Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Exodus · About this commentary
More Than Enough
Exodus 35:1-29
1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them, “These are the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them. · WEB
Building begins with the Sabbath command and continues with an offering that has to be stopped.
Moses assembled all the congregation... "These are the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them." "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you" Exodus 35:1–2.
The first word spoken to the assembled nation before a single material is collected is the Sabbath command. The instructions on the mountain ended with it Exodus 31:13; the construction opens with it. Whatever the tabernacle was for, it was never to be built at the cost of the day.
They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing Exodus 35:21.
The qualification from chapter twenty-five holds. Nothing is levied, and the giving is described four times in this paragraph by the state of the giver's heart rather than the size of the gift. Both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted Exodus 35:22 — brooches, earrings, signet rings and armlets, which is the same personal gold that went into the calf, brought this time to a different use.
All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun Exodus 35:25. The skilled work is not only the named men's. Women spin the blue, purple, scarlet and linen, and others the goats' hair for the outer covering — the least glamorous material in the tent, made by people the record names only as those whose heart stirred them up in wisdom Exodus 35:26.
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