Exodus 38:21-31

Materials for the Tabernacle

21 These are the records of the tabernacle, ¹the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites ²under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

22 ³Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses;

23 and with him was ⁴Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,^[a] by ⁵the shekel of the sanctuary.

25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary:

26 a ⁶beka^[b] a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for ⁷ 603,550 men.

27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the ⁸bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base.

28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.

29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels;

30 with it he made the ⁹bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹⁰the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar,

31 the ¹¹bases around the court, and the ¹²bases of the gate of the court, all the ¹³pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

Exodus 38:21-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 38

This chapter is a continuation of the account of the making of the things belonging to the tabernacle, particularly the altar of burnt offering, Ex 38:1-7 the laver of brass, and the things it was made of, Ex 38:8 the court and its hangings, pillars, sockets, hooks and pins, Ex 38:9-20 then follows an account of the quantities of gold, silver, and brass, expended in the making of the several things appertaining to the sanctuary, Ex 38:21-31.

Bezaleel made it, or it was made by his direction, he having the care and oversight of it, wherefore the making of it is ascribed to him, 2Ch 1:5 the account of this, its horns, vessels, rings, and staves, is carried on to Ex 38:2-7 of which \\see Gill on "Ex 27:1"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:2"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:3"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:4"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:5"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:6"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:7"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:8"\\. 10593-941108-1338-Ex38.2

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 1:50, 53; Numbers 9:15; Numbers 10:11; Numbers 17:7, 8; Numbers 18:2; 2 Chronicles 24:6; Acts 7:44; [Exodus 16:34]
• 2. Exodus 6:23; Exodus 28:1; Numbers 4:28, 33
• 3. Exodus 31:2, 6
• 4. [See ver. 22 above]
• 5. See Exodus 30:13
• 6. [See ver. 24 above]
• 7. Numbers 1:46
• 8. Exodus 26:19, 21, 25, 32
• 9. Exodus 26:37
• 10. Exodus 27:2-4
• 11. Exodus 27:10-12
• 12. Exodus 27:16, 17
• 13. Exodus 27:19

Footnotes

• [a]. A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
• [b]. A beka was about 1/5 ounce or 5.5 grams