot of each frame.

22

And for the western end of the tabernacle there will be six frames,

23

and two in addition, which must be set up in the corners at the extreme end of the tabernacle.✻

The six frames give a width of nine cubits, where ten cubits are required. It seems natural to suppose that the gap was filled by the two frames mentioned in verse 23. These may have had a width of nine inches instead of eighteen; or they may have jutted out to north and south of the building; or they may have been put in a slanting position (so as to face north-west and south-west respectively) by way of joining the west end to the north and south sides—a need for which no provision is made in the text. Some think they acted as lean-to buttresses at the west end, but (i) the mention of sockets suggests that they stood perpendicular, and (ii) it is difficult in that case to see what filled the gap in the western wall; we can hardly suppose that the frames on the north and south sides were nine inches thick.

24

All these will be joined together, from bottom to top, with a single kind of fastening to hold them all; the two frames which are to be set up in the corners will be joined in the same way as the others.✻

The Latin text here differs considerably from the Hebrew, which is too obscure to admit of any certain interpretation.

25

Thus there will be eight frames in all, with sixteen silver sockets, two to each frame.

26

Then make five poles of acacia wood, to hold the frames together on one side of the tabernacle,

27

and five more to hold it together on the other side, and the same number for the western end;

28

these will be passed right along the frames from end to end.✻

The Hebrew text appears to mean ‘And the middle pole along the middle of the frames (shall be) reaching from end to end’; see the description in 36.33 below.

29

Gild the frames themselves, and furnish them with gold rings, by which the poles can hold the frames together; these poles, too, must be plated with gold.

30

So must thou set up the tabernacle, in conformity with the pattern that has been shewn to thee on the mountain.

31

Make a veil, too, out of twisted linen thread, worked in threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, with all the embroiderer’s art,

32

and let it hang down from four posts of acacia wood, gilded and with gilt capitals,✻ but set in silver sockets.

The rare word used in the Hebrew text is thought to mean ‘hooks’.

33

This veil will be held up by rings. The ark is to be set down behind it, and thus it will be a division between the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary.

34

The throne, too, which rests above the ark and its records, will be in the inner sanctuary;

35

on the outer side of the veil, the table will stand on the north, and the lamp-stand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table.

36

Make a screen, too, out of twisted linen thread, embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, for the entrance of the tabernacle;

37

it must hang from five gilded posts of acacia wood, with gilt capitals and sockets of bronze.