Synopsis of the Chapter
The Hebrews offer more than is needed for the tabernacle, wherefore Moses forbids further offerings. Second, verse 8, the tabernacle is constructed: namely ten embroidered curtains, goat-hair coverings, coverings of skins; and verse 20, boards; verse 31, bars; verse 35, veils before the Holy of Holies and before the Holy Place.
On the Hebrew Repetition
This is the Hebrew minute and detailed repetition of all the things which the Lord commanded to be done in chapters 25, 26, 27, 28, and 30, so as to show that they were here accomplished and completed. A similar repetition is customary among Orientals and other peoples, as can be seen among the Muscovites, who as often as they address their Duke or Prince, so often do they repeat and recite all his titles in a long series of order.
Note: Our translator in this repetition does not render word for word, but the sense, and briefly embraces the Hebrew repetition, even drawing some things by way of explanation from what was said above; for this is permitted to the liberty, skill, and judgment of the translator.
Verse 3: The People Offered Their Vows ¶
3. The people OFFERED their vows (voluntary gifts). — So says the Chaldean.
Verse 9: Moses Commanded It to Be Proclaimed ¶
9. MOSES THEREFORE COMMANDED IT TO BE PROCLAIMED BY THE HERALD'S VOICE — In Hebrew: Moses caused a voice to pass through the camp, that is, he proclaimed it by the trumpet and voice of a herald.
Verse 14: To Cover the Roof of the Tabernacle ¶
Verse 14. TO COVER THE ROOF OF THE TABERNACLE — that is, for the construction of the roof, or for completing the roof which would cover and protect the tabernacle: for, as I said at chapter 35, verse 11, miscan, that is the tabernacle, is precisely what is here called the lowest part of the tabernacle, namely the veil of the embroidered curtains; but the second, made of goat hair, which covered the first embroidered one, is called the roof, in Hebrew ohel, just as the third is called michse, which was a covering of skins.
Verse 18: By Which the Roof Might Be Fastened Together ¶
18. BY WHICH THE ROOF MIGHT BE FASTENED TOGETHER — "Roof," that is, the second veil, or the goat-hair cloth covering the tabernacle, as I said at verse 14.
Verse 33: He Also Made Another Bar ¶
33. HE ALSO MADE ANOTHER BAR — Our translator made no mention of this bar in chapter 26, verse 28. The Seventy, however, and others did make mention of it there; for in the Hebrew nearly the same words are there as here, except that the order of words is somewhat changed, and here the article is added, as if designating another specific bar. This bar is therefore different from the preceding bars, and it passed through the boards themselves, that is, penetrating the interior of their thickness; for these boards were rather thick, whence the Seventy call them columns. So say Lyranus, Hugo, Abulensis, and the Carthusian. For the remaining bars did not pass through the interior but only along the exterior backs of the boards, through rings attached to the backs of the boards for this purpose. This bar, as Abulensis correctly observes, was on the western side of the tabernacle, which covered the Holy of Holies: for that side alone had corners; therefore this bar was placed so that it might more firmly bind together all the sides of the tabernacle. Josephus also mentions this bar, in Book III, chapter 5, where, having enumerated the bars of the tabernacle, he says that besides these there was one row of bars behind, namely one that went through all the boards, by which the sides of both walls were held together by hooks.
Verse 34: The Boards He Overlaid with Gold ¶
34. AND THE BOARDS THEMSELVES (that is, the boards which were truly joined together like a floor) HE OVERLAID WITH GOLD.
Verse 36: Which with Their Capitals He Overlaid with Gold ¶
36. WHICH WITH THEIR CAPITALS HE OVERLAID WITH GOLD — so that the columns were merely covered with gold, that is, with gold plates, but the capitals were of solid gold, as God had commanded Moses in chapter 26, verse 32.
Verse 37: He Made Also a Hanging ¶
37. HE MADE ALSO A HANGING — "Hanging" here and in what follows is the same as a veil.
Verse 38: Which He Covered with Gold ¶
38. WHICH HE COVERED WITH GOLD — Understand similarly from chapter 26, verse 37, that the columns were covered with gold plates, but the capitals were of solid gold; namely, so that the hooks or capitals of the columns were of gold, while the columns themselves were covered with engravings, that is, golden rings going around in a circle, just as the columns of the court were surrounded by similar rings of silver. This is clear from the Hebrew; and so there was a just proportion in all things, since the columns of the court were adorned with silver spirals, those of the tabernacle with golden ones; while those of the Holy of Holies (inasmuch as the two innermost and nearest to the oracle) were covered not with spirals but with solid gold plates.
The Royal Bibles at the end have these final words of the chapter: "Which also he covered with gold." But this is redundant; for the bronze bases of the columns were not gilded: for the rest see chapter 26.