Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40
SEDRA TERUMAH
Exodus 25:1 – 27:19
Again a sedra that poses enormous problems. Mosheh is up in the mountain for forty days, possibly witnessing a volcano, possibly carving a set of laws into a set of stone tablets, possibly being a mythological account of Osher (Osiris) being crowned as the earth-god, or Hor (Horus) replacing Geb at the summer solstice, as Osher replaced Set at the Sprinq equinox (or whatever it is that he is doing up there). Yet the next section of the tale does not report that; rather, it is given up to the immensely detailed architectural plan for the the Sanctuary, the Ark of the Covenant. We cannot surely accept that it was this detailed plan that YHVH was working out with Mosheh. And in addition, looking at the detail of the design, all the jewels must have been a king's ransom, certainly far more even than the Beney Yisra-El could have "spoiled" Mitsrayim (Egypt) for at the time of the Exodus (12:25/26). Where will they get all the wood etc? No, again, we have a much later document, reflecting possibly the Ark in the First Temple, possibly a late ark such as the one that David brought from Shiloh to Yeru-Shala'im before the construction of the First Temple (2 Samuel 6); but most likely Solomonic or later. Certainly Mosheh might well have built an Ark to carry the "Book of the Covenant" - whatever that was. But a simple Bedouin tent on a wooden stretcher is the more likely Mosaic Ark - as later description will confirm.
25:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
25:2 DABER EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE YIKCHU LI TERUMAH ME ET KOL ISH ASHER YIDVENU LIBO TIKCHU ET TERUMATI
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת תְּרוּמָתִי
KJ: Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
BN: Speak to the Beney Yisra-El, that they take for me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him willing, you shall take my offering.
The tone of this is worth noting: "from every man whose heart is willing". No coercion, no commandment, no requirement - yet imagine anyone who declared his heart unwilling and declined the offering!
This connects with the sacrifice itself: the ordinance for the bringing of the animals to the altar requires that they too must come willingly, or be rejected as sacrifices if they baulk or protest (the full explanation of the dietary law is most easily read in the Babylonian Tractate Chullin).
This connects with the sacrifice itself: the ordinance for the bringing of the animals to the altar requires that they too must come willingly, or be rejected as sacrifices if they baulk or protest (the full explanation of the dietary law is most easily read in the Babylonian Tractate Chullin).
25:3 VE ZOT HA TERUMAH ASHER TIKCHU ME ITAM ZAHAV VA CHESEPH VE NECHOSHET
וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ מֵאִתָּם זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת
KJ: And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
BN: And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, and silver, and brass...
An important mineral this NECHOSHET = brass; from it came the brass serpent NECHUSHTAN which Mosheh will wield as his banner; the NACHASH was the snake of Eden and the key symbolic figure in every middle eastern Creation myth - snakes and worms inhabit the Underworld, or at least the Undersoil, and are the good indeed the essential (in both senses of that word), means by which dead matter is biodegraded into compost (and yes, I know this is not the Christian view; but this is not a Christian text).
This instruction, given in Miami on Super Sunday, or at one of Lord Levy's early JIA or Jewish Care appeal meetings, would have been merely the norm, and resulted in pledge cheques running into the thousands of pounds or dollars. But gold and silver from a motley crew of fleeing slaves!
25:4 U TECHELET VE ARGAMAN VE TOLA'AT SHANI VE SHESH VE IZIM
וּתְכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי וְשֵׁשׁ וְעִזִּים
KJ: And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
BN: And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair.
TECHELET: Generally translated as "blue", though it is really "violet", which is to say on the purple side of blue, but not as mauve as Argaman. This was not the same as the lapis blue that the nobles saw in the pavement beneath the altar in Exodus 24:10; that would have been derived from the mineral in a rock, where Techelet was squeezed out of a type of mussel known from its colour as the cerulean mussel, and then used as a dye; the cerulean mussel was once thought to have been a type of murex or sea-snail, but in fact they are minorly different genuses. Techelet was the predominant colour for the drapes in both the Solomonic Temple and his palace, as will become evident from several verses below, and others in Exodus 35, 36 and 38, et al.
ARGAMAN: The royal purple, the one still worn by kings and Popes to this day, and the name of the imprint that publishes these commentaries. The sea-snail with which the cerulean mussel is now thought to be confused was called the Murex trunculus, though sometimes also the Phyllonotus trunculus, and in science text-books as "the banded dye-murex". Ancient Jewish scholars took it as a certainty that all three of the "royal" colours were evinced from this same murex, and that the variations between purple, violet, and scarlet for the TOLA'AT SHANI, were a matter of how the juices were then treated for their use as dyes. The murex inhabited the entire Mediterranean coast of Kena'an and Phoenicia, and it was the Argaman purple which gave both countries their names: Kinnahu for Canaan and Phoinix for Phoenicia. Sadly extinct now, but the three will occur repeatedly in the making of the Mishkan now and the Temple later.
Just as a complete side-note, Argaman is also an anagram of anagram (in English, not in Yehudit or Ivrit), and may be the other reason for the naming of this imprint.
VE-SHESH, VE IZIM: fine linen and goats' hair. No mention of the hides of the cattle we were told they took with them - probably because, as I noted at the time, the cattle were an anachronism, an error of the Redactor.
ARGAMAN: The royal purple, the one still worn by kings and Popes to this day, and the name of the imprint that publishes these commentaries. The sea-snail with which the cerulean mussel is now thought to be confused was called the Murex trunculus, though sometimes also the Phyllonotus trunculus, and in science text-books as "the banded dye-murex". Ancient Jewish scholars took it as a certainty that all three of the "royal" colours were evinced from this same murex, and that the variations between purple, violet, and scarlet for the TOLA'AT SHANI, were a matter of how the juices were then treated for their use as dyes. The murex inhabited the entire Mediterranean coast of Kena'an and Phoenicia, and it was the Argaman purple which gave both countries their names: Kinnahu for Canaan and Phoinix for Phoenicia. Sadly extinct now, but the three will occur repeatedly in the making of the Mishkan now and the Temple later.Just as a complete side-note, Argaman is also an anagram of anagram (in English, not in Yehudit or Ivrit), and may be the other reason for the naming of this imprint.
VE-SHESH, VE IZIM: fine linen and goats' hair. No mention of the hides of the cattle we were told they took with them - probably because, as I noted at the time, the cattle were an anachronism, an error of the Redactor.
25:5 VE OROT EYLIM ME ADAMIM VE OROT TECHASHIM VA ATSEY SHITIM
וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים וַעֲצֵי שִׁטִּים
KJ: And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
BN: And rams' skins dyed red, and seal-skins, and acacia-wood...
ME ADAMIM: Or ME'ADAMIM, possibly - is it an adjective (red-dyed) or a passive verb (dyed red)? Both are readable from the spelling.
OROT TECHASHIM: seal-skins are not findable in the Red Sea, but are commonplace in the Mediterranean; one more indicator of the actual rather than the mythical route of the pilgrimage.
ATSEY SHITIM: acacia wood was sacred. In Egyptian mythology, the first gods were born under the sacred acacia tree of the goddess Saosis, who is identified with Hat-Hor, and may be an early form of Eshet (Isis). Hor (Horus) himself was also said to have emerged from it; in the "Legend of Horus of Behutet and the Winged Disk" we are told that "the Boat of Ra arrived at the town of Het-Aha; its forepart was made of palm wood, and the hind part was made of acacia wood; thus the palm tree and the acacia tree have been sacred trees from that day to this." At On (Heliopolis), which was Yoseph's city, the acacia was regarded as the Tree of Life, and known as the Ished or Iusâas tree - Iusâas being a variation of Saosis, and her role in the world of the gods may well be the source of the tale of Yehudah and Tamar, in particular the tale of Onan. The gods Thoth and Seshat, the god and goddess of literacy and numeracy, wrote the king's name and the length of his reign on the leaves and fruit of the acacia, protecting the ruler and perpetuating his name.
Our contention that Mosheh (Ach-Mousa) was leading the people to Sinai for a covenant renewal ceremony that reinstated the pre-Hyksos gods is further endorsed by this.
25:6 SHEMEN LA MA'OR BE SAMIM LE SHEMEN HA MISHCHAH VE LIKTORET HA SAMIM
שֶׁמֶן לַמָּאֹר בְּשָׂמִים לְשֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה וְלִקְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים
KJ: Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
BN: Oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense...
A wonderfully colourful, bejewelled and sweet-smelling place the Mishkan must have been (much like Catholic churches in England, before Queen Elizabeth I whitewashed and cleaned them).
MISHCHAH: Anointing, not redeeming, saving the world, improving the world, or being the son of any deity. Simply anointing. From the root MASHACH, which does indeed yield the word MASHIYACH.
25:7 AVNEY SOHAM VE AVNEY MILU'IM LA EPHOD VE LACHSHEN
אַבְנֵי שֹׁהַם וְאַבְנֵי מִלֻּאִים לָאֵפֹד וְלַחֹשֶׁן
BN: Onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
SOHAM...EPHOD: See my essay on the ephod and the tribal jewels, here.
25:8 VE ASU LI MIKDASH VE SHACHANTI BETOCHAM
וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם
KJ: And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
BN: And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
MIKDASH: Anthropologically this is fascinating. The god lives in the summit of the mountain, or in the volcanic lava erupting from that mountain, in the middle of a desert, where his worshippers can only come occasionally to pay their respects, and even then only from a safe distance; now he wishes to live among them, and so commands the construction of a sanctuary, which will be placed inside a tent, which will be transportable. A kind of divine RV, a Winnebago Holy Camper or a Volkswagen Sacred Dormobile. This is not the universal god who lives in every aspect of his creation, but the rather more domesticated deity that most Judeo-Christians like to believe in today, a god of the hearth, like those members of the Hindu pantheon who have a snug little corner, a teraph-corner indeed, in your fireplace or at the back of your shop. (And if they made it really snug, is that the real reason why he made them spend forty years journeying through the wilderness, so he could just indulge the wanderlust!)
25:9 KE CHOL ASHER ANI MAR'EH OT'CHA ET TAVNIT HA MISHKAN VE ET TAVNIT KOL KELAV VE CHEN TA'ASU
כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מַרְאֶה אוֹתְךָ אֵת תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֵת תַּבְנִית כָּל כֵּלָיו וְכֵן תַּעֲשׂוּ
KJ: According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
BN: According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its furniture, that is how you shall make it.
samech break
25:10 VE ASU ARON ATSEY SHITIM AMATAYIM VA CHETSI ARKU VE AMAH VA CHETSI RACHBO VE AMAH VA CHETSI KOMATO
BN: And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood: two and a half cubits shall be its length, and one and a half a cubits its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height.
AMAH: A cubit is fractionally under eighteen inches, so we are talking about a very small box, 3'9 by 2'3 by 2'3 - just about large enough for two stone tablets, but nothing more than that.A very small Ark in fact, a sedan chair rather than a railway carriage. Compare No'ach's Ark, which was 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height (450 × 75 × 45 ft or 137 × 22.9 × 13.7 m): Genesis 6:15. The impression from this is that the deity is travelling in the form of, manifested as, his Ten Commandments. And logically so, if what they have come for is a covenant renewal ceremony, and they are taking home the in regal triumph copy of the law that was hidden through the epoch of the Hyksos.
Again the traditional pronunciation is erroneous; this should read MIMENO.
The extent of the detail is really rather absurd - they are building a box, after all, not a temple or a palace. And no, it wasn't just any box, but even so... presumably this box wasn't actually built until Solomonic times, and they needed to make a new one in Ezra's time when the Second Temple was being set up. Whether they knew the exact detail of Solomon's box and replaced it, or did not know and had to come up with their own, either way it needed the retroactive validation of Sinai, and so here are the details, down to the very size of the nails.
The Keruvim also prove absolutely that the design was not Mosaic. They were Babylonish, not Egyptian emblems, which therefore dates this text as post-exilic; their only previous occurrence is with the flaming sword at the end of the Eden story (Genesis 3:24), which is likewise Babylonian. Keruvim means "near ones", which suggests the same or similar function to "angels"; the ones shown here are from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (9th century BCE), though they are now standing in the British Museum in London.
25:19 VA ASEH KERUV ECHAD MI KATSAH MI ZEH U CHERUV ECHAD MI KATSAH MI ZEH MIN HA KAPORET TA'ASU ET HA KERUVIM AL SHENEY KETSOTAV
This idea of god being suspended above the ark between two keruvim is strangely reminiscent of the crucifixion scene, and mirrored too in the scene in Exodus 17:10 ff, where Mosheh is flanked by Aharon and Chur, holding up his arms.
VE NO'ADETI LECHA SHAM: The key to this verse however lies elsewhere - the deity is now made manifest, not in Nature, not in fertility, not in "miracles" or "plagues", not in "Fate and Destiny", but in the "testimony", which is to say the Law. The mythological Age is ended, the Metaphysical Age has now begun - something that we know from the next several books of the Bible did not actually happen until, even in the most basic sense, of Prophetic aspiration not yet come to fulfilment, the 6th century BCE, and not meaningfully until at least the 3rd.
That's a very small table! 3ft by 18 inches, 2 feet high; the size of my computer table!
MISGERET: As with the blood on the altar, the rim is needed to catch the libation (see verse 29) so that it doesn't spill on the floor.
וְעָשׂוּ אֲרוֹן עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים אַמָּתַיִם וָחֵצִי אָרְכּוֹ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי רָחְבּוֹ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי קֹמָתוֹ
KJ: And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
AMAH: A cubit is fractionally under eighteen inches, so we are talking about a very small box, 3'9 by 2'3 by 2'3 - just about large enough for two stone tablets, but nothing more than that.A very small Ark in fact, a sedan chair rather than a railway carriage. Compare No'ach's Ark, which was 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height (450 × 75 × 45 ft or 137 × 22.9 × 13.7 m): Genesis 6:15. The impression from this is that the deity is travelling in the form of, manifested as, his Ten Commandments. And logically so, if what they have come for is a covenant renewal ceremony, and they are taking home the in regal triumph copy of the law that was hidden through the epoch of the Hyksos.
Note again the significance of acacia, the tree beneath which Osher (Osiris) was born (see illustration, above), and which served, much like the Buddhist Bodi Tree of Enlightenment, as the Egyptian Tree of Life, containing the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil within its fruit, where the Eden tale appears to have two separate trees.
25:11 VE TSIPIYTA OTO ZAHAV TAHOR MI BAYIT U MI CHUTS TETSAPENU VE ASIYTA ALAV ZER ZAHAV SAVIV
וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר מִבַּיִת וּמִחוּץ תְּצַפֶּנּוּ וְעָשִׂיתָ עָלָיו זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב
KJ: And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
BN: And you shall overlay it with pure gold; inside and outside you shall overlay it, and set on it an encircling crown of gold.
TETSAPENU: This should be TETSAPENO - "on it"; as given, it is the first person plural possessive, which is grammatically incorrect. A fault of those who added the nekudot, not of the original manuscript.
25:12 VE YATSAKTA LO ARBA TAB'OT ZAHAV VE NATATAH AL ARBA PA'AMOTAV U SHETEY TABA'OT AL TSAL'O HA ECHAT U SHETEY TABA'OT AL TSAL'O HA SHENIT
וְיָצַקְתָּ לּוֹ אַרְבַּע טַבְּעֹת זָהָב וְנָתַתָּה עַל אַרְבַּע פַּעֲמֹתָיו וּשְׁתֵּי טַבָּעֹת עַל צַלְעוֹ הָאֶחָת וּשְׁתֵּי טַבָּעֹת עַל צַלְעוֹ הַשֵּׁנִית
KJ: And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
BN: And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in each of its four feet; and two rings shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side.
YATSAKTA: I do wonder how Mosheh was proposing to achieve this in the middle of the desert. Casting of any metal requires very high temperatures - click here for a technical explanation. You need a forge, not a bonfire made of twigs and brush.
If this is really divine instruction rather than a literary device, the scale of micromanagement is ridiculous, even by the normal standards of YHVH (did he not listen to Yitro teaching Mosheh management skills: delegate, YHVH, delegate! with full authority and accountability!); this is Frank Lloyd Wright, designing the very cutlery in your kitchen, and bolting down the furniture so that you can't replace it after the builders have signed off.
25:13 VE ASIYTA VADEY ATSEY SHITIM VE TSIPIYTA OTAM ZAHAV
וְעָשִׂיתָ בַדֵּי עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתָם זָהָב
KJ: And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
BN: And you shall make staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold.
VADEY: Or properly BADIM SHEL, but this is the normal grammatical form to ellide the two ('the commentaries of Prashker' becomes 'Prashker's commentaries' being the equivalent in English).
25:14 VE HEVE'TA ET HA BADIM BA TABA'OT AL TSALOT HA ARON LASET ET HA ARON BA HEM
וְהֵבֵאתָ אֶת הַבַּדִּים בַּטַּבָּעֹת עַל צַלְעֹת הָאָרֹן לָשֵׂאת אֶת הָאָרֹן בָּהֶם
KJ: And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
BN: And you shalt put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, so that they can carry the ark.
25:15 BE TAB'OT HA ARON YIHEYU HA BADIM LO YASURU MIMENU
בְּטַבְּעֹת הָאָרֹן יִהְיוּ הַבַּדִּים לֹא יָסֻרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ
KJ: The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
BN: The staves shall be placed permanently in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it.
Again the traditional pronunciation is erroneous; this should read MIMENO.
The extent of the detail is really rather absurd - they are building a box, after all, not a temple or a palace. And no, it wasn't just any box, but even so... presumably this box wasn't actually built until Solomonic times, and they needed to make a new one in Ezra's time when the Second Temple was being set up. Whether they knew the exact detail of Solomon's box and replaced it, or did not know and had to come up with their own, either way it needed the retroactive validation of Sinai, and so here are the details, down to the very size of the nails.
25:16 VE NATATA EL HA ARON ET HA EDUT ASHER ETEN ELEYCHA
וְנָתַתָּ אֶל הָאָרֹן אֵת הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר אֶתֵּן אֵלֶיךָ
KJ: And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
BN: And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.
EDUT: thus it becomes "The Ark of the Testimony", giving it thereby a very different function from "The Ark of the Covenant". But: were they two different parts of the same place, or two separate entities? This is not insignificant in the light of earlier remarks about ADUT YISRA-EL for the spiritual assembly. The key to EDUT is the notion of covenant, whose precise terms are defined in the laws and commandments given, and which the Beney Yisra-El have come to Sinai to affirm, or re-affirm.
The Icelandic saga, telling of its gods and laws, is known as the Edda. Can someone who knows the Icelandic language tell me the precise meaning of Edda - it seems oddly coincidental that Edda and Edut should be so similar.
second fragment
25:17 VE ASIYTA CHAPORET ZAHAV TAHOR AMATAYIM VA CHETSI ARKAH VE AMAH VA CHETSI RACHBAH
וְעָשִׂיתָ כַפֹּרֶת זָהָב טָהוֹר אַמָּתַיִם וָחֵצִי אָרְכָּהּ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי רָחְבָּהּ
KJ: And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
BN: And you shall make a cover of pure gold: it shall be two and a half cubits long, and a cubit and a half wide.
CHAPORET: Not to be confused with the PAROCHET, though I am afraid I am unsure how you avoid doing that; look at Leviticus 16:2 for example, where both words are in use in the same verse, the one for the "cover" itself, the other for the Veil that separates the holy from the Holy of Holies; both of them correct.
The confusion lies partly in the anagram of the letters: Peh-Reysh-Kaph-Tav for the Parochet (פָּרֹכֶת), the Veil; Kaph-Peh-Reysh-Tav for the Kaporet (כַפֹּרֶת), the mercy seat.
But it also lies in the anagram of the meanings. The root is the same one that yields KIPPUR, as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, so there is a hint of people kneeling or prostrating themselves beside the Ark of the Covenant, acknolwedging their own sins in the act of honouring the laws they admit they should have kept. But that root also yields "to cover", and we see it in Genesis 6:14 as the covering of a very different Ark, in its case with some kind of primitive tarmac or asphalt. The connection of these two seemingly rather different is the act of "covering up one's sins", not by concealing, but by purging them; cf Deuteronomy 21:8, Psalms 65:4 and 78:38, Ezekiel 45:20, many others.
The term "Mercy Seat" belongs to English translation, and is not a term used in Yehudit, or in Judaism. A thorough (though also thoroughly Christian) explanation of how Kaporet became "Mercy Seat", via the Greek "hilasterion", can be found here. In Judaism the Kaporet is simply "the cover" of the Ark of the Covenant (Testimony).
The confusion lies partly in the anagram of the letters: Peh-Reysh-Kaph-Tav for the Parochet (פָּרֹכֶת), the Veil; Kaph-Peh-Reysh-Tav for the Kaporet (כַפֹּרֶת), the mercy seat.
But it also lies in the anagram of the meanings. The root is the same one that yields KIPPUR, as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, so there is a hint of people kneeling or prostrating themselves beside the Ark of the Covenant, acknolwedging their own sins in the act of honouring the laws they admit they should have kept. But that root also yields "to cover", and we see it in Genesis 6:14 as the covering of a very different Ark, in its case with some kind of primitive tarmac or asphalt. The connection of these two seemingly rather different is the act of "covering up one's sins", not by concealing, but by purging them; cf Deuteronomy 21:8, Psalms 65:4 and 78:38, Ezekiel 45:20, many others.
The term "Mercy Seat" belongs to English translation, and is not a term used in Yehudit, or in Judaism. A thorough (though also thoroughly Christian) explanation of how Kaporet became "Mercy Seat", via the Greek "hilasterion", can be found here. In Judaism the Kaporet is simply "the cover" of the Ark of the Covenant (Testimony).
25:18 VE ASIYTA SHENAYIM KERUVIM ZAHAV MIKSHAH TA'ASEH OTAM MI SHENEY KETSOT HA KAPORET
וְעָשִׂיתָ שְׁנַיִם כְּרֻבִים זָהָב מִקְשָׁה תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם מִשְּׁנֵי קְצוֹת הַכַּפֹּרֶת
KJ: And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
BN: And you shall make two gold cherubim; make them of molten brasswork, one at each end of the ark-cover.
KERUVIM: I have retained the normal English rendition of this as "cherubim" on this occasion, but not afterwards; both the word, which should be "Keruvim", and the picture that we have of these objects (they were sphinx-like creatures, not cute little naked babies with adult faces) are wrong.
The Keruvim also prove absolutely that the design was not Mosaic. They were Babylonish, not Egyptian emblems, which therefore dates this text as post-exilic; their only previous occurrence is with the flaming sword at the end of the Eden story (Genesis 3:24), which is likewise Babylonian. Keruvim means "near ones", which suggests the same or similar function to "angels"; the ones shown here are from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (9th century BCE), though they are now standing in the British Museum in London.25:19 VA ASEH KERUV ECHAD MI KATSAH MI ZEH U CHERUV ECHAD MI KATSAH MI ZEH MIN HA KAPORET TA'ASU ET HA KERUVIM AL SHENEY KETSOTAV
וַעֲשֵׂה כְּרוּב אֶחָד מִקָּצָה מִזֶּה וּכְרוּב אֶחָד מִקָּצָה מִזֶּה מִן הַכַּפֹּרֶת תַּעֲשׂוּ אֶת הַכְּרֻבִים עַל שְׁנֵי קְצוֹתָיו
KJ: And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
BN: And place one keruv at the one end, and one keruv at the other end; you shall make the keruvim for each of the two ends as one piece with the ark-cover.
BN: And place one keruv at the one end, and one keruv at the other end; you shall make the keruvim for each of the two ends as one piece with the ark-cover.
So clearly they were rather smaller than the ones in the illustration, but still of the same type. And clearly they had precisely the same function that the Keruvim had, protecting the Gates of Eden, and that Bo'az and Yachin had, protecting the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im.
25:20 VE HAYU HA KERUVIM PORSHEY CHENAPHAYIM LEMA'LA SOCH'CHIM BE CHANPHEYHEM AL HA KAPORET U PHENEYHEM ISH EL ACHIV EL HA KAPORET YIHEYU PENEY HA KERUVIM
וְהָיוּ הַכְּרֻבִים פֹּרְשֵׂי כְנָפַיִם לְמַעְלָה סֹכְכִים בְּכַנְפֵיהֶם עַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת וּפְנֵיהֶם אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו אֶל הַכַּפֹּרֶת יִהְיוּ פְּנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים
KJ: And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
BN: And the keruvim shall spread out their wings on high, screening the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces man to brother; the faces of the keruvim shall be turned toward the ark-cover.
BN: And the keruvim shall spread out their wings on high, screening the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces man to brother; the faces of the keruvim shall be turned toward the ark-cover.
CHENAPHIM: The wings that are probably the source of both the Persian "angels", and of the horse Buraq, on which Muhammad claimed to have flown to Yeru-Shala'im on the night of the Isra. In Yeats' messianic vision, the creature is a "shape with lion body and the head of a man", but no wings, where John's Revelation (13:1) describes it as "like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion", and gives it "ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name." This is actually John's second attempt to describe the creatures; the first is much closer to Ezekiel's, which by no coincidence took place in Babylon, "while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River" (Ezekiel 1:1). Ezekiel "looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north - an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light", which appears to repeat the volcanic cloud of the Mosheh tale.
"The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, 9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning."which John (Revelation 4:6–8) essentially repeats, just in a different order, and with six wings where Ezekiel's only have four.
SOCH'CHIM: A covering for the covering! What is the difference between the SOCH'CHIM and the KAPHAR? The latter is explained above; the root SACHACH has a sense rather more of things being "hedged in", and the phrase recurs with much importance in Talmudic Judaism, especially in the opening verse of the Pirkei Avot, which tells us that "Mosheh received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshu'a, Yehoshu'a to the elders, the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in justice, raise many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah." The Mishnaic Yehudit text gives ASU SEYAG LA TORAH (עֲשׂוּ סְיָג לַתּוֹרָה), with SIYAG probably a dialect variant or language development of SACHACH (both words are rooted in the leftovers of casting metal).
ISH EL ACHIV: Literally "each man to his brother" (compare "woman to sister" in Exodus 26:3, here for wood and metal work, there for sewing and tapestry), but the intention is "facing each other". And thereby providing a sort of canopy, a chupah; and quite probably the source of that.
25:21 VE NATATA ET HA KEPORET AL HA ARON MI LEMA'LA VE EL HA ARON TITEN ET HA EDUT ASHER ETEN ELEYCHA
וְנָתַתָּ אֶת הַכַּפֹּרֶת עַל הָאָרֹן מִלְמָעְלָה וְאֶל הָאָרֹן תִּתֵּן אֶת הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר אֶתֵּן אֵלֶיךָ
KJ: And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
BN: And you shalt put the ark-cover over them, on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
25:22 VE NO'ADETI LECHA SHAM VE DIBARTI IT'CHA ME'AL HA KAPORET MI BEYN SHENEY HA KERUVIM ASHER AL ARON HA-EDUT ET KOL ASHER ATSAVEH OT'CHA EL BENEY YISRA-EL
וְנוֹעַדְתִּי לְךָ שָׁם וְדִבַּרְתִּי אִתְּךָ מֵעַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת מִבֵּין שְׁנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים אֲשֶׁר עַל אֲרוֹן הָעֵדֻת אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר אֲצַוֶּה אוֹתְךָ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
BN: And I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you from above the ark-cover, from between the two keruvim which are upon the ark of the testimony, through all the instructions which I will give you for the Beney Yisra-El.
This idea of god being suspended above the ark between two keruvim is strangely reminiscent of the crucifixion scene, and mirrored too in the scene in Exodus 17:10 ff, where Mosheh is flanked by Aharon and Chur, holding up his arms.
VE NO'ADETI LECHA SHAM: The key to this verse however lies elsewhere - the deity is now made manifest, not in Nature, not in fertility, not in "miracles" or "plagues", not in "Fate and Destiny", but in the "testimony", which is to say the Law. The mythological Age is ended, the Metaphysical Age has now begun - something that we know from the next several books of the Bible did not actually happen until, even in the most basic sense, of Prophetic aspiration not yet come to fulfilment, the 6th century BCE, and not meaningfully until at least the 3rd.
pey break
25:23 VE ASIYTA SHULCHAN ATSEY SHITIM AMATAYIM ARKO VE AMAH RACHBO VE AMAH VA CHETSI KOMATO
וְעָשִׂיתָ שֻׁלְחָן עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים אַמָּתַיִם אָרְכּוֹ וְאַמָּה רָחְבּוֹ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי קֹמָתוֹ
KJ: Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
BN: And you shall make a table of acacia-wood: two cubits shall be its length, and one cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
That's a very small table! 3ft by 18 inches, 2 feet high; the size of my computer table!
25:24 VE TSIPIYTA OTO ZAHAV TAHOR VE ASIYTA LO ZER ZAHAV SAVIV
וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב
KJ: And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
BN: And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and encircle it with a crown of gold.
25:25 VE ASIYTA LO MISGERET TOPACH SAVIV VE ASIYTA ZER ZAHAV LE MISGARTO SAVIV
וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ מִסְגֶּרֶת טֹפַח סָבִיב וְעָשִׂיתָ זֵר זָהָב לְמִסְגַּרְתּוֹ סָבִיב
KJ: And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
BN: And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim.
MISGERET: As with the blood on the altar, the rim is needed to catch the libation (see verse 29) so that it doesn't spill on the floor.
25:26 VE ASIYTA LO ARBA TAB'OT ZAHAV VE NATATA ET HA TABA'OT AL ARBA HA PE'OT ASHER LE ARBA RAGLAV
וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ אַרְבַּע טַבְּעֹת זָהָב וְנָתַתָּ אֶת הַטַּבָּעֹת עַל אַרְבַּע הַפֵּאֹת אֲשֶׁר לְאַרְבַּע רַגְלָיו
KJ: And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
BN: And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.
TAB'OT: It appears that the we have both TAB'OT (verses 12 and 26) and TABA'OT (verses 12, 14, 15, 26, 27). What is the difference between the two? Is one of them an error? Given that the two words are identical without nekudot, is this an error of those who added the pointing, or are the two words marginally different in meaning? I have checked a dozen translations, and all render both words as if they were the same: "rings".
25:27 LE'UMAT HA MISGERET TIHEYEYNA HA TABA'OT LE VATIM LEVADIM LAS'ET ET HA SHULCHAN
לְעֻמַּת הַמִּסְגֶּרֶת תִּהְיֶיןָ הַטַּבָּעֹת לְבָתִּים לְבַדִּים לָשֵׂאת אֶת הַשֻּׁלְחָן
KJ: Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
BN: The rings shall be as close to the border as is viable, to provide places for the staves that bear the table.
25:28 VE ASIYTA ET HA BADIM ATSEY SHITIM VE TSIPIYTA OTAM ZAHAV VE NISA VAM ET HA SHULCHAN
וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַבַּדִּים עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתָם זָהָב וְנִשָּׂא בָם אֶת הַשֻּׁלְחָן
KJ: And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
BN: And you shalt make the staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold; the staves are there to make the table portable.
25:29 VE ASIYTA KE'AROTAV VE CHAPOTAV U KESOTAV U MENAKIYTAV ASHER YUSACH BA HEN ZAHAV TAHOR TA'ASEH OTAM
וְעָשִׂיתָ קְּעָרֹתָיו וְכַפֹּתָיו וּקְשׂוֹתָיו וּמְנַקִּיֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר יֻסַּךְ בָּהֵן זָהָב טָהוֹר תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם
KJ: And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
BN: And you shall make dishes for it, and pans for it, and jars for it, and bowls for it, from which to make the libations; make all of these from pure gold.
THE: the Yehudit text has no definite article for these objects; nor are they necessary, though many translators add them.
Why pure gold? For the same reason that the stones must be un-hewn. Natural products. YHVH likes natural, organic products, not man-made materials.
Dishes and spoons and bowls and pans for libations - why does it need an entire cullinary hamper? (I say "hamper" because they are going on the table, when used, but the table will be portable, and the kitchen will therefore need to be stored; but we are not told where or how. Clearly not in the box with the Testimony, because there isn't enough room).
Dishes and spoons and bowls and pans for libations - why does it need an entire cullinary hamper? (I say "hamper" because they are going on the table, when used, but the table will be portable, and the kitchen will therefore need to be stored; but we are not told where or how. Clearly not in the box with the Testimony, because there isn't enough room).
25:30 VE NATATA AL HA SHULCHAN LECHEM PANIM LEPHANAI TAMID
וְנָתַתָּ עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן לֶחֶם פָּנִים לְפָנַי תָּמִיד
KJ: And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
BN: And you shall set the showbread on the table before me at all times.
LECHEM PANIM: The ultimate connection with the Risen Lord, by whichever name. The sacred produce of the corn-god.
TAMID: The Tamid will then become the name of this ceremony, though not so much of this offering as of the burnt-offerings of Exodus 29:38–42 and Numbers 28:1–8 - click here for an explanation.
TAMID: The Tamid will then become the name of this ceremony, though not so much of this offering as of the burnt-offerings of Exodus 29:38–42 and Numbers 28:1–8 - click here for an explanation.
pey break
25:31 VE ASIYTA MENORAT ZAHAV TAHOR MIKSHAH TE'ASEH HA MENORAH YERECHA VE KANAH GEVIY'EYHA KAPHTOREYHA U PHERACHEYHA MIMENAH YIHEYU
וְעָשִׂיתָ מְנֹרַת זָהָב טָהוֹר מִקְשָׁה תֵּעָשֶׂה הַמְּנוֹרָה יְרֵכָהּ וְקָנָהּ גְּבִיעֶיהָ כַּפְתֹּרֶיהָ וּפְרָחֶיהָ מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ
KJ: And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
BN: And you shall make a menorah of pure gold. You shall make the candlestick of molten brasswork, including its base, and its shaft, its cups, its knops and its flowers, all the same.
MENORAH: "Candlestick" generally suggests a single vertical for a single candle, but this is the Menorah, which was seven-branched, one for each day of the week (not a Chanukiah, which is eight-branched, and belongs to the post-Biblical era of the Maccabees). However, see my notes on the Menorah in the essay on the Number Seven, which demonstrates that the Menorah being described here is in fact the Maccabee Menorah, and not the Solomonic or the one made by Zeru-Bavel.
YERECHA: from the word for "thigh", but also moon. See the link.
KANAH...: How are these not "graven images"?
KAPHTOREYHA: And then a third anagram to make us even more confused (see verse 17). Kaph-Peh-Tav-Reysh on this occasion, the same four letters, but a third, entirely different meaning. The meaning is usually thought to be some kind of crown or chaplet, but here it may be the column of the candlestick.
PHERACHEYHA: Not far from a fourth variant on the anagram, but this is PERACH = flower, and the CH is a Chet (ח), not a Chaf (כ)
25:32 VE SHISHA KANIM YOTS'IM MI TSIDEYHA SHELOSHA KENEY MENORAH MI TSIDAH HA ECHAD U SHELOSHA KENEY MENORAH MI TSADAH HA SHENI
וְשִׁשָּׁה קָנִים יֹצְאִים מִצִּדֶּיהָ שְׁלֹשָׁה קְנֵי מְנֹרָה מִצִּדָּהּ הָאֶחָד וּשְׁלֹשָׁה קְנֵי מְנֹרָה מִצִּדָּהּ הַשֵּׁנִי
KJ: And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
BN: And there shall be six branches coming out of its sides: three branches of the candlestick out of one side, and three branches of the candle-stick out of the other side...
Six branches? What happened to the seventh? See verse 37.
25:33 SHELOSHAH GEVI'IM MESHUKADIM BA KANEH HA ECHAD KAPHTOR VA PHERACH U SHELOSHAH GEVI'IM MESHUKADIM BA KANEH HA ECHAD KAPHTOR VA PHARACH KEN LE SHESHET HA KANIM HA YOTS'IM MIN HA MENORAH
שְׁלֹשָׁה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים בַּקָּנֶה הָאֶחָד כַּפְתֹּר וָפֶרַח וּשְׁלֹשָׁה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים בַּקָּנֶה הָאֶחָד כַּפְתֹּר וָפָרַח כֵּן לְשֵׁשֶׁת הַקָּנִים הַיֹּצְאִים מִן הַמְּנֹרָה
KJ: Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
BN: Three cups made to look like almond-blossoms on one branch, with a knop and a flower; and three cups made to look like almond-blossoms on the other branch, with a knop and a flower; the same for all six branches that come out of the candlestick.
Why is the first one PHERACH but the second PHARACH? Methinks the man who did the pointing was not paying full attention when he produced this chapter.
The almond blossoms were, originally anyway, before patriarchalism changed everything, sacred to the mother goddess: fertility symbols. In Greek mythology Attis was born of the almond-nut, which is not the same as the blossom, as this link explains (look for the word "castration"; the blossom is the seed).
25:34 U VA MENORAH ARBA'AH GEVI'IM MESHUKADIM KAPHTOREYHA U PHERACHEYHA
וּבַמְּנֹרָה אַרְבָּעָה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים כַּפְתֹּרֶיהָ וּפְרָחֶיהָ
KJ: And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
BN: And on the candlestick itself four cups made to look like almond-blossoms, and their knops, and their flowers.
25:35 VE CHAPHTOR TACHAT SHENEY HA KANIM MIMENAH VE CHAPHTOR TACHAT SHENEY HA KANIM MIMENAH VE CHAPHTOR TACHAT SHENEY HA KANIM MIMENAH LE SHESHET HA KANIM HA YOTS'IM MIN HA MENORAH
וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה לְשֵׁשֶׁת הַקָּנִים הַיֹּצְאִים מִן הַמְּנֹרָה
KJ: And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
BN: Plus a knop under two of the branches on one side of it, and a knop under two of the branches on the other side of it, and a knop under two branches of the central piece, the same for all six branches that come out of the candlestick.
Such precision of detail, and yet so awkwardly described! The divine architect giving his instructions to the builder.
25:36 KAPHTOREYHEM U KENOTAM MIMENAH YIHEYU KULAH MIKSHAH ACHAT ZAHAV TAHOR
כַּפְתֹּרֵיהֶם וּקְנֹתָם מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ כֻּלָּהּ מִקְשָׁה אַחַת זָהָב טָהוֹר
KJ: Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
BN: Their knops and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold.
25:37 VE ASIYTA ET NEROTEYHA SHIV'AH VE HE'ELAH ET NEROTEYHA VE HE'IR AL EVER PANEYHA
וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ שִׁבְעָה וְהֶעֱלָה אֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ וְהֵאִיר עַל עֵבֶר פָּנֶיהָ
KJ: And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.
BN: And you shall make seven lamps for it; and the lamps shall be set up in such a way that they fill the entire space around it with light.
Seven lamps, but apparently only six branches (see verse 32). Though it is unstated, there obviously has to be a central lamp as well. Given the detail of this, why is it not listed - or is that the KAPHTOR of verse 31? And especially as the central lamp represents the seventh day, YHVH's day, the most important of them all.
25:38 U MALKACHEYHA U MACHTOTEYHA ZAHAV TAHOR
וּמַלְקָחֶיהָ וּמַחְתֹּתֶיהָ זָהָב טָהוֹר
KJ: And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
BN: And its tongs, and its snuff dishes, shall be of pure gold.
MALKACHEYHA: Tongs, because you cannot blow out sacred candles, and you can T.E. Lawrence them with your finger. Some translations prefer "wick-trimmers", but you can trim wicks in preparing the candles, where this is definitely about extinguishing them at the end of Avodah.
MACHTOTEYHA: Fire-pans, for taking away burning coals, in Exodus 27:3 and 38:3, also Numbers 16:6, where the MACHTOT are used to carry burning incense; so presumably something of the same order, to carry the tongs.
25:39 KIKAR ZAHAV TAHOR YA'ASEH OTAH ET KOL HA KELIM HA ELEH
כִּכָּר זָהָב טָהוֹר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָהּ אֵת כָּל הַכֵּלִים הָאֵלֶּה
KJ: Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
BN: A coin of pure gold should be sufficient to make all these vessels.
KIKAR: The trouble with translating it as "talent" is that you date the piece - this is the word used in the Greek world, and the Roman later on, and brought to the Middle East by both of them - and that happened at the time of Greco-Persian war in the 5th century BCE, immediately after Zeru-Bavel had started the restoration of Yeru-Shala'im, and the cause of Nechem-Yah getting permission from the Ppersian emperor to go back and re-restore what what Greeks had just re-destroyed. So the obvious word for the Ezraic scribes to use, had they used it, but an anachronism for Mosheh, and for us. For the weights and measures and values of the "talent", click here, but probably around three thousand Sanctuary shekels (though that too cannot be applied in Mosheh's time; if he was carrying any coins at all, they would have been Egyptian).
How then should we translate it? A KIKAR in Yehudit simply means a "round object", which coins supposedly are. A KIKAR LECHEM is a round loaf in Exodus 29:23, 1 Samuel 2:36 et al. The main city square is also sometimes called a KIKAR, though I guess it should then be translated as a "city round" rather than a "city square".
How then should we translate it? A KIKAR in Yehudit simply means a "round object", which coins supposedly are. A KIKAR LECHEM is a round loaf in Exodus 29:23, 1 Samuel 2:36 et al. The main city square is also sometimes called a KIKAR, though I guess it should then be translated as a "city round" rather than a "city square".
25:40 U RE'EH VA ASEH BE TAVNIYTAM ASHER ATAH MAR'EH BA HAR
וּרְאֵה וַעֲשֵׂה בְּתַבְנִיתָם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה מָרְאֶה בָּהָר
KJ: And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
BN: And see that you make them according to the design that has been shown to you here on the mountain.
A slightly self-conscious pretense by the Ezraic scribe that Mosheh learned all this on Sinai; but also yet another portrait of YHVH as Frank Lloyd Wright!
We can now envisage the whole thing as a Temple on wheels, with more than one chamber.
As far as the desert story is concerned, however, these chapters can effectively be ignored.
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