Chapter Thirty-Seven

1–9. Construction of the ark of the covenant. 10–16. The table for the showbread. 17–24. The golden lampstand. 25–28. Construction of the incense altar. 29. Preparation of the anointing oil and the incense.

Exodus 37:1. And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; the length of it was two and a half cubits, and the width of it one and a half cubits, and the height of it one and a half cubits; Exodus 37:2. And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside and made a gold border around it; Exodus 37:3. And he cast for it four gold rings on its four lower corners: two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. Exodus 37:4. And he made bars of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold; Exodus 37:5. And he put the bars into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. Exodus 37:6. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold: two and a half cubits was its length, and one and a half cubits its width. Exodus 37:7. And he made two cherubim of gold: he made them of beaten work on both ends of the mercy seat; Exodus 37:8. One cherubim on one end, and the other cherubim on the other end: he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat on both ends of it; Exodus 37:9. And the cherubim had their wings spread upward, and they covered the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces were toward each other; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim. Construction of the ark of the covenant. See the commentary on verses 10–22 of chapter 25. In the present case, one additional note is made compared with chapter 25, namely, that the construction of the ark was the work of the chief builder of the tabernacle Bezalel, and the prescriptions of verses 15–16 and 21–22 are omitted, since their fulfillment was not within the duties of Bezalel.

Exodus 37:10. And he made the table of acacia wood: two cubits was its length, and one cubit its width, and one and a half cubits its height; Exodus 37:11. And he overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold border around it; Exodus 37:12. And he made a rim of a hand breadth around it and made a gold border for the rim of it; Exodus 37:13. And he cast for it four gold rings and attached the rings to the four corners, at its four legs; Exodus 37:14. The rings were beside the rim, to hold the bars for carrying the table; Exodus 37:15. And he made the bars of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold for carrying the table. Exodus 37:16. And he made the utensils that belonged to the table, its dishes and its cups and its jars and its bowls for pouring, of pure gold. Construction of the table for the showbread. See the commentary on verses 23–30 of chapter 25. The omission of the prescription of verse 30 is explained by the same as the omission of the prescriptions of verses 15–16.

Exodus 37:17. And he made the lampstand of pure gold, he made the lampstand of beaten work; its shaft, its branches, its cups, its knobs and its flowers were of one piece with it; Exodus 37:18. And six branches went out from the sides of it: three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it; Exodus 37:19. Three cups shaped like an almond flower, a knob and a flower on one branch, and three cups shaped like an almond flower, a knob and a flower on another branch: so for all six branches going out from the lampstand; Exodus 37:20. And on the shaft of the lampstand were four cups shaped like an almond flower with knobs and flowers; Exodus 37:21. A knob under the first pair of branches from it, a knob under the second pair of branches from it, and a knob under the third pair of branches from it, for the six branches going out from it; Exodus 37:22. The knobs and the branches all went out from it; the whole was beaten out of one piece of pure gold. Exodus 37:23. And he made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays of pure gold; Exodus 37:24. He made it from a talent of pure gold, with all its utensils. Construction of the golden lampstand. See the commentary on verses 31–39 of chapter 25.

Exodus 37:25. And he made the incense altar of acacia wood: a cubit was its length, and a cubit its width, foursquare; and two cubits was its height; from it went out its horns; Exodus 37:26. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and he made for it a gold border around; Exodus 37:27. And under its border on two corners of it he made two gold rings; on two sides of it he made them, to hold the bars for carrying it; Exodus 37:28. And he made the bars of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. Construction of the incense altar. See the commentary on verses 1–5 of chapter 30.

Exodus 37:29. And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, blended by the art of a perfumer. Preparation of the anointing oil and the incense. See the commentary on verses 23–25 of chapter 30.