Net English TranslationExodus 35 =
Sabbath Regulations
35

1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.1 2 In six days2 work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day3 for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.4 Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 3 You must not kindle a fire5 in any of your homes6 on the Sabbath day.”7

Willing Workers8

4 Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 5 ‘Take9 an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart10 bring11 an offering to the Lord:12 gold, silver, bronze, 6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather,13 acacia wood, 8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 onyx stones, and other gems14 for mounting15 on the ephod and the breastpiece. 10 Every skilled person16 among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with17 its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand for18 the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”

20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses. 21 Everyone19 whose heart stirred him to action20 and everyone whose spirit was willing21 came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.22 22 They came, men and women alike,23 all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry,24 and everyone came who waved25 a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

23 Everyone who had26 blue, purple, or27 scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather28 brought them.29 24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as30 an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood31 for any work of the service brought it.32 25 Every woman who was skilled33 spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled34 spun goats’ hair.

27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted35 for the ephod and the breastpiece, 28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through36 Moses had commanded them37 to do.

30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen38 Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 33 and in cutting stones for their setting,39 and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.40 34 And he has put it in his heart41 to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill42 to do all kinds of work43 as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are44 craftsmen in all the work45 and artistic designers.46

135:1tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. 235:2tn This is an adverbial accusative of time. 335:2tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.” 435:2sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43. 535:3sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17. 635:3tn Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.” 735:3sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7). 8??sn The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1-11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4-19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20-29); the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30-35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1-7). 935:5tn Heb “from with you.” 1035:5tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices. 1135:5tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.” 1235:5tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate. 1335:7tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5. 1435:9tn Heb “and stones.” 1535:9tn Heb “filling.” 1635:10tn Heb “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions. 1735:11tn In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this. 1835:14tn “for” has been supplied. 1935:21tn Heb “man.” 2035:21tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act. 2135:21tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7). 2235:21tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were. 2335:22tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017). 2435:22tn Heb “all gold utensils.” 2535:22tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22. 2635:23tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.” 2735:23tn The conjunction in this verse is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had. 2835:23tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5. 2935:23tn Here “them” has been supplied. 3035:24tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said. 3135:24sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents. 3235:24tn Here “it” has been supplied. 3335:25tn Heb “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work. 3435:26tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is. 3535:27tn Heb “and stones of the filling.” 3635:29tn Heb “by the hand of.” 3735:29tn Here “them” has been supplied. 3835:30tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4. 3935:33tn Heb “to set.” 4035:33tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan. 4135:34sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able to direct others in the work. 4235:35tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling. 4335:35tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.” 4435:35tn Here “They are” has been supplied. 4535:35tn Heb “doers of all work.” 4635:35tn Heb “designers of designs.”
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