Exodus 40:2

2 “Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year.

Exodus 40:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 40:2

On the first day of the first month
Which was the month Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; which was the month the children of Israel came out of Egypt, out of which they had now been a whole year, excepting fourteen days:

shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation;
the tabernacle, which had a tent or covering over it, to which the people were gathered at times for religious service.

Exodus 40:2 In-Context

1 Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 “Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year.
3 Place the Ark of the Covenant inside, and install the inner curtain to enclose the Ark within the Most Holy Place.
4 Then bring in the table, and arrange the utensils on it. And bring in the lampstand, and set up the lamps.
5 “Place the gold incense altar in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Then hang the curtain at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; also in 40:6, 29 .
  • [b]. Hebrew the first day of the first month. This day of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in March or April.
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