Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:23
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.
(Compare Exo 37:10-16.) The table and the candlestick figured on the Arch of Titus at Rome are those of the Maccabaean times, but made as nearly as possible after the ancient models reproduced under the direction of Solomon and Zerubbabel. The details and size of the figure, and the description of Josephus, appear to agree very nearly with the directions here given to Moses, and to illustrate them in several particulars. Josephus says that the table was like the so-called Delphic tables, richly ornamented pieces of furniture in use amongst the Romans, which were sometimes, if not always, covered with gold or silver.
Exo 25:24
See Exo 25:11 note. The moulding of the table is still seen at the ends of the sculptured figure.
Exo 25:25
A border – Rather a framing, which reached from leg to leg so as to make the table firm, as well as to adorn it with a second moulding of gold. Two fragments of such framing are still seen in the sculpture attached to the legs halfway down.
Exo 25:27
Over against the border – Rather, Over against the framing; that is, the rings were to be placed not upon the framing itself, but at the extremities of the legs answering to each corner of it.
Exo 25:29
Dishes – deep vessels like bowls, similar to the large silver vessels (or chargers) which were filled with fine flour, and formed part of the offerings of the Princes of Israel (Num 7:13 following).
Spoons – Rather, the small gold cups that were filled with frankincense in the offerings of the Princes Num 7:14, and represented on the table in the sculpture.
Covers … bowls – Or flagons and chalices, such as were used for the rite of the drink offering, which appears to have regularly accompanied every Meat offering (Lev 23:18; Num 6:15; Num 28:14, etc.). The subject is important in its bearing upon the meaning of the showbread: the corrected rendering of the words tends to show that it was a true Meat offering.
To cover withal – See the margin. The first part of the verse might be better rendered: And thou shalt make its bowls and its incense-cups and its flagons and its chalices for pouring out the drink offerings.
Exo 25:30
The showbread table was placed in the holy place on the north side Exo 26:35. Directions for preparing the showbread are given in Lev 24:5-9. It consisted of twelve large cakes of unleavened bread, which were arranged on the table in two piles, with a golden cup of frankincense on each pile. It was renewed every Sabbath day. The stale loaves were given to the priests, and the frankincense appears to have been lighted on the altar for a memorial. The showbread, with all the characteristics and significance of a great national Meat offering, in which the twelve tribes were represented by the twelve cakes, was to stand before Yahweh perpetually, in token that He was always graciously accepting the good works of His people, for whom atonement had been made by the victims offered on the altar in the court of the sanctuary. The showbread or bread which is set forth would be more fairly rendered bread of the presence. See the notes at Lev 24:5-9.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 25:23-30
Set upon the table shewbread.
The table of shewbread
I. The first lesson we learn here is taught us by the nature of the bread upon the table. This we know, on the very best authority, was a symbol of Christ. Jesus taught us this distinctly and clearly when He said, I am the Bread of Life. That bread upon the table points to Jesus. How apt a type, or emblem of Him, it was! The bread was a prepared substance. A compound substance. A necessary substance. As suitable as necessary.
II. Our second lesson is furnished by observing the way in which this bread was manifested. Two things were required to this end, viz., the light which shone from the golden candlestick, and the table to lift up, or elevate the bread so that it could be distinctly seen. If the candlestick were not lighted, and casting forth its illuminating beams, the bread might be upon the table, but darkness would envelope it. The officiating priest could never see it. And so it is only the light of revelation, the illuminating influence of the Holy Ghost, which can make manifest Christ, the true bread from heaven, to the souls of famishing sinners.
III. The third lesson it teaches us is suggested by the abundance of the supply placed upon it. The table bore twelve loaves. There was one for each of the tribes. No part of Gods family was overlooked, or neglected, in the symbolical provision thus made for their necessities. And what was true, in this respect, of the symbol, is equally true of the thing symbolized. Jesus, whom the bread upon the golden table represented, is an infinite Saviour. The resources of His sufficiency are exhaustless.
IV. We are taught a lesson by the time for the renewing of the bread upon it. By an ordinance of God this was always to be done upon the Sabbath. Thus God would put honour upon the Sabbath, and associate it, in the minds of His people, with the thought of obtaining the supply of their spiritual necessities.
V. We learn a lesson from the continual freshness of the bread set out upon it. Christ never grows old. His people are often weary of other things; they grow weary of themselves–weary of their sins and sorrows, and weary of the world and its vanities–but they never, never grow weary of Jesus. Having once eaten of the bread which He gives, which He constitutes, it is literally true that they never hunger for the husks the world can offer.
VI. We gather our sixth and last lesson from the covering of frankincense which we see spread out over the top of the bread. When we remember that these loaves were a figure of Christ, and that frankincense is a token of that which is pleasing, or grateful, we seem to have exhibited, in beautiful symbol before us, the acceptableness of Christ and His work to the Father. (R. Newton, D.D.)
The table in Gods house
Table, gives us the idea of fellowship, social intercourse, friendship, satisfaction; all which we find in the house of God. Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. What a sacred privilege it is to eat bread in the presence of God. And not only to eat in His presence, but to eat the Presence Bread. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy. At Gods table there is social intercourse. The saints commune one with another and all commune with God. We are all partakers of that one bread. Sweet is the intercourse of God with His people at the table of His grace. It is a proof of friendship. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. Here we find sacred satisfaction. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. There is no stint where God is the host. In His house there is bread enough and to spare. He fills our cup to overflowing with consolation, and with joy. Those who dwell in Gods house will never come to an empty table, nor find God absent from His throne of mercy. Surely goodness–to supply my wants–and mercy,–to pardon my sins–shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (R. E. Sears.)
The tables of grace and glory
The incorruptible wood may be an emblem of grace, the gold an emblem of glory. Gods table on earth is the table of His grace. His table in the heavenly world is the table of His glory. If we are guests at the table of grace, we shall be entertained at the table of glory. Grace is glory began. Glory is grace perfected. Grace is the earnest of our inheritance. Glory is the possession of the estate. By grace we are prepared for glory. When the work of grace is completed, we shall hear the welcome, Come up higher. By faith we sit at the table of grace. At the table of glory faith will be changed to sight. Both tables are furnished with the same provision. Christ the true Bread of Life is the spiritual food of the believer on earth: and in heaven we shall eat the same Divine celestial Bread. The Bread of God is the nourishment of the spiritual life; and it is the joy of the eternal life. (R. E. Sears.)
The table of shewbread
Made of acacia wood, and plated with gold, it was three feet long, one foot and six inches wide, two feet and three inches high. Around its verge was an ornamental cincture of solid gold, similar to that which adorned the ark. Beneath this was a border of wood four inches and a half wide, plated, of course, with gold, and adorned with another crown of gold. The table was furnished with golden rings at the corners, and with staves which were put through these rings when the table was to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites, but removed when the tabernacle had been erected in a new encampment, and the bearers had deposited their burden in its appointed position. The rings were attached at the same height as the wooden border; but the specifications do not intimate how far above the ground this was affixed. (E. E. Atwater.)
The shewbread, etc
.:–The table was furnished with two dishes for bread, two for frankincense, and probably two for wine. Twelve flat loaves of bread in two piles, constantly stood on it, fresh loaves being brought every Sabbath, and the loaves which were removed being eaten by the priests only. The number of the loaves doubtless indicates that the whole covenant people, the twelve tribes of Israel, were to participate in this offering to their covenant God. On the top of each pile was a dish of frankincense, and near by were cups of wine, as seems probable from the description of the dishes as suitable to pour with (Exo 25:29 margin). The Septuagint calls them bowls and cups; and the Jewish tradition is, that they contained wine for a libation or drink-offering, such as accompanied every food-offering at the altar in the court. The table of shewbread was in some sense an altar, being the appointed place where certain offerings to Jehovah were to be placed before Him. The materials of these sacrifices were the same as those of the food-offerings and drink-offerings in the court. Corn and wine, or bread and wine, being the product of the life-work of the Hebrews, represented, in the symbolism of the Tabernacle, the fruit of work in the higher sphere where one labours not for perishable food, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. This is the true bread from heaven of which wheat, manna, and other kinds of food, are figures; it is not only the life-product of those who have been born again, but their chief enjoyment, the sufficient reward of all their labour. Knowing, however, that God has even more desire for the sanctification of His people than they themselves have, they wish Him to enjoy with them the fruits of this spiritual husbandry. It is this fellowship of God with His people in the enjoyment of their sanctification which the shewbread represents. (E. E. Atwater.)
Significance of the golden table
May not the golden table point to the abundant supply of good things prepared in the heavenly temple, for all those whom Christ will make kings and priests unto God for ever? There a table is spread before His face, that is continually furnished with new wine and heavenly manna, with which the ransomed of the Lord will be refreshed, and made glad: In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (W. Brown.)
The shewbread
The bread was made of fine flour (Lev 24:5-9), and was unleavened. Twelve cakes, in piles of six each, always stood on the table; hence it was called the perpetual bread. It was also named the bread arranged in order, the meaning of which is obvious. Its more significant name we will notice presently. On the top of each pile was placed frankincense, probably in the cups we have spoken of. It is thought by some that this frankincense was burned once a week, when the bread was being renewed; and by others that it was ever burning, which does not appear very likely, as the quantity consumed would be very great; but there may have been some means by which it was very slowly consumed, and kept always burning; in that case the holy place would be ever fragrant. The bread was called the shewbread (Hebrew, bread of faces, or presence bread) because it was before the symbol of Gods presence–the veil only intervening. The bread was renewed every Sabbath by fresh loaves; those which were removed belonged to the priests, and could be eaten only by them, and in the holy place and nowhere else. All thank-offerings were holy–this one was peculiarly so: It is most holy unto Him of the offerings made by fire. (Lev 24:9). Only the shewbread and the incense offerings were presented in the holy place; all the other offerings were brought to the brazen altar in the court. The ceremonies connected with all the sacrifices were soon over, except in the case of the shewbread, which was a ceaseless offering. The bread was ever on the table before the Lord. (W. Brown.)
The shewbread
This bread was made of fine flour. Fine flour is bread-corn which has been bruised until it is smooth and even. Christ is the bread-corn bruised, and in Him there is no roughhess or unevenness. In us there is much unevenness; we are soft and smooth one day, and changed and rough the next. But it was not so with Christ. The circumstances in which He was placed were ever changing, yet He remained always the same–unchanged and unchangeable. Leaven is the emblem of evil: it is a corrupt and a corrupting thing (Mat 16:6-12; Mar 8:15; Luk 12:1; 1Co 5:6-8; Gal 5:9). Christ was before God during the whole of His life, as the bread was before God in the Tabernacle seven days. The number seven is the symbol of perfection; it is a complete period. And as God discovered no leaven in the bread during the time it was before Him on the table, so He found no evil in Jesus during His life on earth; and as the bread was taken from the table and given to the priests, so Christ is given to the saints, the spiritual priests, that they may live on Him. He is our food, our daily bread. And as we must have bread every day on our tables, whatever else of sweet or savoury food we may have beside, so we must have Christ to feed upon every day. We may have many other things and many other friends, but we cannot do without Christ. No one can be healthy and strong who does not get good food; and no soul can be truly healthy that does not feed on Jesus Christ. To eat a book is to consider it well, and to eat the flesh and to drink the blood of Christ is to consider Him with faith and love; it is to receive Him into the heart. This is the soul-refreshing, soul-satisfying, and imperishable food of the Fathers house. Feeding on this blessed food will keep us from longing after the husks that swine feed on. In Christ God has provided a feast for fainting and famishing souls; and hungry souls thankfully receive Him, but others turn away. None but priests could feed on this bread (Mat 12:4; Mar 2:26). And a man must now be a priest before he can enter into the true Tabernacle and eat the food of the Fathers house. Not even the priests could eat the shewbread outside of the Tabernacle: they must eat it in the holy place (Lev 24:9). So a man must be holy to find full enjoyment in Christ. Happiness and holiness are twin sisters, and they travel side by side: they are never separated, so you cannot have one without the other. The more we feast on this heavenly bread, the holier and happier we must become. Eating and drinking are acts which one cannot perform for another. The food may be very good, but it does not minister strength and nourishment to my body till I eat it; by this act I make it my own. So we must receive Christ by faith, receive Him for ourselves. (G. Rodgers.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood] The same wood, the acacia, of which the arkstaves, c., were made. On the subject of the ark, table of shew-bread, c., Dr. Cudworth, in his very learned and excellent treatise on the Lord’s Supper, has the following remarks:-
“When God had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, resolving to manifest himself in a peculiar manner present among them, he thought good to dwell amongst them in a visible and external manner and therefore, while they were in the wilderness, and sojourned in tents, he would have a tent or tabernacle built to sojourn with them also. This mystery of the tabernacle was fully understood by the learned Nachmanides, who, in few words, but pregnant, expresseth himself to this purpose: ‘The mystery of the tabernacle was this, that it was to be a place for the shechinah, or habitation of Divinity, to be fixed in’ and this, no doubt, as a special type of God’s future dwelling in Christ’s human nature, which was the TRUE SHECHINAH: but when the Jews were come into their land, and had there built them houses, God intended to have a fixed dwelling-house also; and therefore his movable tabernacle was to be turned into a standing temple. Now the tabernacle or temple, being thus as a house for God to dwell in visibly, to make up the notion of dwelling or habitation complete there must be all things suitable to a house belonging to it; hence, in the holy place, there must be a table, and a candlestick, because this was the ordinary furniture of a room, as the fore-commended Nachmanides observes. The table must have its dishes, and spoons, and bowls, and covers belonging to it, though they were never used; and always be furnished with bread upon it. The candlestick must have its lamps continually burning. Hence also there must be a continual fire kept in this house of God upon the altar, as the focus of it; to which notion I conceive the Prophet Isaiah doth allude, Isa 31:9: Whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem; and besides all this, to carry the notion still farther, there must be some constant meat and provision brought into this house; which was done in the sacrifices that were partly consumed by fire upon God’s own altar, and partly eaten by the priests, who were God’s family, and therefore to be maintained by him. That which was consumed upon God’s altar was accounted God’s mess, as appeareth from Mal 1:12, where the altar is called God’s table, and the sacrifice upon it, God’s meat: Ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even HIS MEAT, is contemptible. And often, in the law, the sacrifice is called God’s lechem, i.e., his bread or food. Wherefore it is farther observable, that besides the flesh of the beast offered up in sacrifice, there was a minchah, i.e., a meat-offering, or rather bread-offering, made of flour and oil; and a libamen or drink-offering, which was always joined with the daily sacrifice, as the bread and drink which was to go along with God’s meat. It was also strictly commanded that there should be salt in every sacrifice and oblation, because all meat is unsavoury without salt, as Nachmanides hath here also well observed; ‘because it was not honourable that God’s meat should be unsavoury, without salt.’ Lastly, all these things were to be consumed on the altar only by the holy fire which came down from heaven, because they were God’s portion, and therefore to be eaten or consumed by himself in an extraordinary manner.” See Clarke on Ex 25:22.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
23. table of shittim woodofthe same material and decorations as the ark [see on Ex25:5], and like it, too, furnished with rings for the poles onwhich it was carried [Ex 25:26].The staves, however, were taken out of it when stationary, in ordernot to encumber the priests while engaged in their services at thetable. It was half a cubit less than the ark in length and breadth,but of the same height. [See on Ex25:10.]
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood,…. As the sanctuary or tabernacle was an house for God to dwell in, he would have the proper furniture of an house, as a table, candlestick, c. This table was to be in the same place with the ark and mercy seat they were set in the holy of holies, where there were nothing else; but this in the holy place, on the north side of it, Ex 26:35 its principal use was to set the shewbread on, as after mentioned, and was typical of Christ, and communion with him, both in this life, and that to come. There is the table of the Lord, to which his people are now admitted, where he sits down with them, and they with him, to have fellowship with him in the ministration of the word and ordinances, of which he is the sum and substance; and this is very desirable and delightful, and an instance of his condescending grace, So 1:12, and he will have a table in his kingdom hereafter, where his saints shall eat and drink with him, in which their chief happiness will consist,
Lu 22:30 This table may be considered as typical of Christ himself, for he is both table and provisions and everything to his people; and of him in both his natures; in his human nature, it being made of shittim wood, incorruptible; for though Christ died in, that nature, yet he saw no corruption, he rose again and lives for evermore; in his divine nature, by the gold it was covered with:
two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof; it was two Jewish square cubits in length, which are about six English square feet and above half, viz. ninety four inches, according to Bishop Cumberland t. It was neither so long nor so broad as the ark by half a cubit, but was of the same height with it, being about thirty two inches high and three quarters, according to the Jewish and Egyptian cubit, which was about twenty one inches and more and was a proper height for a table; and this measure, no doubt, takes in the thickness of the table, and the height of the seat, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe.
t Ut supra. (Of Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 2. p. 34, 36.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Table of Shew-Bread (cf. Exo 37:10-16). – The table for the shew-bread (Exo 25:30) was to be made of acacia-wood, two cubits long, one broad, and one and a half high, and to be plated with pure gold, having a golden wreath round, and a “ finish ( ) of a hand-breadth round about, ” i.e., a border of a hand-breadth in depth surrounding and enclosing the four sides, upon which the top of the table was laid, and into the four corners of which the feet of the table were inserted. A golden wreath was to be placed round this rim. As there is no article attached to in Exo 25:25 (cf. Exo 37:12), so as to connect it with the in Exo 25:24, we must conclude that there were two such ornamental wreaths, one round the slab of the table, the other round the rim which was under the slab. At the four corners of the four feet, near the point at which they joined the rim, four rings were to be fastened for , i.e., to hold the poles with which the table was carried, as in the case of the ark.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23 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. 24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25 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. 26 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. 27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. 29 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. 30 And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me alway.
Here is, 1. A table ordered to be made of wood overlaid with gold, which was to stand, not in the holy of holies (nothing was in that but the ark with its appurtenances), but in the outer part of the tabernacle, called the sanctuary, or holy place,Heb 9:2; Heb 9:23, c. There must also be the usual furniture of the sideboard, dishes and spoons, &c., and all of gold, <i>v. 29. 2. This table was to be always spread, and furnished with the show-bread (v. 30), or bread of faces, twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set in two rows, six in a row; see the law concerning them, Lev. xxiv. 5, c. The tabernacle being God’s house, in which he was pleased to say that he would dwell among them, he would show that he kept a good house. In the royal palace it was fit that there should be a royal table. Some make the twelve loaves to represent the twelve tribes, set before God as his people and the corn of his floor, as they are called, Isa. xxi. 10. As the ark signified God’s being present with them, so the twelve loaves signified their being presented to God. This bread was designed to be, (1.) A thankful acknowledgement of God’s goodness to them, in giving them their daily bread, manna in the wilderness, where he prepared a table for them, and, in Canaan, the corn of the land. Hereby they owned their dependence upon Providence, not only for the corn in the field, which they gave thanks for in offering the sheaf of first-fruits, but for the bread in their houses, that, when it was brought home, God did not blow upon it, Hag. i. 9. Christ has taught us to pray every day for the bread of the day. (2.) A token of their communion with God. This bread on God’s table being made of the same corn with the bread on their own tables, God and Israel did, as it were, eat together, as a pledge of friendship and fellowship he supped with them, and they with him. (3.) A type of the spiritual provision which is made in the church, by the gospel of Christ, for all that are made priests to our God. In our Father’s house there is bread enough and to spare, a loaf for every tribe. All that attend in God’s house shall be abundantly satisfied with the goodness of it, Ps. xxxvi. 8. Divine consolations are the continual feast of holy souls, notwithstanding there are those to whom the table of the Lord, and the meat thereof (because it is plain bread), are contemptible, Mal. i. 12. Christ has a table in his kingdom, at which all his saints shall for every eat and drink with him, Luke xxii. 30.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 23-30:
The “Table of Showbread”, lit. “bread of presence,” the table upon which twelve loaves of unleavened bread were kept continually, as a perpetual thank offering to Jehovah. The table was 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. It was made of acadia wood, overlaid with pure gold. A “crown” or molding of gold was about the top edge. The “border” was evidently a band or framing about three or four inches wide, about half-way down the legs of the table uniting them and giving them stability.
Gold rings were placed at each corner of the table, in which were placed wooden staves overlaid with gold. These were used to transport the table.
The “dishes” were likely bowls or platters upon which the bread was placed.
“Spoons” Kaph, “a hollow object, dish, pan.” These were “incense cups,” small pots, in which the incense was burned which was offered with the bread, (Le 24:5).
“Cover. . .bowls,” flagons and chalices, which were used for the drink offerings or libations at the meal.
The table was to have twelve loaves of bread, renewed each week on the Sabbath (Le 24:5-8). The old loaves were then food for the priests.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. Thou shalt also make a table. The sentiment of a certain ancient bishop (134) is deservedly praised, who, when he sold the sacred vessels in the time of a famine, to relieve the distress of the poor, thus excused himself to the Church: “Our God, who does not eat or drink, has no need of patens and chalices;” and yet this seems little in accordance with this His command, that bread should be offered to Him. I answer, that if, under that pretext, the bishop had stripped the sacred table of its ornaments under the Law, he would have spoken unseasonably, what, under the Gospel, he spoke piously and wisely; because at the coming of Christ the shadows of the Law ceased. But God would then have the loaves, which were offered to Him, deposited among the golden dishes and censers, and spoons placed with them, not that He had need of meat and drink, but that He might prescribe the duty of temperance to His people, by deigning to have His table among them; for, when they ate of the same wheat, of which the sacred loaves were made, they were reminded by that symbol that their meat and drink was to be taken, as if they sat before God, and were His guests. Finally, they were taught that the food, by which man’s life is sustained, is in a manner sacred to God; that thus they might be contented with simple and sober food, and might not profane the things which were dedicated to His service. Although, therefore, this offering might appear to be gross and rude, yet it had a just object, i.e., that believers might acknowledge that God presided over their tables, because the loaves were presented in the temple before God in the name of all the people. The same was the intention of the first-fruits, in which the produce of the whole year was consecrated; that even in their feasts they might cherish a recollection of God, who fed them as a father does his children. They are called “the bread of faces” (135) by Moses, because they always appeared before God, in which sense the Greeks called them the bread προθέσεως, because they were always in His presence; for it was not permitted them to remove the precious offering, until others were substituted in their place. I now pass over many points, because what I now omit will soon have to be treated of.
(134) This was Acacius, bishop of Amida, who sold the treasures of the Church for the redemption of 7000 Persian slaves, who were perishing by famine in the hands of some Roman soldiers. Vide Socrates, lib. 7-121, quoted in Bingham, book 5-100; 6-6 ̔Ο Θεός ἡμῶν ὔτε δίσκων ὄυτε ποτηρίων χρὠβει· οὔτε γὰρ ἐσθίει, ὔτε πίνει, ἐπεὶ μὴ προσδεής ἐστιν, seem to be the words referred to by C
(135) A.V., shew-bread. “ In Hebrew called bread of faces or presence; because they were to be set before the face, or in the presence of God continually. The Hebrew doctors give also another reason, because every cake was made square, and so had as it were many faces.” — Ainsworth, in loco.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Of shittim wood.See the last Note on Exo. 25:5. No other wood was to be employed, either for the sanctuary itself, or for its furniture.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD.
(23-30) Thou shalt also make a table.The ark and mercy seat, which covered it, constituted the entire furniture of the inner sanctuary, or Holy of Holies (Exo. 40:20-21). When this had been shown to Moses the next thing to be done was to set before him the furniture of the outer sanctuary, or holy place. This consisted of three articles(1) The table of shewbread, described in the present passage; (2) the golden candlestick, described in Exo. 25:31-40; and (3) the altar of incense, described in Exo. 30:1-10. The table of shewbread was a receptacle for the twelve loaves, which were to be set continually before the Lord (Lev. 24:8) as a thank-offering on the part of His peoplea perpetual acknowledgment of His perpetual protection and favour. It was to be just large enough to contain the twelve loaves, set in two rows, being a yard long, and a foot and a-half broad. The vessels belonging to the table (Exo. 25:29) were not placed on it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE TABLE OF SHOWBREAD, Exo 25:23-30.
23. Two cubits While the height of it was to be the same as that of the ark, (Exo 25:10,) the length and breadth were each half a cubit less . The form is represented in the adjoining cut .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Table of Showbread and the Seven-branched Lampstand ( Exo 25:23-40 ).
This Table and Lampstand were a perpetual reminder of Yahweh’s provision for His people, and especially of His gifts of bread, and of life and light, and could be seen as a constant appeal to Him (through their maintenance) to continue their supply. But the primary significance of the lampstand was as reminding Israel that He was their light. Yahweh made His face to shine on them (Num 6:25). Yet they were within the Holy Place lest any think that His blessings could be obtained lightly. Light and life were available to Israel, available to those whose hearts were right towards Him, when they approached Him sincerely in the way that He ordained.
Thus when Jesus came He came offering Himself as the Bread of life (Joh 6:35) and the Light of life (Joh 8:12). The blessing symbolised in the Tabernacle became a reality in Him, to be enjoyed by those who became the Temple of His Holy Spirit (2Co 6:16-18). On Him they would feed spiritually and from Him they would receive understanding and truth.
This passage may be analysed as follows:
a The making of the table of acacia wood covered with gold (Exo 25:23-24).
b The making of a border and golden rim round about (Exo 25:25).
c The making of four rings of gold to put on the four feet at its corners placed so as to take the carrying staves (Exo 25:26-27)
c The making of four staves of acacia wood made with gold for the carrying of the table (Exo 25:28).
b The making of vessels of pure gold for use on the table (Exo 25:29).
a The showbread to be set on the table before Yahweh always (Exo 25:30).
We note that in ‘a’ the table is constructed which is worthy of the Sanctuary, and in the parallel the showbread is to be set on it before Yahweh for ever. In ‘b’ the making of the border and golden rim for keeping the vessels on the table are described, and in the parallel the vessels of gold are themselves described. And in ‘c’ we have the golden rings for making the staves, and in the parallel the making of the staves.
Exo 25:23
“And you shall make a table of acacia wood, its length will be two cubits and its breadth one cubit and its height one and a half cubits.
The table is to measure approximately a metre (or three feet) long, by half a metre (or eighteen inches) wide, by three quarters of a metre (two foot three inches) deep. Its purpose is to carry the showbread.
Exo 25:24-25
“And you shall overlay it with pure gold and make on it a moulding of gold round about, and you will make it to a handbreadth round about and you shall make a moulding of gold to its border round about.”
“Overlay it with pure gold.” The result of the ‘spoiling’ of the Egyptians (Exo 12:35-36) was now being used to good effect. The gold demonstrated the majesty of God and the holiness of the purpose of the table.
The moulding of gold round about (Exo 25:24) is described, in the form known to him, by Josephus, a Jewish historian in 1st century AD, in these words, ‘it was hollowed out on each side to a depth of about three inches, a spiral border running round the upper and lower portion of the body of the table’. But that may not describe accurately the original table. The main point is that it was not plain but decorated, demonstrating God’s care for detail and beauty.
There is some doubt as to the meaning of Exo 25:25, although it would no doubt be quite clear at the time. (Compare how a modern carpenter might speak of ‘a piece of four by two’. Everyone now would know what he meant but in two centuries time it might be a total mystery, and they might say ‘something must have dropped out from the text’. We can imagine the fun commentators might have with it). Some see it as meaning that an eight centimetre moulding went round the top of the table going upwards as a rim, others as signifying an eight centimetre wide horizontal border, and others as eight centimetre wide cross-struts between the legs of the table. The last seems to have been the interpretation put on it when the table was made for Herod’s Temple. RSV takes this view and translates, ‘and you shall make around it a frame a handbreadth wide, and a moulding of gold around the frame’.
Exo 25:26-27
“And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four legs. The rings will be close by the border (or frame), for places for the staves to bear the table.”
The rings are either attached half way down (by the frame) or near the top (by the border). They are to take the staves with which the table will be carried.
Exo 25:28
“And you will make the staves of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.”
The staves are similar to those that bear the Ark (Exo 25:13). The wood provided the strength, the gold their uniqueness, as expressing appreciation of God and as symbols of His holiness.
Exo 25:29
“And you shall make its plates and its dishes, and its flagons and its bowls with which to pour out, you shall make them of pure gold.
All is made of pure gold as befits the God of all the earth. The plates were for carrying the showbread, the dishes for carrying incense, the flagons and bowls for pouring out libations (see also Exo 38:16).
Exo 25:30
“And on the table you shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) before me always.”
The ‘bread of the Presence’ or showbread is literally ‘bread of the face’, that is bread set before the face or presence of God. It consisted of twelve very large baked cakes made of fine flour each containing two tenths of an ephah (Lev 24:5). They were set on the table in two rows, six to a row. Frankincense was then placed on them ‘as a memorial’ and this was then offered by fire to Yahweh (Lev 24:7). This and the bread were seen as ‘the most holy to Him of the offerings by fire to Yahweh’, the frankincense being burned for Yahweh and the bread being eaten by the priests (Lev 24:9). This demonstrates the huge importance of the showbread. New showbread was baked every sabbath and the old was then eaten by the priests in the holy place because the cakes were ‘most holy’ (Lev 24:8-9). Certainly later it was unleavened bread (according to Josephus).
The significance of the showbread is never explained, although it is stated to be for an everlasting covenant on behalf of the children of Israel (Lev 24:8). This may confirm their connection with the everlasting covenant of Gen 9:16 which guaranteed the rain that provided bread. It also confirms that the number twelve relates to the number of the tribes of Israel. Compare for the everlasting covenant Gen 9:16; Gen 17:7; Gen 17:9; Gen 17:13 where the everlasting covenant guarantees the seasons for ever, with resulting fruitfulness; promises the land as an everlasting possession, and assures them that the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be His for ever and He will be their God. It would seem therefore that the twelve loaves represent the twelve tribes of Israel before God, as the twelve pillars did previously (Exo 24:4), keeping them ever before His face that He might show His love towards them, and in their eyes ‘reminding’ Him of His covenant with them, and of their need for bread.
But we are also reminded that Abram set bread before Yahweh (Gen 18:5). They are thus also an indication of Israel’s welcome to Yahweh in His house. They continually signify the welcoming by the twelve tribes of His presence.
But the fact that the bread was eaten by the priests further suggests it has a God to man significance. While it is probable that they were to be seen as a continual offering of thanksgiving to God for food provided and a reminder (memorial) to God of His promise of provision, they were also a reminder to Israel of the food God put in their mouths, that the daily bread that they ate came from God. That it was given to them from God.
Thus Jesus will have these loaves in mind when He speaks of Himself as ‘the bread of life’ (Joh 6:35). Jesus is the One on Whom we must continually feed by constant faith (Joh 6:53-55). He who ‘eats’ of Him (by believing) will live because of Him (Joh 6:57)). It is also called ‘holy bread’ (1Sa 21:4; 1Sa 21:6), ‘continual bread’ (Num 4:7) and ‘bread of setting out (or layering)’ (1Ch 9:32; 1Ch 23:29 ; 2Ch 13:11; Neh 10:34).
The setting of bread before gods was common practise elsewhere and the Assyrians at least placed twelve loaves before their gods which were associated with the twelve signs of the zodiac. Consider also the cakes kneaded for the Queen of heaven (Jer 7:18). In the apocryphal story of Bel and the Dragon food was set before the god and supposed to be eaten by him, although the eating was done secretly by the priests (Exo 1:11-13). Israel reinterpreted the practise and removed the dishonesty. There is no suggestion that the loaves were to be eaten by Yahweh. They were eaten by the priests.
“Always.” This practise was to be maintained in perpetuity. The bread of the presence must never cease before God as long as Israel never ceased before Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Table for the Showbread
v. 23. Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood; two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, v. 24. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about, v. 25. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an handbreadth round about, v. 26. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, v. 27. Over against the border, v. 28. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, v. 29. And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, v. 30. And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me alway,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE TABLE OF SHEW–BREAD. From the description of the ark, which constituted the sole furniture of the most holy place, God proceeded to describe the furniture of the holy place, or body of the tabernacle, which was to consist of three objects
1. A table, called the table of shew-bread (“bread of presence” or “bread of setting-forth”).
2. A candelabrum, or lamp-stand; and
3. An altar for the offering of incense. Of these the table seems to have been regarded as of primary importance; and its description is therefore made to follow immediately on that of the ark. It was of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and was of the most ordinary shapeoblong-square, i.e; with four legs, one at each corner. The only peculiar features of the table, besides its material, were the border, or edging, which surrounded it at the top, the framework which strengthened the legs (Exo 25:25), and the rings by which it was to be carried from place to place.
Exo 25:23
Two cubits shall be the length thereof, etc. The table was to be three feel long, one foot six inches broad, and two feet three inches high. It was thus quite a small table, narrow for its length, and about two inches below the ordinary height.
Exo 25:24
Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold. Again, gilding may be meant; but a covering with thin plates of gold is perhaps more probable. A crown of gold round about. A border, or edging round the top, which would prevent anything that was placed on the table from readily falling off. (Compare Exo 25:11.)
Exo 25:25
A border of a hand-breadth. Rather “a band” or “framing.” This seems to have been a broad flat bar, placed about hallway down the legs, uniting them and holding them together. It was represented in the sculpture of the table which adorned the Arch of Titus. A golden crown to the borderi.e; an edging at the top of the bar, which could be only for ornament.
Exo 25:26
The four corners that are on the four feet, is scarcely an intelligible expression. Pe’oth, the word translated “corners,” means properly “ends;” and the direction seems to be, that the four rings should be affixed to the four “ends” of the table; those ends, namely, which are “at the four feet.” It is a periphrasis, meaning no more than that they should be affixed to the feet, as Josephus tells us that they were. (Ant. Jud. 3.6, 6.)
Exo 25:27
Over against the border. Rather “opposite the band” or “framing”i.e; opposite the points at which the “band” or “framing” was inserted into the legs. Bishop Patrick supposes that the table “was not carried up as high as the ark was, but hung down between the priests, on whose shoulders the staves rested.” But it is carried upright in the bas-relief on the Arch of Titus, and might have been as easily so carried as the ark. (See the comment on verse 12.) Of the staves. Rather, “for staves.” Staves for the table had not yet been mentioned; and naturally the word has no article.
Exo 25:29
The dishes thereof. Literally” its dishes,” or rather perhaps, “its bowls” (LXX. ). They were probably the vessels in which the loaves were brought to the table. Loaves are often seen arranged in bowls in the Egyptian tomb decorations. Spoons thereof. Rather, “its incense cups”small jars or pots in which the incense, offered with the loaves (Le Exo 24:5), was to be burnt. Two such were represented in the bas-relief of the table on the Arch of Titus. Covers thereof and bowls thereof. Rather, “its flagons and its chalices” (LXX. )vessels required for the libations or “drink offerings” which accompanied every meat-offering. To cover withal Rather, as in the margin, “to pour out withal.” So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and most of the Targums.
Exo 25:30
Thou shalt set upon the table shew-bread before me alway. Here we have at once the object of the table, and its name, explained. The table was to have set upon it continually twelve loaves, or cakes, of bread (Le Exo 24:5), which were to be renewed weekly on the sabbath-day (Le Exo 24:8), the stale loaves being at the same time consumed by the priests in the holy place. These twelve loaves or cakes were to constitute a continual thank-offering to God from the twelve tribes of Israel in return for the bless-Lugs of life and sustenance which they received from him. The bread was called “bread of face,” or “bread of presence,” because it was set before the “face” or “presence” of God, which dwelt in the holy of holies. The Septuagint renders the phrase by “loaves that are face to face”St. Matthew by , “loaves of setting-forth”whence the Schaubrode of Luther, and our “shew-bread,” which is a paraphrase rather than a translation.
HOMILETICS
Exo 25:23-30
The symbolism of the table of shew-bread.
Before the holy of holies, within which was the Divine Presence, dwelling in thick darkness behind the veil, was to be set perpetually this golden table, bearing bread and wine and frankincense. The bread and wine and frankincense constituted a perpetual thank-offering, offered by Israel as a nation to the high and holy God. The idea was that of a constant memorial (Le Exo 24:8), a continual acknowledgment of the Divine goodness on the part of the nation. The essence of the offering was the breadwe know of the wine only by implication; the frankincense is distinctly mentioned (Le Exo 24:7), but is altogether subordinate. Israel, grateful to God for maintaining and supporting its life, physical and spiritual, expressed its gratitude by this one and only never ceasing offering. It was intended to teach
I. THAT GRATITUDE WAS DUE TO GOD FROM HIS PEOPLE PERPETUALLY. Men are so cold by nature, so selfish, so little inclined to real thankfulness, that it was well they should be reminded, as they were by the shew-bread, of thankfulness being a continuous, unending duty, a duty moreover owed by all. No tribe was ever exempt, however reduced in numbers, however little esteemed, however weak and powerless. The twelve loaves were perpetually before the Lord.
II. THAT GRATITUDE MUST BE SHOWN BY OFFERINGS. The best offering is that of a “pure heart;” but no man of a pure heart, who possessed aught, was ever yet content to offer merely “the calves of his lips”men instinctively give of their best to God. Bread, the staff of lifewine, that maketh glad the heart of manfrankincense, the most precious of spices, are fitting gifts to him. The offering of bread signifies the devotion of our strengthof wine, the devotion of our feelingsof frankincense, the devotion of our most sublimised spiritual aspirations to the eternal. Israel, as a nation, perpetually offered these offerings, and thereby inculcated on each individual of the nation the duty of doing the same, separately and individually, for private, as the nation did for public, benefits.
III. THAT NO OFFERING COULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, UNLESS ALL ITS SURROUNDINGS WERE PURE AND HOLY. The loaves were to be of the finest flour (Le Exo 24:5). The frankincense was to be “pure frankincense” (Le Exo 24:7). The table was to be overlaid with “pure gold” (Exo 26:24). All the utensils of the table were to be of the same (Exo 26:29). Nothing “common or unclean” was to come into contact with the offering, which was “the most holy unto the Lord” of all the offerings made to him (Le Exo 24:8). The purity and perfection of all the material surroundings of the offering suggested the need of equal purity in those who offered it.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Exo 25:23-30; Exo 37:10-16
The table of shew-bread.
Between the ark of the testimony and the table of the shew-bread we see this great correspondencethat they were of the same material of shittim wood and had the same adornment of gold. But along with this correspondence there was a great difference, in that the ark of the testimony stood within the veil, while the table of shew-bread stood without. The ark of the testimony had the mercy seat above it, while the table of the shew-bread had the lighted candlestick over against it. There must be some significance in having the table on the people’s side of the veil rather than God’s side; and may it not be that the table with its bread and the candlestick with its light were meant to set forth God’s providential support and illumination of all his people? The shew-bread was not so much an offering presented to God as something placed on the table by his command, regularly and unfailingly, to symbolise the unfailing regularity with which he supplies his people in their ordinary wants. The daily meat offering with its fine flour was the representation of the labour of the people: and so we may take the shew-bread as representing that blessing of God without which the most diligent toil in sowing and watering avail nothing. The God of the shew-bread is the God in whom we live and move and have our being; we cannot do without him for the necessities and comforts of natural life. Were he to cease the operations of his energy in nature, it would soon be seen how utterly fruitless is all our working just by itself. A great and efficient providing power cannot be denied by whatsoever name we choose to call him. Would we know him and more of him than we can ever know in naturewe must think of what lies within the veil. He gives us the things belonging to the outer holy place, the bread and the light, the natural strength and the natural wisdom, in order that we may come to know him in his spiritual demands and his ability to satisfy the deepest demands of our hearts. The God who gives that bread to his people, of which the shew-bread was an ever renewed sample, gives it that we whose lives are continued by the bread may spend them to his glory. God feeds us that we may be in all things his servants, and not in anything our own masters.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 25:23-30. Thou shalt also make a table of shittim-wood The next piece of furniture was the table for the shewbread, Exo 25:30 which, like the ark, was to be made of shittim-wood, overlaid with pure gold, with a border and a golden crown, or a circular rim of gold, with rings and staves, as for the ark; and, to furnish this table, dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls of pure gold, were to be made, Exo 25:29. Dr. Cudworth, in his Treatise on the Sacrament, ch. 6 speaks thus of this table and its furniture: “When God had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, resolving to manifest himself in a peculiar manner present among them, he thought good to dwell amongst them in a visible and external manner; and therefore, while they were in the wilderness, and sojourned in tents, he would have a tent or tabernacle built to sojourn with them also. This mystery of the tabernacle was fully understood by the learned Nachmanides, who, in few words, but pregnant, expresses himself to this purpose: ‘the mystery of the tabernacle was this, that it was to be a place for the Shechinah or habitation of the Divinity to be fixed in;’ and this, no doubt, as a special type of God’s future dwelling in Christ’s human Nature, which was the TRUE SHECHINAH. But when the Jews were come into their land, and had there built them houses, God intended to have a fixed dwelling-house also; and therefore his moveable tabernacle was to be turned into a standing temple. Now, the tabernacle or temple, being thus as an house for God to dwell in visibly, to make up the notion of dwelling or habitation complete, there must be those things that are suitable to a house belonging to it. Hence, in the holy place, there must be a table and a candlestick, because this was the ordinary furniture of a room, as the fore-commended Nachmanides observes. The table must have its dishes, and spoons, and bowls, and covers belonging to it, though they were never used; and always be furnished with bread upon it. The candlestick must have its lamps continually burning. Hence also there must be a continual fire kept in this house of God upon the altar, as the focus of it; to which notion, I conceive, the prophet Isaiah doth allude, ch. Exo 31:9 whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. And besides all this, to carry the notion still farther, there must be some constant meat and provision brought into this house; which was done in the sacrifices that were partly consumed by fire upon God’s own altar, and partly eaten by the priests, who were God’s family, and therefore to be maintained by him. That which was consumed upon God’s altar was accounted God’s mess, as appears from Mal 1:12 where the altar is called God’s table, and the sacrifice upon it God’s meat:Ye say, the table of the LORD is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat is contemptible. And often, in the law, the sacrifice is called God’s lechem, i.e. his bread or food. Wherefore it is farther observable, that, besides the flesh of the beast offered up in sacrifice, there was a mincah, i.e. a meat or rather bread-offering made of flour and oil; and a libation or drink-offering, which was always joined with the daily sacrifice, as the bread and drink which were to go along with God’s meat. It was also strictly commanded that there should be salt in every sacrifice and oblation, because all meat is unsavoury without salt as Nachmanides hath here also well observed; ‘because it was not honourable that God’s meat should be unsavoury without salt.’ Lastly, all these things were to be consumed on the altar, only by the holy fire which came down from heaven, because they were God’s portion, and therefore to be eaten or consumed by himself in an extraordinary manner.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The table and the show-bread were both types of the gospel dispensation. God our Father hath there spread a full table for his people, Rev 3:20 ; 1Jn 1:3 . Jesus is the bread of life spread on this table. Rev 2:17 ; Joh 6:48-58 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 25:23 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.
Ver. 23. Of shittim wood. ] Which corrupteth not. Isa 41:19 Christ’s hody could not putrify in the grave.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Table of Showbread and the Lampstand
Exo 25:23-40
The Table of the Showbread, or Presence-bread, held the twelve loaves, which represented the tribes of Israel. It was three feet long, one foot, six inches broad, and two feet, three inches high. The border or edging of gold around the top kept its contents from falling off. The loaves were changed each week, and when removed, were eaten only by the priests. See Mar 2:26. Surely the suggestion of this table, standing, as it did, immediately before the veil on the outer side, was intended to teach that the purity and devotion of Israel were as bread to God. He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him. We also feed with God on the beauty and glory of our Saviors obedience unto death.
The candlestick, with its seven branches, cost $35,000, and is a type of Christ, the Light of the World, and of the people of God when illuminated by the Divine Fire and shining amid the darkness around. See Zec 4:2; Joh 8:12; Rev 1:13.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
shittim wood
i.e. acacia.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
a table: Exo 37:10-16, Exo 40:22, Exo 40:23, Lev 24:6, Num 3:31, 1Ki 7:48, 1Ch 28:16, 2Ch 4:8, 2Ch 4:19, Eze 40:41, Eze 40:42, Heb 9:2
shittim wood: Shittim wood is probably the acacia Nilotica. St. Jerome says, that the shittim wood grows in the deserts of Arabia, and is like white thorn, as to its colour and leaves; but the tree is so large as to furnish very long planks. The wood is hard, tough, and extremely beautiful. It is thought he means the black acacia, because that is the most common tree in the deserts of Arabia. It is of the size of a large mulberry tree. The spreading branches and larger limbs are armed with thorns, which grow three together. The bark is rough; and the leaves are oblong, standing opposite each other. The flowers, though sometimes white, are generally of a bright yellow; and the fruit, which resembles a bean, is contained in pods like those of the lupin. “The acacia,” says Dr. Shaw, “being by much the largest and most common tree in the deserts,” (Arabia Petra), we have some reason to conjecture that the shittim wood was the wood of the acacia, especially as its flowers are of an excellent smell; for the shittah tree is, in Isa 41:19, joined with the myrtle and other fragrant shrubs. It may be remarked, that of the two Hebrew names, shittim is masculine, and shittah feminine. So Mr. Bruce says, “the male is called saiel; from it proceeds the gula Arabic, on incision with an axe.”
Reciprocal: Exo 31:8 – the table Exo 35:13 – General Exo 40:4 – the table Num 4:7 – the table Num 33:49 – Abelshittim
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 25:23. Thou shalt make a table of shittim-wood This table was to stand, not in the holy of holies (nothing was in that but the ark with its appurtenances) but in the outer part of the tabernacle, called the sanctuary, or holy place.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:23-30 P. The Table of Shewbread (cf. Exo 37:10-16).It was an ancient custom to spread tables with food and drink as oblations to the gods, who were supposed to need food and drink (Lev 24:5-9*). And the custom persisted long after mens ideas had changed, coming to be an acknowledgment of Gods gift of daily bread. It may well typify the sympathetic share that the Creator and Preserver of all mankind takes in the creaturely needs and interests of His children. The table was of gilded wood, 3 1 2 feet, with a gold rim or bead (Exo 25:23 f.), strengthened by a 3-inch beaded frame round the legs (Exo 25:25), and with rings and poles for carrying (Exo 25:26-28). There were to be broad gold dishes for the flat cakes, and cups for the frankincense (Lev 24:7); flagons and chalices also were needed for the libations of wine which completed the provision (Exo 25:29). The term shewbread, through Tyndale and Luther from Jerome, fits better the wording of 1Ch 9:32 (bread set out, i.e. exhibited or arranged) than Exo 25:30 here, where render as mg. Presence-bread.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The table of showbread 25:23-30
This piece of furniture stood on the north side of the holy place, the right side as the priest entered from the courtyard. The priests placed twelve loaves (large pieces) of unleavened [Note: Josephus, 3:6:5.] bread in two rows [Note: William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 220.] or piles [Note: Bill Mitchell, "Leviticus 24:6: The bread of the presence-rows or piles?" The Bible Translator 33:4 (October 1982):447-48.] on this table where they remained for seven days. They substituted twelve fresh loaves for the old bread each Sabbath (Lev 24:5-8). The term "bread of the Presence" (Exo 25:30) means these loaves lay before God’s presence in the tabernacle. The Israelites did not offer this food for Yahweh to eat, as the pagans offered food to their gods. [Note: Kaiser, "Exodus," p. 456.]
They did so "as a symbol of the spiritual food which Israel was to prepare (Joh 6:27; cf. Joh 4:32; cf. Joh 4:34), a figurative representation of the calling it had received from God." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:171.]
"The twelve loaves constituted a perpetual thank offering to God from the twelve tribes for the blessings that they received from Him day by day." [Note: Davis, p. 255.]
"By its opulence as by the containers and the food and drink placed continuously upon it and periodically renewed, this Table announces: ’He is here,’ and here as one who gives sustenance." [Note: Durham, p. 362.]
Perhaps the bread signified both God’s provisions and Israel’s vocation. Israel was to be a source of spiritual food for the world (Exo 19:5-6).
". . . the table and the bread of the Presence have been taken as a type of the church which stands in Christ’s (the ark) presence." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 302.]