Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:22
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony, of all [things] which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
22. And there I will meet with thee ] An explanation (cf. Exo 30:6; Exo 30:36; also, with the people as the object, Exo 29:42-43, Num 17:4) of the term ‘Tent of Meeting’ (see on Exo 27:21), as signifying the appointed place where Jehovah met Moses for the purpose of speaking with him. Not the word used in Exo 3:18, Exo 5:3, which means to ‘meet by chance.’
commune ] an archaism for converse, occurring 28 times in AV., and 22 times in RV. (e.g. Gen 18:33; Gen 34:6; Gen 34:8; Gen 34:20). The Heb. is the ordinary word for speak.
from above, &c.] Cf. Num 7:89.
23 30 (cf. Exo 37:10-16). The table of Presence-bread. This was a table of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, 2 cubits (3 ft.) long, one cubit (1 ft.) broad, and 1 cubits (2 ft. 3 in.) high. The top, to judge from that of the Table represented on the Arch of Titus, was some 6 in. thick; and the sides and ends of this were each decorated with a solid gold moulding running round it, giving them the appearance of panels sunk into the table (see the left end of the top as represented in the fig.). The legs, according to Josephus, were square in the upper, and rounded in the lower half, terminating in claws: they were connected by cross-stays, or frames, about 3 in. broad, probably about half-way down (see fragments of these frames in the fig.), which also had golden mouldings upon them. On the four legs, close by the cross-stays, were four rings, through which poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, were passed, when the table had to be moved. For the service of the table, various dishes and other vessels were provided, all made of gold.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 22. And there I will meet with thee] That is, over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. In this place God chose to give the most especial manifestations of himself; here the Divine glory was to be seen; and here Moses was to come in order to consult Jehovah, relative to the management of the people.
Ainsworth has remarked that the rabbins say, “The heart of man may be likened to God’s sanctuary; for as, in the sanctuary, the shechinah or Divine glory dwelt, because there were the ark, the tables, and the cherubim; so, in the heart of man, it is meet that a place be made for the Divine Majesty to dwell in, and that it be the holy of holies.” This is a doctrine most implicitly taught by the apostles; and the absolute necessity of having the heart made a habitation of God through the Spirit, is strongly and frequently insisted on through the whole of the New Testament. See the note on the following verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There I will meet with thee; there I will be in a special and gracious manner present with thee.
From between the cherubims, which spreading forth their wings formed a kind of seat, which the Divine Majesty was pleased to possess.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. there I will meet with thee, andI will commune with thee from above the mercy seatTheShekinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, rested on the mercy seat,and was indicated by a cloud, from the midst of which responses wereaudibly given when God was consulted on behalf of His people. HenceGod is described as “dwelling” or “sitting”between the cherubim.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there I will meet with thee,…. With Moses, and so with the high priest in later times, when he should enter into the holy of holies, and with the people of God as represented by him, when he should go in and inquire for them of the Lord:
and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim; converse with him and them about whatsoever they should apply unto him for, these being the symbols of the divine presence: hence the Lord is frequently described as “dwelling between the cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony”; that is, which cherubim are upon it, being on the mercy seat, which was the cover of it; or rather “which is upon” s, which mercy seat is upon the ark of the testimony, as it properly was; and here the Lord promises to commune
of all things which I shall give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel: what they shall do, respecting those things which by Moses, or the high priest, they should inquire the mind and will of God about: this may signify that the way to communion with God lies through Christ, the mercy seat and propitiation, through his blood and righteousness, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and the encouragement to it is from him, our great high priest, and from his propitiatory sacrifice; and the enjoyment of it is through him; our fellowship is with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ; God speaks to us by him, and reveals himself in him.
s “quod est”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(22) There will I meet with thee.The place of the Shechinah, or visible manifestation of Gods presence, was to be between the two cherubim over the mercy seat. There God would meet His people, to speak there unto them (Exo. 29:42), either literally, as when He answered inquiries of the high priest by Urim and Thummim, or spiritually, as when He accepted incense, and the blood of offerings, and prayers, offered to Him by the people through their appointed representatives, the priests. It was for the purpose of thus meeting His people that the entire tabernacle was designed, and hence its ordinary name was the Tent of Meeting, unhappily rendered in the Authorised Version by the tabernacle of the congregation. (See Note on Exo. 27:21.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. There I will meet with thee Here, as also in Exo 29:42-46, we have an intimation of the main idea, symbolized in the tabernacle, namely, the union and communion of Jehovah and his people .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony, of all [things] which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Ver. 22. From between the two cherubims. ] Which covered the place from whence the Lord spake, to restrain curiosity.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will meet. Hebrew meet as by appointment, and this, in the appointed place and way: “there”. Compare Exo 23:14-17; Exo 29:42, Exo 29:43, Exo 29:45, Exo 29:46; Exo 34:22-24; Exo 40:34, Exo 40:35.
the ark of the testimony. It has seven names:
Ark of the covenant of Jehovah, Num 10:33.
Ark of Adonai Jehovah, 1Ki 2:26.
Ark of Jehovah, Jos 3:13.
Ark of Elohim, 1Sa 3:3.
The holy ark, 2Ch 35:3.
The ark of Thy strength, Psa 132:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and I will: Exo 20:24, Exo 30:6, Exo 30:36, Exo 31:18, Gen 18:33, Lev 1:1, Lev 16:2, Num 7:89, Num 17:4, Deu 5:26-31, Jdg 20:27
between: Exo 29:42, Exo 29:43, Exo 31:6, 1Sa 4:4, 2Sa 6:2, 2Ki 19:15, Psa 80:1, Psa 90:1, Psa 99:1, Isa 37:16
Reciprocal: Gen 3:24 – Cherubims Exo 3:18 – met Exo 33:9 – talked Exo 36:8 – cherubims Exo 40:3 – General Exo 40:34 – a cloud Num 1:1 – tabernacle Num 27:5 – General Deu 12:5 – habitation 1Ki 6:5 – oracle 1Ki 6:16 – built them 1Ch 13:6 – that dwelleth Psa 26:8 – where Son 7:12 – there will I give thee Isa 64:5 – meetest Eze 8:4 – General Hos 5:15 – return Rev 11:19 – the ark
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE TENT OF MEETING
There I will meet with thee.
Exo 25:22
All the time that the history of the Jews was going on, the mercy-seat and the cherubim that covered it were still witnessing to the children of Israel that God was in the midst of them. So the words, There I will meet with thee, stood from generation to generation.
I. The New Testament, like the Old, is written to explain these words.The New Testament declares that He for whose appearance the Jewish worshippers longed has appeared. The New Testament tells us that in His Son God has met men and has reconciled them unto Himself. The lessons of the New Testament take up all the words and lessons of the Old Testament, all that is written about the cherubim and the mercy-seat. They say, All this is now, not for Israelites, but for men, for men in the farthest ends of the earth. If you turn to the last book of the Bible, you will find the Book of Genesis appearing again there, a nobler tree of life than that of the garden of Eden, which is not guarded by angels, but the fruit of which all are invited to taste. You will find the Book of Exodus again there. You will hear of the tabernacle of God being with men, and of His dwelling with them and being their God. You will find some of the latest words in the book those which have gone through the whole of it,Worship God.
II. Worship means that God is meeting us and drawing us to Himself, that He has sent His Spirit into the world and established His Church in the world for the very purpose of bringing all to Him. This is the message that the Bible has brought to men in past ages; this is the message that it brings to them now.
Rev. F. D. Maurice.
Illustration
(1) God has established a Way by which the humblest and least worthy may draw near and consult Him at all times. The study of the Ark, the Mercy-seat, the Cherubim, the Holy of Holies, and the means by which approach could be made to the hidden Presence, will help us to comprehend something of the blessed offices of our great High-Priest, and of the wonders of that new and living Way by which we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The symbolism of each detail should, therefore, be studied with care.
(2) The Israelites were not yet ready for the full revelation of the boldness and access to God which was made possible through Jesus Christ. But that access was symbolised and foreshadowed.
(3) What care, what minute accuracy, appears in every line of this specification! Nothing is left to chance. More space is given to it than to the story of creation; and surely we can detect the Mind that wrought in the creation of the heavens and the earth; the same order, precision, close attention to detail, and love of beauty. Moses was but the executor of the Divine Will, the mechanic working according to the pattern of the Divine Draughtsman.
Probably there are other plans, of which this is a specimen, in the execution of which we are deeply implicated. The plan of our life, the plan of our work in the world, the plan of the Church, these also are delineated with unfaltering accuracy; and it is in proportion as we conform to them with minute obedience, that we can count on the Divine indwelling. Is it for a moment credible that God would have indwelt the Hebrew Tabernacle, if Moses had presumptuously departed from the Divine pattern? When the structure stood complete, would not the Shekinah have been missing? Must not Moses have been compelled to cancel his modifications, and revert to Gods perfect scheme, as the condition of His advent? Here we may stay and ponder our own life-story!