Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

God, whose judgment is according to ing to their fathers house, even twelve truthg 9uq to how noted 900 98 rodss and the rod of Aaron was among It only remains to account for the their rods And Moses laid up the rods Stock and branches being wrought in before the Lord in the tabernacle sof such exquisite resemblance to the lead-imesso And it came to pass, that on ing parts of the almond-tree, from which the morrow Moses went into the aaberthe model of its fruits & sapnacle of witness; and behold, the fod The men

pears to have been derived of Aaron for the house of Levi was

tion of the almond-tree is not of infre- budded, and quent occurence in the Scriptures,

it would seem, from its peculiar

[graphic]
[ocr errors]

35 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.

36 Their knops and their branches

shall be of the same: all of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof and y they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may z give light over against it.

y ch. 26. 21. & 30. 8. Lev, 24. 3, 4. 3 Chron.

13. 11. z Numb. 8. 2.

35. A knop under two branches, &c. From this being thrice repeated it would seem to import that, beginning from the bottom pair of branches, there was to be on the main shaft one knop under each pair, near where it branched out, which would leave one knop with its bowl and flower to ornament the upper part of the shaft, between the upper pair of branches and the middle lamp.

36. Shall be of the same. That is, of the same material; all pure solid gold.

1

of the subject and worthy of its divine Author in the unique decoration of this remarkable portion of the Mosaic apparatus? It was, at any rate, a view of the subject which commended itself to the gifted mind of Edwards, who thus comments upon the passage before us s; The Candlestick was like a tree of many branches, and bearing flowers and fruit, agreeable to the very frequent representations of the church by a tree, an olive-tree, a vine, a grain of mustardseed that becomes a tree, the branch of the Lord, a tree whose substance 37. Thou shalt make the seven lamps is in it, &c. The continuance and pro- thereof. Shalt cause to be made. By pagation of the church is compared to lamps' here is meant the lamp-sconces the propagation of branches from a or receptacles for holding the oil, atcommon stock and root, and of plants tached to the upper extremity of the from the seed. In this Candlestick, shaft and each of the branches. This every flower is attended with a knop, is rendered in the Gr. by Avxvo, lamps. apple, or pomegranate, representing a - And they shall light, &c. Heb. good profession attended with corres- healah, he shall cause to ascend; ponding fruit in the true saints. Here i. e. he, the priest; whose duty it was were rows of knops and flowers one to attend the Candlestick. Yet the after another, beautifully representing phrase is collective implying the suc the saints' progress of religious attain- cession of priests, and therefore properments, their going from strength to ly enough rendered in the plural in our strength. Such is the nature of true translation. The rendering'shall light' grace and holy fruit, that it bears flow is rather a paraphrase than a literal ers that promise a further degree of version. The meaning of the original fruit, the flowers having in it the prin- will be plain if we bear in mind that ciples of new fruit, and by this progress the lamps' or sconces were to be dein holiness, the saint comes to shine as tached and taken down from their socka light in the world.' Notes on the Bi-ets in the top of the Candlestick. When ble, p. 265. For a still further con- they were cleaned, filled with oil, and firmation of the truth of this solution, [lighted, they were to be put up again see Notes on Ex. 28. 33-35, respecting in their places, and this is the exact the pomegranates and bells on the robe sense of the Heb. n to make to of the ephod of the high priest.-We ascend, i. e. to raise, to elevate. Gr. now resume the thread of our anno-εTiOnoes Tous λvxvovs, thou shalt put on tations.

the lamps. So also the Vulg. 'Thou

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

shalt set them upon the Candlestick.' As the lamps were thus put up in a lighted state, it is easy to see how the term came to be rendered by the verb to light. When the lamps were all lighted below, and duly raised up to their proper places, the Candlestick might be said to be lighted.-T Give light over against it. Heb. 3

aleber panëha, over against the face thereof; i. e. right forward, or straight before it, as the phrase signifies Ezek. 1. 9, 12. As the Candlestick stood near the wall on the south side of the Holy Place, its light would naturally fall in the opposite direction, more especially upon the Table of Shew bread, which faced it on the north. Comp. Num. 8. 2, 3.

[ocr errors]

3

38. The tongs thereof. Heb. malkahëha, literally takers from lakah, to take, to receive; supposed to be a kind of scissars or snuffers for trimming the lamps. Chal. 'Forceps.'¶ Snuff-dishes thereof. Heb. mahtothëha, probably a kind of vessels or pans for receiving the snuffings of the lamps after they had been cut off by the tongs' above mentioned. Their precise form cannot now be determined. 39. A talent of pure gold, &c. That is, a talent of gold in weight was used in making the Candlestick, and the different vessels and instruments belong. ing to it; and this according to the most approved estimates of the value of Jewish coins amounted to not less than $30,000....

40. Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee, &c. Heb. A 18 28 asher attah morëh, which thou wast caused to see. The command here given to Moses, enjoining upon him a scrupulous adher

40 And a look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. !

a ch. 26. 30. Numb. 8. 4. 1 Chron. 28. 11, 19.

Acts 7. 44. Hebr. 8. 5.

ence to the model proposed, undoubtedly carries with it an intimation that God regards his own appointments in matters of worship as of the utmost importance, and at the same time of a tendency in man to vary from his pat terns and trust to his own inventions. Probably some more latitude is allowed under the Christian dispensation to the' dictates of human wisdom in regard to externals, provided certain great fundamental principles be adhered to, and no onerous impositions be laid upon the conscience; but the Tabernacle service was throughout a sytem of instituted worship, which derived all its authority, from the express appointment of Jeho vah. On this account it was manifestly proper that every item of the apparatus should be fashioned according to the model set before Moses on the mount. It is to be observed, therefore, that this order was given to him repeatedly, and with very peculiar force and emphasis; and his strict adherence to it is, in the last chapter in this book, noticed no less than eight times, once after the mention of every separate piece of furniture that was made. In the New Testament also his compliance with the command is repeatedly adverted to, and the very order itself expressly quoted, Acts, 7. 4, Heb. 8.5, What then was the reason of such minute particularity? Why must such and such things on ly be made, and they too of such precise materials and shape? Undoubtedly because the whole was intended to be of a typical character, shadowing the leading features of the gospel dispen, sation. Now as none but God could know all the things that were to be prefigured, so none but he could know how to adjust and designate them in the way

98 CHAPTER XXVI.baA OA |tains of fine twined linen and blue, MOREOVER, a thou shalt make and purple, and scarlet: with cheru

the tabernacle with ten cur bims of cunning work shalt thou 1.11.88.пoka ch! 36.800.88 make themsug to telst & 10 es 8.1dell.. ajal9229y 929dt le dtiw ti edem off

[graphic]

bon left 920 their

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

2 The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

3 The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and curtains were composed. Considering that the inner set of curtains here described was ornamented throughout with this splendid coloring and embroidery, we are on the whole strongly inclined to adopt the opinion of Bähr (Symbolik des Mosaischen Cultus, p. 64.), that no part of it hung on the outside of the structure, but that it served as an interior lining to both the outer and inner rooms of the Tabernacle. To say nothing of the fact that otherwise it is not easy to conceive why the linen curtains were not as much an 3 or tent as the goats' hair, it follows from the ordinary interpretation, that all that part of the beautiful embroidered work which fell outside of the walls was entirely concealed from view; that is to say, that out of 1120 square cubits of this exquisitely wrought tapestry, only 300, or the portion over-head were visible, leaving 820, or about three-fourths of the whole, entirely excluded from the eye, either within or without, except when the Tabernacle was taken down or set up; and then they would be exposed to the general gaze, which was equally abhorrent to the sacredness of their design. It may then be safely asked, whether this is probable? Would infinite wisdom have authorised such a superfluous expense of workmanship, such a prodigal waste of splendid imagery? Suppose this curtain-work, on the other hand, to be wholly suspended within the rooms, and the whole of the embroidery was or might be visible. And in accordance with this, we find that in the Temple, which was modelled after the Tabernacle, the figures of the Cherubim were carved on the inVOL. II. 11

other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

4 And thou shalt make loops of blue npon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another side walls all round about the Holy and Most Holy Place, 1 Kings, 6. 29. It is true indeed that this view of the subject requires us to suppose that these curtains were attached by some kind of fastenings to the upper extremity of the boards, after passing across and forming the roof; but as the separating vail, v. 32, was suspended from the pillars by means of hooks and loops, so nothing is easier than to imagine that a similar expedient was adopted here. The more the matter is considered, the more probable we think will this suggestion appear; although we have in the figure below represented the inner set of curtains as hanging without; but this is simply with a view to display the difference of their texture from that of the others.

2, 3. The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, &c. That is, about fourteen yards in breadth, and two in width. These ten curtains were to be formed into two separate hangings, five breadths in each, which were probably sewed together, while the two hangings were coupled by loops and golden clasps. With one of these large and gorgeous pieces of tapestry the Holy Place was covered, with whose dimensions it very exactly corresponded, and with the other the Most Holy. This was doubtless the reason of the twofold division. But as the Most Holy Place was only five yards long, there remained a surplus of five yards, which hung down on the west end of that room, being just sufficient to cover it.

4. And thou shalt make loops of blue. That is, of blue tape. These loops did not themselves interlace with each

« EdellinenJatka »