Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 27:19
All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, [shall be of] brass.
19. All ] read with LXX. And all ( for , removing at the same time a grammatical anomaly in the Heb.). The instruments seem here to be the tools used in setting up the Dwelling: possibly the tent-cords (Exo 35:18) are also included.
the service thereof ] i.e. the work of putting it up: cf. Exo 39:40, Num 3:26; Num 3:36.
pins (twice)] the regular Heb. word for tent-pins.
the pins of the court ] Exo 35:18, Exo 38:20; Exo 38:31; and, with the cords as well, Exo 39:40, Num 3:37; Num 4:26; Num 4:32.
In the method of reckoning the pillars of the court there is an inexactness, due no doubt to the author’s love of symmetry. The two
The Court of the Tent of Meeting.
From Hastings’ Dict. of the Bible, iv. 657.
longer sides are of 100 cubits, each with 20 pillars, the two shorter sides are of 50 cubits each, with 10 pillars; and there are 60 pillars in all. If now there are 10 pillars on the E. side, the distance between each will be 50/9 cubits, and the two sides of the entrance, 15 cubits from each corner, will not coincide with two of the pillars: as, moreover, the four corner pillars must now be counted twice, there will in all be not 60, but only 56 pillars. The writer must thus, for the sake of symmetry, have reckoned the sides as having respectively 20 and 10 pillars each, when in reality they would have 21 and 11. ‘The S. side, reckoning from E. to W., has pillars nos. 1 21, of which no. 21, however, is reckoned as belonging to the W. side; the W. side has nos. 21 31 (i.e. 11), no. 31 being reckoned to the N. side; the N. side has nos. 31 51 (i.e. 21), no. 51 being reckoned to the E. side; the E. side has for the N. side of the entrance nos. 51 54, no. 54 being reckoned to the entrance: the entrance has nos. 54 58, no. 58 being reckoned to the S. side of the entrance; the S. side of the entrance has nos. 58 61, no. 61 being the same as no. 1 of the S. side’ (Di.; similarly Kennedy).
20 21 (no parallel in 35 40). A light to be kept burning in the sanctuary every night. Oil is to be provided at the cost of the people; and the priests are to arrange the lamps on the candlestick every evening. These regulations seem out of place here; and in the mention of Aaron and his sons anticipate chaps. 28 29. They recur, with slight verbal differences, in Lev 24:2-3, where they are followed by directions respecting a kindred subject, viz. the Presence-bread ( vv. 5 9). Probably (so Di.) they were introduced here by a later editor from LevExo 24:1-4. Comp. Num 8:1-2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. All the vessels – shall be of brass.] It would have been improper to have used instruments made of the more precious metals about this altar, as they must have been soon worn out by the severity of the service.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
With the pins the tabernacle and curtains thereof were fastened to the ground, as tents usually are with wooden pins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. pinswere designed to holddown the curtains at the bottom, lest the wind should waft themaside.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof,…. Which either refers to the vessels belonging to the altar of burnt offering, and so is a repetition of what is said, Ex 27:3 or rather to instruments that were used at the setting up and taking down of the tabernacle; such as hammers and the like, to drive the staves into the rings, and knock out the pillars from their sockets, c., as Jarchi and Ben Gersom observe for otherwise the vessels used in the sanctuary were of gold or silver, or covered therewith, and not of brass, as these are afterwards said to be:
and all the pins thereof; what these were is not easy to say; for there was nothing made of brass in the holy or most holy place, but the taches or clasps, with which the curtains of goats’ hair were coupled together, and the sockets on which the five pillars were set at the entrance of the door of the tabernacle, Ex 26:11 and it is possible that those pillars might be fastened in their sockets with brass pins; for the clasps or taches can hardly be called pins:
and all the pins of the court shall be of brass; these were brass pins, or stakes fastened in the ground all round the court, to which cords were tied, and these fastened to the hangings; whereby they were kept tight and close, that the wind could not move them to and fro, as Jarchi and Ben Melech observe, and so Josephus k; see Isa 33:20.
k Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ All the vessels of the dwelling in all the work thereof (i.e., all the tools needed for the tabernacle), and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, (shall be of) brass or copper.” The vessels of the dwelling are not the things required for the performance of worship, but the tools used in setting up the tabernacle and taking it down again.
If we inquire still further into the design and meaning of the court, the erection of a court surrounding the dwelling on all four sides is to be traced to the same circumstance as that which rendered it necessary to divide the dwelling itself into two parts, viz., to the fact, that on account of the unholiness of the nation, it could not come directly into the presence of Jehovah, until the sin which separates unholy man from the holy God had been atoned for. Although, by virtue of their election as the children of Jehovah, or their adoption as the nation of God, it was intended that the Israelites should be received by the Lord into His house, and dwell as a son in his father’s house; yet under the economy of the law, which only produced the knowledge of sin, uncleanness, and unholiness, their fellowship with Jehovah, the Holy One, could only be sustained through mediators appointed and sanctified by God: viz., at the institution of the covenant, through His servant Moses; and during the existence of this covenant, through the chosen priests of the family of Aaron. It was through them that the Lord was to be approached, and the nation to be brought near to Him. Every day, therefore, they entered the holy place of the dwelling, to offer to the Lord the sacrifices of prayer and the fruits of the people’s earthly vocation. But even they were not allowed to go into the immediate presence of the holy God. The most holy place, where God was enthroned, was hidden from them by the curtain, and only once a year was the high priest permitted, as the head of the whole congregation, which was called to be the holy nation of God, to lift this curtain and appear before God with the atoning blood of the sacrifice and the cloud of incense (Lev 16). The access of the nation to its God was restricted to the court. There it could receive from the Lord, through the medium of the sacrifices which it offered upon the altar of burnt-offering, the expiation of its sins, His grace and blessing, and strength to live anew. Whilst the dwelling itself represented the house of God, the dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His people (Exo 23:19; Jos 6:24; 1Sa 1:7, 1Sa 1:24, etc.), the palace of the God-King, in which the priestly nation drew near to Him (1Sa 1:9; 1Sa 3:3; Psa 5:8; Psa 26:4, Psa 26:6); the court which surrounded the dwelling represented the kingdom of the God-King, the covenant land or dwelling-place of Israel in the kingdom of its God. In accordance with this purpose, the court was in the form of an oblong, to exhibit its character as part of the kingdom of God. But its pillars and hangings were only five cubits high, i.e., half the height of the dwelling, to set forth the character of incompleteness, or of the threshold to the sanctuary of God. All its vessels were of copper-brass, which, being allied to the earth in both colour and material, was a symbolical representation of the earthly side of the kingdom of God; whereas the silver of the capitals of the pillars, and of the hooks and rods which sustained the hangings, as well as the white colour of the byssus-hangings, might point to the holiness of this site for the kingdom of God. On the other hand, in the gilding of the capitals of the pillars at the entrance to the dwelling, and the brass of their sockets, we find gold and silver combined, to set forth the union of the court with the sanctuary, i.e., the union of the dwelling-place of Israel with the dwelling-place of its God, which is realized in the kingdom of God.
The design and significance of the court culminated in the altar of burnt-offering, the principal object in the court; and upon this the burnt-offerings and slain-offerings, in which the covenant nation consecrated itself as a possession to its God, were burnt. The heart of this altar was of earth or unhewn stones, having the character of earth, not only on account of its being appointed as the place of sacrifice and as the hearth for the offerings, but because the earth itself formed the real or material sphere for the kingdom of God in the Old Testament stage of its development. This heart of earth was elevated by the square copper covering into a vessel of the sanctuary, a place where Jehovah would record His name, and come to Israel and bless them (Exo 20:24, cf. Exo 29:42, Exo 29:44), and was consecrated as a place of sacrifice, by means of which Israel could raise itself to the Lord, and ascend to Him in the sacrifice. And this significance of the altar culminated in its horns, upon which the blood of the sin-offering was smeared. Just as, in the case of the horned animals, their strength and beauty are concentrated in the horns, and the horn has become in consequence a symbol of strength, or of fulness of vital energy; so the significance of the altar as a place of the saving and life-giving power of God, which the Lord bestows upon His people in His kingdom, was concentrated in the horns of the altar.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
THE VESSELS AND PINS.
(19) All the vessels of the tabernaclei.e., all those which had not already been appointed to be of a richer material. (Comp. Exo. 25:38.) Bronze was the most convenient material for vessels, and maintained its place even in the magnificent Temple of Solomon (1Ki. 7:15-45; 2Ki. 25:13-14).
All the pins thereof.These had not been previously mentioned; but the writer assumes it as known that every tent (ohel). Such as he has described, can only be erected by means of cords and tent-pegs, or pins.
All the pins of the court.The pins of the court seem to be pegs employed internally and externally to keep the pillars of the court in place. Their employment implies that of cords.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. All the vessels The vessels here referred to are not, of course, those mentioned in Exo 25:38-39, but the instruments for such more common service as the putting up and taking down of the structure would require .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
EXPOSITION
THE VESSELS OF THE TABERNACLE. There were many “vessels of the tabernacle” which have not hitherto been mentioned, as the great laver in the court (Exo 30:18; Exo 40:30) with the basins for washing which must have belonged to it; the pins or pegs whereby the various curtains were extended and supported; and probably much sacrificial apparatus besides what is enumerated in Exo 27:3. All these were to be of bronze, the commonest metal of the time, but one very suitable for the various purposes, being, as the Egyptians manufactured it, of great hardness, yet exceedingly ductile and ready to take all shapes. Its usefulness and convenience caused it to retain its place, even in the gorgeous and “magnificent” temple of Solomon (1Ch 29:2, 1Ch 29:7), where it was employed for the two great pillars, Jachin and Boaz, for the great laver or “brazen sea,” for the mailer layers upon wheels, for the pots, the shovels, the basins, the snuffers, the spoons, and many other sacred vessels (1Ki 7:15-45; 2Ki 25:13, 2Ki 25:14). Though “common,” it was never reckoned “unclean,” or less fitted for the service of the sanctuary than silver or gold. It had, however, its own proper place, an inferior place to that held by the more precious metals.
Exo 27:19
All the pins thereof. The “pins” of the tabernacle are undoubtedly the pegs or tent-pins, whereby the tent-cloth wherewith it was covered was extended and kept taut. There were also probably similar pegs or pins for cords used to keep the “pillars” (Exo 26:37) or tent-poles in place. The pins of the court supported in the same way the pillars of the court (Exo 27:10-15).
HOMILETICS
Exo 27:19
The value is God’s sight of what is common and homely.
God does not despise anything that he has made. “His mercy is over all his works” (Psa 145:9). Each of them has its fit and proper place. Each one of them is needed in his universe. Much less does he despise any of his human creatures. He has seen fit to gift them variously, to make some of gold, some of silver, and some of brass, some to honour, and some to comparative dishonour; but for all he has a use. No intellect is too homely, no nature too rude and unrefined to find a place somewhere in his Church where it can do him service, and even perhaps do it better than a more refined and more highly gifted nature. Difference, gradation, variety, is the law of his universe. “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory” (1Co 15:41). In the angelic hierarchy there are angels and archangels, principalities, and powers; in the Church triumphant there are gradesprinces who sit on thrones, judges of tribes, rulers over ten cities, rulers over five cities, and a “great multitude” who have no authority, but are simply “saints.” And so it is, and must ever be, in the Church militant. “There are diversities of gifts,” higher and lower natures, minds of extraordinary power, and dull, homely intellects. Bat all have their use; for all there is room; and God values each. God will have none despised. The brazen vessels of the outer courtash-pans and basins, and flesh-hooks, and fire-pans, and tent-pinswere as much needed for the tabernacle and its service, as the silver sockets and rods, or the golden taches, and rings, and snuff-dishes. Bronze is more suitable for many purposes than gold; and ordinary human nature can do God’s work better in many positions than great gifts or extraordinary intellect.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 27:19. All the vessels of the tabernacle That is, all the vessels in the common use of the tabernacle, and such as have not been before specified; in particular the pins, as they are called, of the tabernacle and the court: the original word means, the small stakes to which the ropes of a tent are fastened.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan. See App-40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
brass
(See Scofield “Num 21:9”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
all the pins thereof: Exo 27:3, Exo 35:18, Exo 38:20, Exo 38:31, Exo 39:40, Num 3:37, Num 4:32, Ezr 9:8, Ecc 12:11, Isa 22:23-25, Isa 33:20, Zec 10:4
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
27:19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the {g} pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, [shall be of] brass.
(g) Or stakes, with which the curtains were fastened to the ground.