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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Exodus, Chapter XXXVIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E X O D U S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXVIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<P>
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Here is an account,
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I. Of the making of the brazen altar
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>),
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and the laver,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:8">ver. 8</A>.
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II. The preparing of the hangings for the enclosing of the court in
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which the tabernacle was to stand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:9-20">ver. 9-20</A>.
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III. A summary of the gold, silver, and brass, that was contributed to,
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and used in, the preparing of the tabernacle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:21-31">ver. 21</A>, &c.</P>
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<A NAME="Ex38_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Tabernacle and Its Furniture.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And he made the altar of burnt offering <I>of</I> shittim wood:
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five cubits <I>was</I> the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth
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thereof; <I>it was</I> foursquare; and three cubits the height
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thereof.
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2 And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the
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horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
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3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the
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shovels, and the basons, <I>and</I> the fleshhooks, and the firepans:
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all the vessels thereof made he <I>of</I> brass.
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4 And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network under the
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compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
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5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of
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brass, <I>to be</I> places for the staves.
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6 And he made the staves <I>of</I> shittim wood, and overlaid them
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with brass.
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7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the
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altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
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8 And he made the laver <I>of</I> brass, and the foot of it <I>of</I>
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brass, of the looking-glasses of <I>the women</I> assembling, which
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assembled <I>at</I> the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Bezaleel having finished the gold-work, which, though the richest, yet
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was ordered to lie most out of sight, in the tabernacle itself, here
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goes on to prepare the court, which lay open to the view of all. Two
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things the court was furnished with, and both made of brass:--</P>
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<P>
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I. An altar of burnt-offering,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:1-7"><I>v.</I> 1-7</A>.
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On this all their sacrifices were offered, and it was this which, being
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sanctified itself for this purpose by the divine appointment,
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sanctified the gift that was in faith offered on it. Christ was himself
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the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our
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sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering
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them, as God has in accepting them.</P>
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<P>
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II. A laver, to hold water for the priests to wash in when they went in
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to minister,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for
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the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit
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and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy
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duties. This is here said to be made of the <I>looking-glasses</I> (or
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mirrors) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle.</P>
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<P>
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1. It should seem these women were eminent and exemplary for devotion,
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attending more frequently and seriously at the place of public worship
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than others did; and notice is here taken of it to their honour. Anna
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was such a one long afterwards, who <I>departed not from the temple,
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but served God with fastings and prayers night and day,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:37">Luke ii. 37</A>.
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It seems in every age of the church there have been some who have thus
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distinguished themselves by their serious zealous piety, and they have
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thereby distinguished themselves; for devout women are really
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honourable women
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:50">Acts xiii. 50</A>),
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and not the less so for their being called, by the scoffers of the
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latter days, <I>silly women.</I> Probably these women were such as
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showed their zeal upon this occasion, by assisting in the work that was
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now going on for the service of the tabernacle. They assembled by
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<I>troops,</I> so the word is; a blessed sight, to see so many, and
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those so zealous and so unanimous, in this good work.</P>
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<P>
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2. These women parted with their mirrors (which were of the finest
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brass, burnished for that purpose) for the use of the tabernacle. Those
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women that admire their own beauty, are in love with their own shadow,
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and make the putting on of apparel their chief adorning by which they
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value and recommend themselves, can but ill spare their
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<I>looking-glasses;</I> yet these women offered <I>them</I> to God,
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either,
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(1.) In token of their repentance for the former abuse of them, to the
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support of their pride and vanity; now that they were convinced of
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their folly, and had devoted themselves to the service of God at the
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door of the tabernacle, they thus threw away that which, though lawful
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and useful in itself, yet had been an occasion of sin to them. Thus
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Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner, when she became a penitent wiped
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Christ's feet with her hair. Or,
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(2.) In token of their great zeal for the work of the tabernacle;
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rather than the workmen should want brass, or not have of the best,
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they would part with their mirrors, though they could not do well
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without them. God's service and glory must always be preferred by us
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before any satisfactions or accommodations of our own. Let us never
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complain of the want of that which we may honour God by parting
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with.</P>
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<P>
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3. These mirrors were used for the making of the laver. Either they
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were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but
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it is probable that the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides
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of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to
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wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots, to wash
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them clean. Note, In the washing of repentance, there is need of the
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looking-glass of self-examination. The word of God is a glass, in which
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we may see our own faces (see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:23">Jam. i. 23</A>);
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and with it we must compare our own hearts and lives, that, finding out
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our blemishes, we may wash with particular sorrow, and application of
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the blood of Christ to our souls. Usually the more particular we are in
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the confession of sin the more comfort we have in the sense of the
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pardon.</P>
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<A NAME="Ex38_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_20"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 And he made the court: on the south side southward the
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hangings of the court <I>were of</I> fine twined linen, an hundred
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cubits:
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10 Their pillars <I>were</I> twenty, and their brazen sockets
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twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets <I>were of</I>
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silver.
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11 And for the north side <I>the hangings were</I> an hundred
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cubits, their pillars <I>were</I> twenty, and their sockets of brass
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twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets <I>of</I> silver.
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12 And for the west side <I>were</I> hangings of fifty cubits, their
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pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and
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their fillets <I>of</I> silver.
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13 And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
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14 The hangings of the one side <I>of the gate were</I> fifteen
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cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
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15 And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and
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that hand, <I>were</I> hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars
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three, and their sockets three.
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16 All the hangings of the court round about <I>were</I> of fine
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twined linen.
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17 And the sockets for the pillars <I>were of</I> brass; the hooks
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of the pillars and their fillets <I>of</I> silver; and the overlaying
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of their chapiters <I>of</I> silver; and all the pillars of the court
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<I>were</I> filleted with silver.
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18 And the hanging for the gate of the court <I>was</I> needlework,
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<I>of</I> blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and
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twenty cubits <I>was</I> the length, and the height in the breadth
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<I>was</I> five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
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19 And their pillars <I>were</I> four, and their sockets <I>of</I> brass
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four; their hooks <I>of</I> silver, and the overlaying of their
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chapiters and their fillets <I>of</I> silver.
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20 And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round
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about, <I>were of</I> brass.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The walls of the court, or church-yard, were like the rest curtains or
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hangings, made according to the appointment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+27:9-19"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 9</A>,
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&c. This represented the state of the Old-Testament church: it was a
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garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little
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compass. But the enclosure being of curtains only intimated that the
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confinement of the church in one particular nation was not to be
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perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle-dispensation,
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movable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up,
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when the place of the tent should be enlarged and its cords lengthened,
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to make room for the Gentile world, as is foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:2,3">Isa. liv. 2, 3</A>.
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The church here on earth is but the court of God's house, and happy
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they that tread these courts and flourish in them; but through these
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courts we are passing to the holy place above. <I>Blessed are those
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that dwell in that house</I> of God: they well be <I>still praising
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him.</I> The enclosing of a court before the tabernacle teaches us a
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gradual approach to God. The priests that ministered must pass through
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the holy court, before they entered the holy house. Thus before solemn
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ordinances there ought to be the separated and enclosed court of a
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solemn preparation, in which we must wash our hands, and so draw near
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with a true heart.</P>
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<A NAME="Ex38_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex38_31"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>21 This is the sum of the tabernacle, <I>even</I> of the tabernacle
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of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of
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Moses, <I>for</I> the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar,
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son to Aaron the priest.
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22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of
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Judah, made all that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded Moses.
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23 And with him <I>was</I> Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe
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of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in
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blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
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24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work
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of the holy <I>place,</I> even the gold of the offering, was twenty
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and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the
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shekel of the sanctuary.
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25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the
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congregation <I>was</I> an hundred talents, and a thousand seven
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hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of
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the sanctuary:
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26 A bekah for every man, <I>that is,</I> half a shekel, after the
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shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered,
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from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and
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three thousand and five hundred and fifty <I>men.</I>
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27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets
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of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets
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of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
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28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels
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he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and
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filleted them.
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29 And the brass of the offering <I>was</I> seventy talents, and two
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thousand and four hundred shekels.
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30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the
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tabernacle of the congregation, and the brazen altar, and the
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brazen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
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31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of
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the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the
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pins of the court round about.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have a breviat of the account which, by Moses's appointment,
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the Levites took and kept of the gold, silver, and brass, that was
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brought in for the tabernacle's use, and how it was employed. Ithamar
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the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account, and was thus by
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less services trained up and fitted for greater,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
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Bezaleel and Aholiab must bring in the account
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>),
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and Ithamar must audit it, and give it in to Moses. And it was
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thus:--
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1. All the gold was a free-will offering; every man brought as he
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could and would, and it amounted to twenty-nine talents, and 730
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shekels over, which some compute to be about 150,000<I>l.</I> worth of
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gold, according to the present value of it. Of this were made all the
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golden furniture and vessels.
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2. The silver was levied by way of tax; every man was assessed half a
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shekel, a kind of poll-money, which amounted in the whole to 100
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talents, and 1775 shekels over,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
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Of this they made the sockets into which the boards of the tabernacle
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were let, and on which they rested; so that they were as the foundation
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of the tabernacle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+38:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
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The silver amounted to about 34,000<I>l.</I> of our money. The raising
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of the gold by voluntary contribution, and of the silver by way of
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tribute, shows that either way may be taken for the defraying of public
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expenses, provided that nothing be done with partiality.
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3. The brass, though less valuable, was of use not only for the brazen
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altar, but for the sockets of the court, which probably in other tents
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were of wood: but it is promised
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+60:17">Isa. lx. 17</A>),
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<I>For wood I will bring brass.</I> See how liberal the people were and
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how faithful the workmen were, in both which respects their good
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example ought to be followed.</P>
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<!-- (End Body) -->
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR>
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC02037.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC02039.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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</TABLE>
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<HR>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR>
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<TD ALIGN="CENTER" VALIGN="BOTTOM">
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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