Exodus 36 v.1: Then Betzalel and Oholiav will carry out everything that Adonai had instructed, along with every wise person whom Adonai had bestowed with wisdom and insight to know how to carry out all the handiwork of the Holy Place. v.1: Handiwork can be understood as artisanry. v.2: So Moshe called to Betzalel and Oholiav and to every wise person whom Adonai had bestowed with wisdom everyone who had determined to participate in the handiwork. v.2: Handiwork can also be understood in this verse as this building project, although the word used, hamla kah,,המלאכה typically means handiwork, craft work, artisanry. v.3: Then they took, from Moshe, the entire offering that the people of Israel had brought, for the handiwork in the Holy Place to carry it out. And they (the people of Israel) brought to them (the artisans) more offerings, morning by morning. v.3: The phrase morning by morning we understand to mean every single morning. v.4: So all the wise people who were doing the handiwork in the Holy Place every single person, stopped the work that they were doing, v.5: and they spoke to Moshe, saying: The people are bringing more than enough for the handiwork that Adonai has instructed us to carry out. v.6: Then Moshe gave an order and they announced it throughout the encampment, saying: No man or woman should carry out anymore work for an offering for the Holy Place. So the people held back from bringing (more). v.6: The wording is very archaic and poetic in this verse. It literally reads: And they brought a voice in the encampment. This should be rendered as: they publicized, announced, or passed on the order (of Moshe) throughout the encampment. As the literal translation has no meaning in English, we have translated it so as to give the intended meaning. v.7: Thus, the handiwork was sufficient for all the work, to accomplish it, and still have extra; v.7: This verse is simple and poetic. The word hamla kah,,המלאכה is used twice, and we translated it as handiwork and the work, respectively (also see commentary to v.2).
v.8: So all the wise persons who were carrying out the handiwork made the Mishkan out of 10 curtains from twisted linen, sky blue and purple, and deep red. He put cherubim, the work of a weaver, into them. v.9: The length of one curtain was 28 amot; and the width was 4 amot. Each curtain was the same size as the other curtains. v.9: Just to give an idea of the sizes, the curtains measured about 42 feet in length, and 6 feet in width (about 13 meters, by just short of 2 meters). v.10: Then he joined 5 of the curtains together, one to one; and he joined 5 curtains together, one to one. v.10: We gave a literal translation of verse 10. In context, another translation could be, he (Betzalel) joined (one set of) 5 curtains to each other; and he joined the remaining 5 curtains to each other. The word joined is יחבר (yechaber) and it is also a word that is used in the Bible to refer to a friend. One joined to another as a friend is joined to a friend. We pause here for a note to our students: In Exodus 26 we read the same description of the joining of the curtains to form the Mishkan. In Exodus 36, we do not have the Hebrew idiom that we have in Exodus 26. But it is good here to be in memory of what we learned in chapter 26. v.3: There must be five curtains together, each woman joined to her sister; and five (other) curtains together, each woman joined to her sister. v.3: This verse is written in feminine form, with an uncharacteristic and highly idiomatic usage of the words woman and sister. Woman, ishah,,אישה means each curtain, and her sister, ahotah,,אחותה means its matching part, i.e., another curtain in the same set. v.4: Then you will make loops of tekelet,,תכלת on the edge of one set of curtains, and do the same on the outer edge of the second set. v.5: You will make fifty loops on one set of curtains, and you will make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set, parallel to the loops, each women to her sister. v.5: Literally it says, each woman to her sister. The concept being given is one curtain is joined to the next curtain in the same way as a woman is joined to her sister. v.6: Then you will make fifty gold clasps and connect the curtains, each woman to her sister, by the clasps. Then the Tabernacle will be one unit. 2
v.6: Each woman to her sister, again the meaning is each one joined to the other. Returning now to Chapter 36: v.11: Then he made sky blue (tekhelet, (תכלת loops on the edges of the outermost curtain of the first set. And he did the same at the edges of the outermost curtain of the second set. v. 11: See the TRI article about the Torah teaching of tekhelet on the TRI website. Copy and paste the address in the search engine: http://www.torahresourcesinternational.info/torah-teachings.php Then, select Tekhelet A Color of the Covenant. v.12: He made 50 loops on the outermost curtain of the first set, and he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. The loops were opposite one another. v.12: Presumably, He, the first word of v.12, refers to Betzalel, the supervisor of the entire project. Grammatically, it could refer to a workman or an artisan, and so be describing the overall work that each artisan contributed to. However, context argues for us to understand he as referring to Betzalel. v.13: Then he made 50 gold clasps, and he joined the curtains one to another with the clasps. So the entire Mishkan was one. v.13: The word echad,,אחד is used to describe one. It is the same word used in Deuteronomy 6:4 and numerous other times in the Torah. The meaning of the Mishkan being echad is rich. The word joined here is the same as in verse 10. Note: the next section of this chapter will now describe the construction of the curtains that will cover the Mishkan. The first set of curtains (verses 8 13) forms the Mishkan. The following curtains described (verses 14 19) are the coverings placed over the Mishkan. v.14: So he made goatskin curtains as a tent, (to be placed) on the Mishkan; he made 11 such curtains. v.15: The length of each curtain was 34 amot, and the width of each was 6 amot each curtain was the exact same size. v.15: The approximate measurements are 45 feet long (13.5 meters) and 6 feet wide (just short of 2 meters). v.16: Then he attached the 5 curtains alone, and the (remaining) 6 curtains alone. 3
v.16: Alone is the literal rendition. The meaning is not that Betzalel, by himself (alone) attached these curtains together, or by himself supervised this activity. Instead, alone is the ancient Hebrew idiom that is best translated here to each other. Thus, the action of the curtains being attached to each other is being described here. v.17: So he made 50 loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set, and he made 50 loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. v.17: See v.12, as this verse is a summary repetition in the Hebrew poetry of this chapter. The information contained in this verse is also relayed in verse 12. v.18: And he made 50 copper clasps to attach the tent together, to make it one. v.18: Again, we have the word echad used to express one. Another possible translation here is a single unit. That is, all the individual 11 curtains were attached to make one, single tent. And again, we have 50 clasps. The 50 clasps of the 2 sets of curtains that form the Mishkan are made of gold. The 50 clasps that connect the sets of curtains which cover over the Mishkan, are made of copper. v.19: Then he made a covering for the tent, of rams skin dyed red, and a covering of sheepskin, from above. v.19: From above is the literal translation of the last two words. It may have a number of possible meanings, one being that this particular covering is the one to be hung above, that is, the highest one. v.20: And he made the planks for the Mishkan from acacia wood, upright. v.20: Possibly standing upright is a proper translation here, but we rendered this literally. v.21: Each plank was ten amot in length, and one and a half amot in width. Each plank was identical. v.21: Here we have another usage of the word echad (see vv.13 and 18), describing how each plank is echad, meaning identical to the other in measurement. v.22: Each plank had 2 pegs, crafted so they were even with each other; he did this to all the planks of the Mishkan. v.22: The language here is very difficult to translate. 4
v.23: So he made the planks for the Mishkan; 20 planks for the south edge, facing south. v.23: Two different words are used for south in this verse. One is negev,.תימנה temanah, and the other is,נגב v.24: And he made 40 silver sockets underneath the 20 planks; two sockets under one plank, for its two pegs; and two sockets under the other plank, for its two pegs. v.25: Then for the second side of the Mishkan, facing north, he made 20 planks, v.26: and 40 sockets of silver; two pegs under one plank and two pegs under the other plank. v.26: The grammatical pattern under one and under the other is once again poetic Hebrew, and simply means that each plank was built according to this same structural pattern. v.27: And he made 6 planks for the inner western area of the Mishkan. v.28: Then he made two planks for the inner, corner areas of the Mishkan. v.29: They were matching (planks) at the bottom, and evenly matched at the top, fitting into the one ring. So he made both of them, on both sides. v.30: So there were 20 planks and their silver sockets: 16 sockets two sockets, two sockets under each plank. v.30: Again, the language is poetic. Thus, two sockets, two sockets under each plank is best understood as two sockets (under one plank) and two sockets (under the other plank), which is poetic and biblical language for two sockets under each plank, which is the best translation. v.31: Then he made bars out of acacia wood; 5 for the planks on the one side of the Mishkan; v.32: and 5 bars for the planks of the other side of the Mishkan, with 5 bars for the planks in the inner western place, facing west. v.32: The word yamah,,ימה is translated as west, and literally means towards the sea. There is an important Torah teaching using the Hebrew words for North, South, East, and West. [See the article which will appear later this month on the TRI website.] v.33: So he made the center bar to fit over the middle of the planks, from one edge to the other edge. 5
v.34: Then he plated the planks with gold, and he made gold rings to hold the bars, then plated the bars with gold. v.35: And he made the dividing curtain of sky blue, and purple with deep red, and twisted linen. He made it with cherubim, the work of a weaver. v.36: So he crafted for it 4 gold plated, acacia wood pillars; their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them 4 silver sockets. v.37: Then he made a flap for the opening of the tent, from sky blue and purple; deep red and twisted linen; it was embroidered; v.38: and its 5 pillars and their hooks. He plated their capitals and their hooks with gold, and their 5 sockets with copper. 6