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He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width was five cubits, and its height was three cubits.
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.
He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze.
He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up.
He cast four rings for the four corners of bronze grating, to be places for the poles.
He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze.
He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.
He made the basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
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.
He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits;
their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
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.
For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
For the east side eastward fifty cubits,
the hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three;
and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen.
The sockets for the pillars were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. Their capitals were overlaid with silver. All the pillars of the court had silver bands.
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.
The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height along the width was five cubits, like the hangings of the court.
Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of bronze; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver.
All the pins of the tabernacle, and around the court, were of bronze.
These are the amounts of materials used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
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.
Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.
All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
Verse 24. Gifts, voluntarily. The following verse mentions what arose from the tax of half a sicle per head. Calmet. 30:13.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces.
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces.
The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary:
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.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were counted, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
a beka is about 5 grams or about 0.175 ounces
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, one talent per socket.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds.
From the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1775 shekels is about 17.75 kilograms or about 39 pounds.
The bronze of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
Verse 29. Seventy. Hebrew confines the number of talents to 70, and allows “two thousand and four hundred sicles.” The Greek interpreters vary.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
70 talents + 2400 shekels is about 2124 kilograms, or 2.124 metric tons.
With this he made the sockets to the door of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar,
the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins around the court.