Exodus 37 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1446 BC by the traditional dating, or ~1260 BC by the later dating, during the stay at Sinai
Location
The workshops of the Israelite camp at the foot of Mount Sinai
Audience
The Israelites of the wilderness generation and their descendants, who used this record as the standard for the sanctuary's furnishings
Situation
Bezalel makes the chest that holds the covenant tablets, along with its gold lid flanked by two winged figures, and then the table for the sacred bread, the seven branched lampstand and the altar for burning incense. The chapter also records the mixing of the anointing oil and the fragrant incense.
Key Background
The winged figures on the lid, usually called cherubim, were not chubby infants but composite guardian creatures, close relatives of the winged sphinxes and lions carved on thrones across Syria and Canaan, and their outstretched wings form an empty seat where a statue of the god would sit in any neighbouring temple. That absence is the point, since Israel's sanctuary had no image of its God at its centre. Gold overlay on acacia wood, carrying poles fixed through rings, and lamp trimmers of gold all match the construction methods of high status Egyptian furniture recovered from tombs of the period.
Bezalel made the out of — it was three and three-quarter feet long, two and a quarter feet wide, and two and a quarter feet tall.
He covered it inside and out with pure gold, and made a gold border all the way around it.
He cast four gold rings for it and attached them to its four feet — two rings on one side and two rings on the other.
He made carrying poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold.
Then he slid the poles through the rings on the sides of the chest so it could be carried.
He made a of pure gold for the chest — three and three-quarter feet long and two and a quarter feet wide.
He made two out of hammered gold, placing them at the two ends of the cover.
One winged figure was at one end and one at the other. He made them as a single piece with the cover, one on each end.
The winged figures had their wings spread upward, sheltering the cover with their wings. They faced each other, looking down toward the cover.
He made the out of acacia wood — three feet long, a foot and a half wide, and two and a quarter feet tall.
He covered it with pure gold and made a gold border all the way around it.
He made a rim around it about three inches wide, with a gold border around the rim.
He cast four gold rings for the table and attached them at the four corners where the four legs were.
The rings were placed near the rim to hold the poles for carrying the table.
He made the carrying poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold — these were used to carry the table.
He also made the equipment that went on the table — the plates, the cups, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring out All of them were pure gold.
He made the out of pure gold. He hammered out its base and shaft from a single piece of gold. Its flower-shaped cups, buds, and blossoms were all part of one piece.
Six branches extended from its sides — three branches on one side and three on the other.
Each of the six branches had three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and a flower.
On the lampstand's central shaft there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its bud and flower.
There was a bud under the first pair of branches extending from the shaft, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair — six branches in all.
The buds and branches were all one piece with the lampstand — the whole thing was hammered out of a single piece of pure gold.
He made seven lamps for it, along with its wick trimmers and trays, all out of pure gold.
He used of pure gold to make the lampstand and all its equipment.
He made the out of acacia wood — it was a square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide, and three feet tall. Its were part of the same piece.
He covered the top, all the sides, and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold border all the way around it.
He made two gold rings and attached them below the border on two opposite sides to hold the carrying poles.
He made the poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold.
He also made the for and the pure, fragrant the work of a skilled