Exodus 27

were on the top of the pillars, upon which tho veil was hung; as appears from the next verse. Upon four sockets of silver. As the tops of the pillars were of gold, so they stood upon pedestals of silver. Vcr. 33. And thou shalt hang np the veil under the taches.] The golden clasps that knit together the two great pieces of hangings, (vcr. C.) were just between the holy and the most holy place: so that the veil, which separated these two, hung exactly under these clasps. That thou mayest bring in thither, within the veil, the ark of the testimony.’] A separate place being made by this veil, the ark was to be brought into it, (seexxv. 16. 22.) and set at the west end of it. And the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.] It made a partition of the tabernacle, into two parts; one of which was the holy place, into which none but the priests might enter; and the other the most holy, into which none but the high-priest might enter, and that but once in the year. The most holy place was but a third part of the tabernacle; being a perfect square, five yards high, and as many long and broad; according to the common opinion concerning a cubit. Vcr. 34. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat.] See xxv. 17. Upon the ark oftlie testimony, in themost holy place.] This being the most precious testimonial of God’s presence with them was put in the most secret place of God’s house. Jnst as the palladium, or whatsoever other sacred thing it was of which the Vestal virgins were the conservators (for Diodorus Siculus saith he could not certainly tell, nor did he think it became a religious man to inquire into that which was intended to be a secret), was kept in the inmost part of thetemplc of Vesta, which was called Penus, as wo arc told by Festus; who saith, " Penus vocabatur, locus ultimus in eede Vestas, tegetibus septus," &c. Into this place none but tho Vestal virgins and the Pontifex Maximus might go \ as Lipsius observes in his Syntagma de Vesta et Vestalibus, cap. 4. His horns shall be of the same.] These spires seem to have been wrought out of the same piece of wood with the corners of the altar. And thou shalt overlay it with brass.’] Some think it was overlaid with brass, not only without but within; that the fire which burnt in the grate might not take hold of the wood. To prevent which, others fancied it was lined within with unhewn stone: but there is no mention of any such thing; and it was unnecessary, if the brass be supposed to have been of such a thickness as to secure the wooden frame of the altar. verfcd, when Ihcy removed it, (Numb. iv. 13.) But ihefirepans beforementioncd, (ver. 3.) it is probable, as I noted there, received the fire out of the grate: and then, it being cleansed from the ashes, was carried together with tho altar, to which it was fastened by its rings; a purple cloth being spread over both.

Exodus 27:1

JjlND thou shalt make an altar. Of burnt-offering, as it is explained xxxviii. 1. And the Hebrew word mizbeach, properly signifies that upon which sacrifices wcro slain and offered. Of shittim-wood.] What sort of wood this was, see xxv. 5. Five cubits long, and five cubits broad, &c] It was two yards and a half square (according to the common notion of a cubit) at the top and bottom of it. And theheight thereof shall be three cubits.] Being a yard and a half in height from the ground, the priest (as FortunatusScacchus observes) who ministered at it was half a yard above it; the common stature of a man being four cubits, i. e. two yards, (Sacr. Elaeo. Myroth. ii. cap. 65.) It is not said how thick the wood was of which this frame (as I may call it) was made; but it is certain that it was hollow within, that the grate mentioned vcr. 4. might hang in the midst of it.

Exodus 27:2

And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof. The Hebrew word kerem, which properly signifies a horn, signifies also an eminent or high place; as in Isa. v. 1. God saith he had planted a vineyard in a fruitful hill; where the words in the Hebrew arc, in a horn of the son of oil. From whence it signifies a pinnacle, or spire rising up from any building, as these horns did from the altar, for the ornament of it. Some will have it that they were useful also to tie the sacrifices to it, (which they gather from Psalm cxviii. 27.) and that they were of the fashion of oxen or rams’ horns. Fortunatus Scacchus contends earnestly for this, in his Myrothcc. ii. Sacr. Elaeochrysm, cap. 05. such horns being much in use in tho ancient religion, as appears (he observes) from the altars of the gentiles. And yet he confesses in the sixty-ninth chapter of the same book, that such kind of straight pinnacles as I mentioned before, after the manner of obelisks (as his words are), were more convenient for the putting of the blood of tho sacrifices round about them, as is required >Lev.xvi. 18,

Exodus 27:3

And tho’t shalt make his pans. The Hebrew word siroth signifies pots as well as pans; but here is determined to the latter sense, by the use of them, which here follows. To receive his ashes.] Or rather, to carry out the ashes which fell from the altar upon the earth; and being taken up, were put into these pans to be carried into a clean place, (Lev. iv. 12.) Fortunatus Scacchns hath adventured to delineate the form of them in the book beforementioned, cap. 73. And his shovels.] The Hebrew word hajahim properly signifies beesoms or brooms; but here is rightly translated shovels, by which, being made of brass, the ashes under the altar were scraped together on a heap, and then thrown into the pans. And his basons.] The principal use of these vessels was to receive the blood of the sacrifices, which was to be -sprinkled as the law directed: for the Hebrew word mizrakoth carries this signification in it. Besides which, Fort. Scacchus thinks they served for the mixture of the oil with fine flour and frankincense, which were to bo burnt on the altaT. For when any man offered a meat-offering, the priest was to take a handful of the flour and of the oil, with all the frankincense, as God’s part, to be consumed on the altar; and therefore we must suppose some vessel wherein these were brought to the priest, as the law requires, (Lev. ii.1,2.) And his flesh-hooks.] Or forks, as the word mizlegoth may be translated; which Fort. Scacchus thinks were in the form of a trident. With which they stirred up the fire; and also ordered the pieces of the sacrifice, if any chanced to lie out of it, and put them into it, that every bit might be surely consumed. And his fire-pans.] These are commonly taken for dishes or censers, in which the priest carried burning coals from the altar into the sanctuary, to oiFer incense upon the golden altar. But the abovenamed Fort. Scacchus thinks they did not minister in the holy place with brazen censers; and therefore takes these fire-pans for a larger sort of vessel, wherein the sacred fire which came down from heaven was kept burning, whilst they cleansed the altar and the grate from the coals and ashes, and when this altar was to be carried from one place to another, as it was often in the wilderness, (Myrothec. ii. Sacr. Elaeochrysm, cap. 73.)

Exodus 27:4

And thou shalt make for it a grated. This was the principal part of the altar; the wood being laid here, and the sacrifices burnt in it. Whence the Greeks call it l<xx^oa\ which was the name the heathen gave to the fire-place upon their altars, as we learn from Jul. Pollux. The figure of it was round, (as Fort. Scacchus gathers from the very name in Hebrew; for michbar signifies a sieve), but grew less and less, till at the bottom it ended, like a top, in a point. So he describes it in the forenamed “book, (cap. 71.) Of net-work.] It was made full of holes, like a sieve, or net (and thence called simply the net, in the latter end of this verse and in the next), that the ashes might fall through them to the bottom of the altar; where there was a door, on the east side, to open and take out the ashes. Of brass.] The metal of which all the forenamed things were made, and thealtar itself was overlaid. And upon the net,] L e. The grate full of holes, as was said before. TIiou shalt make four brazen rings.] The use of which was double; first, that by them it might be hung upon the altar: and then, when it was to be cleansed, or removed in their travels, it might by them be taken off. In the four corners thereof] This seems to overthrow what I now said of its circular figure: but it is to be observed, that Moses doth not use the same word here, which he doth when he speaks of the four corners of the altar, which he calls pinoth, (ver. 2.) but calls these only ketzoth, which may be better translated the extremities of it, as the said Fort. Scacchus hath noted.

Exodus 27:5

And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath. Some have fancied that this grate was placed only at the top of the altar: but that doth not agree with these directions, which only place it beneath, in the hollow part of the altar (called in the Hebrew carcob, which signifies, as R. Solomon saith, any thing that is round, arid is by us translated the compass), but so much lower than the top of the altar, that it was even to tlie midst of it, as it here follows. That the net may be even todlie midst of the altar.] This shews the depth of the grate to have been a cubit and a half: for the altar being three cubits high, (ver. 1.) and the bottom of this being even to the middle of the altar, it must hang down halfway to the ground, and consequently be a cubit and a half from the top of it to the bottom. So that this grate seems to have been made like to a furnace, full of holes round about, as well as below; and perhaps was hung by chains, in the rings beforementioned, to the horns of the altar. Ver. G. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, &c] Of such a length, that they might be laid upon the shoulders of the priests; and the altar, when they carried it, hang between them.

Exodus 27:7

And the staves shall be put into the rings. Besides the rings for the grate, there were others (if appears by this) in the altar itself, into which the staves were to be put when it was to be removed. And the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.] It is plain by this, that the staves were not put into the rings of the grate (which was within the hollow part of the altar), unless we imagine, as Dr. Lightfoot doth, that the rings of the grate came through the frame of the altar, and hung out on the sides of it; so that the frame and the grate were carried together. But, besides other objections against this, from the different form of the grate and the altar 3 it maybe doubted whether they were carried together, and not separate one from another; especially if we conceive the grate to have been carried with the fire still burning on it; which would have immediately consumed the purple cloth, wherewith the altar was to be co-

Exodus 27:8

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. Otherwise the grate could not have been in the midst of it, as is before ordered, (ver. 5.) And it was shewed thee in the mount.] Of this also he had a model set before him, as he had of other things. (See xxv. 9. 40.) So shall they make it.] By that pattern he was to direct tho workmen to make it.

Exodus 27:9

And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle. The Hebrew word chatzar properly signifies a green field or close. Such was this place, uncovered in the open air, but enclosed with pillars and hangings; which made it such a place as we call a court-yard before a house. In this court stood the tabernacle, or dwelling-house of God: not just in the midst of it, but towards the upper end. And here the altar of burnt-oftering stood, between the tabernacle and the lower end of the court: and the laver, wherein they washed, stood on the side of the altar. David speaks of more courts than one, (Psal. lxv. 5. lxxxiv. 3.) but Moses made only one, into which the priests came to offer sacrifice. Whether the people were admitted into it is not certain: if they were, it could contain no great number; and they stood at a great distance from the priests, in the lower part of the court; and were separated by some bounds or other, as they were in aftertimes when they came into Canaan. Where being settled, and the tabernacle fixed in Shiloh, the Hebrews say it was enclosed with a wall, as well as with hangings: and then, it is likely, a distinct court was made for the people; at least it was so in David’s time, as the places abovementioned prove. And in the teinple of Solomon we read plainly of more courts than one, (1 Kings vi.^36. vii. 12. 2Chron. iv. 9. xxxiii. 5.) viz. the court of the priests, and the court of the people. Unto which, in the temple of Herod, after the captivity, was added a third, the court of the women. For the south side southward.] It was to have two large sides, as the tabernacle had; whose south side being first ordered to be made, (xxvi. 18.) so is the same side of the court. There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen.] What fine linen and twined were, see xxv. 5. xxviii. 6. These hangings were not curiously embroidered with flowers, as those of the tabernacle were, (xxvi.l.) but were made of simple fine six-threaded linen. Of a hundred cubits long, for one side.] By this it appears that the length of the court was a hundred cubits, or fifty yards, though of yards longer than ours, as I have said before, xxv. 10. (See ver. 18.)

Exodus 27:10

And the twenty pillars thereof. These are thought by most to be made of shittim-wood. And their twenty sockets shall be of brass.],The pillars were placed five cubits distant from each other, upon bases of brass, which were more firm and lasting than wood. The hooks of the pillars.] These were, like our tenters, to hang the curtains of the court upon. See xxvi. 32. concerning tho word vave, And their fillets shall be of silver.] The Hebrew word chuschuk properly signifies a circle: but whether these were thin hoops of silver, or only fillets (as we translate it), or silver tivist, is uncertain. Yet it seems to be plain from the thirty-eighth chapter, that the heads of the pillars, into which the hooks were fastened, were silvered over.

Exodus 27:11

And likewise for the north side, &c. Here are the very same directions given for the hangings, pillars, bases, &c. of this side of the court, which are nothing different from the former.

Exodus 27:12

And for the breadth of the court, on the west side, shall be hangings of fifty cubits, &c. By this it appears that the court was as long again as it was wide, there being hangings but of half the length for the west end, and only half so many pillars and sockets.

Exodus 27:13

Tlie breadth of the court on the east side, &c. This end was of the same dimensions with the west end.

Exodus 27:14

Tlie hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, &c. The hangings of this end of the court were divided, because there was to be a gate; the entrance into the court being at the east end. Each side of the gate consisted of fifteen cubits; and accordingly the hangings were of that length, upon three pillars on each side, as this verse and the next direct.

Exodus 27:16

And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits. The entrance being twenty cubits wide, if we add to them the fifteen cubits which were on each side of the entrance, they make in all fifty cubits; which was the breadth of the east end of the court, as well as of the west, (ver. 12, 13.) Of blue, and purple, and scarlet, &c] Concerning all this, see xxv. 5. And here only observe, that the hangings of the gate were far-richer than of the rest of the court: which were merely of fine twined linen, (ver. 9.) but these of several other beautiful colours, and adorned with that - work they called rokem, which we translate needle-work. What that was, see xxxviii. 39. And their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.] Proportionable to those on each side of the gate; which were three for hangings of fifteen cubits, (ver. 14, -15.) as these were four for hangings of twenty.

Exodus 27:17

All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver. Those at the east and west ends, as well as those on the south and north sides. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.] As was before directed, (ver. 10, 11.)

Exodus 27:19

All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof. This is also a repetition in general of what was

And thou shalt set the table without the veil, &c. This verse only directs how the table and the candlestick (which were ordered to be made, xxv. 23. 31.) should be set in the holy place, which was without the veil; one of them on the south side, and the other on the north side over against it. But whether in the middle of the holy place, or more towards the upper end, is not said. Vcr. 3G. And thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent.] Now directions are given about the entrance of the tabernacle; before which he orders a curtain to be hung. Which may be called the first veil, with respect to that beforcmentioned, (vcr. 31.) which the apostle calls the second, (Heb. ix. 3.) Of blue and purple, &c] Concerning these colours, see xxv. 5. and concerning fine twined linen, xxviii. 6. Wrought with needle-work.] This was not such curious work as that which we translate cunning work, (vcr. 31.) which was in the other veil, before the most holy place. (Sec xxxviii. 39.) Besides this, Josophus saith there was another veil of linen to defend it from the injury of the weather; which was wont to bo drawn aside upon festivals, that the people might sco the beauty of this first veil. And indeed it is very probable, that some curtain or other was, in bad weather at least, hung before it, to secure it; as the covering of skins was over the hangings oftlie tabernacle. Vcr. 37. And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim-ivood.] These pillars seem to have been disposed in this manner: two of them were placed at each corner, which, if they took up a cubit, then the other three being placed at an equal distance, made four spaces, each of two cubits (f. e. a yard) wide: at which the priests entered, when they went to minister in the sanctuary. And overlay them with gokl.] It is not certain whether with plates of gold, or only gilded. But it appears from the thirty-sixth chap. ult. (where we read of the execution of this command) that by pillars are hero to be understood only the chapiters of them, which were all gilded; and the pillars themselves had only fillets or hoops of gold about them, in several parts of them. And their hooks shall be of gold.] As those for the other veil were. (Sec ver. 32.) And thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.] Their bases on which they stood were meaner than those for the pillars on which the second veil hung; for they were of silver, as the foundation of the whole house was, (ver. 25.

The length of the court, &c. Hero all the dimensions of the etfurt are put together: the length and breadth of which might be inferred from the hangings, (ver. 9. 12, &c.) but here are expressly determined; together with the height, which was not at all intimated before; and now appointed to be five cubits, i. e. two yards and a half,’ of larger measure than ours. So that the tabernacle might be plainly seen by the people; for it was as high again as the walls (if I may so call them) that encompassed it. Of twined linen, and their sockets of brass.] This seems to be a brief repetition of what was said before concerning the hangings, and the pillars which stood on bases of brass.