Verse 8. Mirrors. Formerly all sorts of metal, silver, copper, tin, and so forth were used for mirrors, till the Europeans began to make them of glass. The best were made of a mixture of copper and tin. Plin. xxxiii. 9.—Watched. Hebrew, served like soldiers: fasting and praying, according to the Septuagint and Chal. These devout women came thither with great alacrity, to shew their affection towards God, and to consecrate to his service what had hitherto served to nourish vanity. Such were the virgins, mentioned 2 Machabees 3:19, and those who were abused by the sons of Heli. 1 Kennicott. 2:22. Ann, the prophetess, and our blessed Lady, were thus also employed in the temple. Luke 2:37. Women kept watch, singing and dancing before the palace of the Persian kings. Calmet.—When the tabernacle was fixed at Silo, small apartments were probably built for the convenience of these pious women. Tirinus.
Exodus
Verse 10. Brass. The Hebrew does not say the pillars were of brass, but only the bases. The body was of wood, encircled with silver, verse 12. See Calmet. 27:10. Calmet.
Exodus
Verse 17. The, and so forth Some render the Hebrew “The bases of the pillars were of brass, the hooks of the pillars and circles were of silver, their chaptrels were covered with silver.” Bonfrere supposes that the pillars were of the Ionic order, and that the chaptrels here designate the summit or abacus; while the hooks (vuim) mean the voluta, ( Menochius.) or bolster, representing the head-dress of virgins in their long hair. Vitruvius. Bible.
Exodus
Verse 21. Ithamar, some time after this, (Numbers 1:50,) was appointed to deliver the necessary vessels to the Levites; part of whose duty it was to take down the tabernacle and set it up again, and to keep an account of all things. Menochius.
Exodus
Verse 24. Gifts, voluntarily. The following verse mentions what arose from the tax of half a sicle per head. Calmet. 30:13.
Exodus
Verse 25. And it, and so forth Hebrew is rather more express, “And the silver given by those who were numbered, was a hundred talents, 1775 sicles of the weight of the sanctuary, verse 26. They gave each half a sicle, paid by all those who were 20 years old and upwards, amounting to 603,550 men.” Hence the talent would weigh exactly 3000 sicles, ( Calmet.) or 12,000 drachmas. Some say that the common talent weighed 100 pounds, and that of the sanctuary 120, each pound containing 25 sicles. D.
Exodus
Verse 29. Seventy. Hebrew confines the number of talents to 70, and allows “two thousand and four hundred sicles.” The Greek interpreters vary.
Exodus
A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
Exodus
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces.
Exodus
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces.
Exodus
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
Exodus
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
Exodus
a beka is about 5 grams or about 0.175 ounces
Exodus
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
Exodus
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds.
Exodus
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1775 shekels is about 17.75 kilograms or about 39 pounds.
Exodus
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
Exodus
70 talents + 2400 shekels is about 2124 kilograms, or 2.124 metric tons.