Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 27:21
In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which [is] before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: [it shall be] a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
21. the tent of meeting ] Heb. ’hel m‘d, i.e. the tent of appointed meeting (cf. Job 30:23 ‘the house of appointed meeting for all living,’ of Sheol), the tent appointed by Jehovah as the place where He will ‘meet’ Moses (see in P Exo 25:22, Exo 30:6; Exo 30:36) and Israel (Exo 29:42-43, Num 17:4), and communicate His will to them, or ( OTJC. 2 [205] 246) the ‘tent of tryst’ (i.e. of appointment to meet). It is the oldest name of what we now commonly know as the ‘Tabernacle’ (see on Exo 25:9), being first found in E (Exo 33:7: see the note), where it denotes the tent which Moses used to pitch outside the camp, to which everyone resorted who sought Jehovah, and whither Moses also used to repair in order that Jehovah might speak with him. It is mentioned besides in JE in Num 11:16; Num 12:4, Deu 31:14. The Tent of meeting, as described by P, is a much more elaborate structure than that can have been (see p. 257 f.). He mentions it some 130 times.
[205] W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.
The rendering of AV. ‘tabernacle (i.e. tent: see on Exo 25:9) of the congregation ’ is based on a mistaken interpretation of m‘d, as though this word were a synonym of ‘dh, ‘congregation’ (Exo 12:3 &c.). The LXX. render the expression by , ‘the tent of the testimony ’ (whence Vulg. tabernaculum testimonii), treating ’hel m‘d incorrectly as a synonym of ’hel h‘dth (Num 9:15; Num 17:7-8, 2Ch 24:6 ), which does mean ‘the tent of the testimony’ (see on Exo 25:16): cf. Act 7:44, Rev 15:5.
outside the veil, &c.] cf. Exo 26:35; and on Exo 25:21.
order ] an archaism for set in order, arrange; so often in EVV., as Lev 24:4, Jdg 6:26, 1Ki 20:14, Jer 46:3: cf. in the Communion Service, ‘when the priest hath so ordered the bread and wine,’ &c.; and in PBV. of Psa 37:23; Psa 40:2; Psa 40:6 (cf. Job 13:18), Psa 50:23. The meaning is, arrange the lamps on the stand.
from evening to morning ] the lamps were to be removed every morning to be trimmed (Exo 30:7), and to be lighted and replaced every evening to burn during the night (Exo 30:8, 2Ch 13:11). (The later usage was, however, different; see DB. iv. 664 a , and Schrer, as cited.)
a due for ever from ] uh may mean either a prescribed rule (i.e. a statute), or a prescribed portion (i.e. a due): so , Exo 29:28, Lev 7:34 b, Lev 7:36, Exo 24:8 (AVm.); cf. Pro 30:8; Pro 31:15 (RVm.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The tabernacle of the congregation – More literally, the tent of meeting. This is the first occurrence of this designation of the tabernacle, and the idea connected with it is that of Yahweh meeting with either Moses, or the priests, or (in a few cases) with the people gathered into a congregation at the entrance of the tent.
Without the rail, which is before the testimony – i. e. the holy place (see Exo 25:16).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. The tabernacle of the congregation] The place where all the assembly of the people were to worship, where the God of that assembly was pleased to reside, and to which, as the habitation of their king and protector, they were ever to turn their faces in all their adorations.
Before the testimony] That is, the ark where the tables of the covenant were deposited. See Ex 25:16.
Aaron and his sons] These and their descendants being the only legitimate priests, God having established the priesthood in this family.
Shall order it from evening to morning] Josephus says the whole of the seven lamps burned all the night; in the morning four were extinguished, and three kept burning through the whole day. Others assert that the whole seven were kept lighted both day and night continually; but it appears sufficiently evident, from 1Sa 3:3, that these lamps were extinguished in the morning: And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, c. See also Ex 30:8: And when Aaron LIGHTETH THE LAMPS AT EVEN. It appears therefore that the business of the priests was to light the lamps in the evening and either to extinguish them in the morning, or permit them to burn out, having put in the night before as much oil as was necessary to last till daylight.
A statute for ever] This ordering of the lamps night and morning, and attendance on the service of the tabernacle, was a statute that was to be in full force while the tabernacle and temple stood, and should have its spiritual accomplishment in the Christian Church to the end of time. Reader, the tabernacle and temple are both destroyed; the Church of Christ is established in their place. The seven golden candlesticks were typical of this Church and the glorious light it possesses, Re 1:12-20; and Jesus Christ, the Fountain and Dispenser of this true light, walks in the midst of them. Reader, hast thou that celestial flame to enlighten and animate thy heart in all those acts of devotion which thou professest to pay to him as thy Maker, Redeemer, and Preserver? What is thy profession, and what thy religious acts and services, without this? A sounding brass, a tinkling cymbal.
TERTULLIAN asserts that all the ancient heathens borrowed their best notions from the sacred writings: “Which,” says he, “of your poets, which of your sophists, have not drunk from the fountain of the prophets? It is from those sacred springs that your philosophers have refreshed their thirsty spirits; and if they found any thing in the Holy Scriptures which hit their fancy, or which served their hypothesis, they took and turned it to a compliance with their own curiosity, not considering those writings to be sacred and unalterable, nor understanding their true sense, every one altering them according to his own fancy.” – Apologet.
The reader’s attention has already been called to this point several times in the preceding parts of this work, and the subject will frequently recur. At the conclusion of Ex 25:31 (See Clarke on Ex 25:31) we had occasion to observe that the heathens had imitated many things in that Divine worship prescribed by Moses; but in application to their own corrupt system every thing was in a certain measure falsified and distorted, yet not so far as to prevent the grand outlines of primitive truth from being discerned. One of the most complete imitations of the tabernacle and its whole service is found in the very ancient temple of Hercules, founded probably by the Phoenicians, at Gades, now Cadiz, in Spain, so minutely described by Silius Italicus from actual observation. He observes that though the temple was at that time very ancient, yet the beams were the same that had been placed there by the founders, and that they were generally supposed to be incorruptible; a quality ascribed to the shittim wood, termed , incorruptible wood, by the Septuagint. That women were not permitted to enter this temple, and that no swine were ever suffered to come near it. That the priests did not wear party-coloured vestments, but were always clothed in fine linen, and their bonnets made of the same. That they offered incense to their god, their clothes being ungirded; for the same reason doubtless given Ex 20:26, that in going up to the altar nothing unseemly might appear, and therefore they permitted their long robes to fall down to their feet. He adds, that by the laws of their forefathers they bore on their sacerdotal vestments the latus clavus, which was a round knob or stud of purple with which the robes of the Roman knights and senators were adorned, which these priests seem to have copied from the breastplate of judgment made of cunning work, embroidered with purple, blue, c. See Ex 28:15. They also ministered barefooted, their hair was trimmed or cut off, and they observed the strictest continency, and kept a perpetual fire burning on their altars. And he farther adds that there was no image or similitude of the gods to be seen in that sacred place. This is the substance of his description but as some of my readers may wish to see the original, I shall here subjoin it.
Vulgatum (nec cassa fides) ab origine fani
Impositas durare trabes, solasque per aevum
Condentum novisse manus: hic credere gaudent
Consedisse Deum, seniumque repellere templis.
Tum, queis fas et honos adyti penetralia nosse,
Foemineos prohibent gressus, ac limine curant
Setigeros arcere sues: nec discolor ulli
Ante aras cultus: velantur corpora lino,
Et Pelusiaco praefulget stamine vertex.
Discinctis mos thura dare, atque, e lege parenturn
Sacrificam LATO vestem distinguere CLAVO.
Pes nudus, tousaeque comae, castumque cubile,
Irrestincta focis servant altaria flammae.
Sed nulla effigies, simulacrave nota Deorum
Majestate locum, et sacro implevere timore.
Punicor., lib. iii., ver. 17-31.
This is such a remarkable case that I think myself justified in quoting it at length, as an extraordinary monument, though corrupted, of the tabernacle and its service. It is probable that the original founders had consecrated this temple to the true God, under the name of EL, the strong God, or EL GIBBOR, the strong, prevailing, and victorious God, Isa 9:6, out of whom the Greeks and Romans made their Hercules, or god of strength; and, to make it agree with this appropriation, the labours of Hercules were sculptured on the doors of this temple at Gades.
In foribus labor Alcidae Lernaea recisis
Anguibus Hydra jacet, &c., &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The tabernacle of the congregation was so called, because there the people used to meet not only one with another, but with God also. See Exo 25:22; Num 17:4. Others render it, in the tabernacle of witness, because there God declared his mind and will, and mans duty. Without the veil, to wit, the second veil, in the holy place.
Before the testimony; a short speech for before the ark of the testimony, as it is elsewhere more largely called: compare Exo 25:16.
Shall order it, to wit, the lamp, or the lights, taking care that there be a constant supply of them, and that they burn well.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. shall order it from evening tomorningThe tabernacle having no windows, the lamps required tobe lighted during the day. JOSEPHUSsays that in his time only three were lighted; but his weredegenerate times, and there is no Scripture authority for thislimitation. But although the priests were obliged from necessity tolight them by day, they might have let them go out at night had itnot been for this express ordinance.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the tabernacle of the congregation,…. The reasons usually given for this name of the tabernacle are, either because the children of Israel gathered and met together here at certain times, or because here the Lord met with Moses, and his successors, as he had promised, Ex 25:22, but neither of them will hold good; not the first, because the place where the candlestick was, and which Aaron and his sons are here said to order, was in the holy place, into which only the priests entered, and therefore could not be called the tabernacle of the congregation, from the people of Israel being gathered and assembling there; not the latter, because it was in the most holy place, where the Lord promised to meet with Moses, and commune with him, even from between the cherubim over the mercy seat there: indeed, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation the children of Israel assembled, and there the Lord met them, and so the whole might be called from thence, and there seems to be no other reason for it,
Ex 29:42 and this place was
without the vail, which is before the testimony; that is, without the vail which divided between the holy and the most holy place, and which vail was before the ark, where the law or the testimony was put; for the candlestick was in that part of the tabernacle which was without the vail, or in the holy place: and here
Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord; that is, they were to take care that the lamps which went out might be lighted; and that they be kept clear and burning, they were to trim and snuff them, for which they had proper instruments provided for them, Ex 25:37. This points at the word of God, which shines as a light in a dark place, and is a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path, and to the constant application of Gospel ministers in preaching it, in order to enlighten men in all ages unto the end of the world:
it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations, on the behalf of the children of Israel; on whom it was incumbent to provide oil for the lamps, as long as the tabernacle and temple service lasted; and figured out either the maintenance of Gospel ministers by the churches, or the grace and gifts of the Spirit, with which they are furnished by the head of the church, often signified by oil in Scripture.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(21) In the tabernacle of the congregation.Heb., in the tent of meetingi.e., the place where God met the earthly ruler of His people. (See Exo. 25:22.)
Before the testimonyi.e., in front of the Ark which contained the Testimony, or Two Tables. (See Note on Exo. 16:34.)
Aaron and his sons.The priestly character of Aaron and his descendants, laid down in the next chapter, is here anticipated.
From evening to morning.See the second Note on Exo. 27:20.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Without the vail Outside and in front of the vail described Exo 26:31-33.
Before the testimony In front of the most holy place, in which the ark of the testimony was set . The mention of Aaron and his sons, in connexion with this service, leads naturally to an account of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood, which follows in the next chapter .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Is not the office of the priest in this place, intended to show how much it belongs to ministers to labour in the word and doctrine? Luk 1:8-9 .
REFLECTIONS
MY soul! what do I behold in this view of the Jewish church? Is it not as the apostle said, these are a shadow of good things, but the body is Christ. Blessed be God! we have an altar, and a tabernacle, and a court, to enter into with praise. But what are all these if Jesus be not in them, and the sum and substance of all. Oh! may I, dearest Lord, accept thee as mine altar, that sanctifieth the gift, the sacrifice of atonement, and the high, priest to offer. And oh! may God the Holy Ghost in all his sweet influences, be the enlightening purifying oil, to illumine the darkness of my mind, and enable me to see Jesus in every one. Lead me, Holy Spirit, to flee for refuge to the horns of this altar, even to the crucified body and atoning blood of him that suffered thereon. And by him do thou enable me to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continuing, even the fruit of my lips, giving thanks to his name.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
tabernacle = tent. Hebrew. ‘ohel. App-40.
the testimony. Compare Exo 26:33.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the tabernacle of the congregation: Exo 29:10, Exo 29:44, Lev 3:8, Num 8:9
without the veil: Exo 26:31-33, Exo 40:3
testimony: Exo 16:34, Exo 25:16, Exo 25:21
Aaron: Exo 30:8, 1Sa 3:3, 2Ch 13:11, Mal 2:7, Mat 4:16, Luk 12:35, Joh 5:35, 2Co 4:6, 2Pe 1:19, Rev 2:1
evening: Gen 1:5, Gen 1:8, Lev 24:3, Psa 134:1
a statute for ever: Exo 28:43, Exo 29:9, Exo 29:28, Lev 3:17, Lev 16:34, Lev 24:9, Num 18:23, Num 19:21, 1Sa 30:25
Reciprocal: Exo 25:37 – they shall Exo 30:7 – dresseth Exo 39:37 – even with Exo 40:2 – tabernacle Lev 24:2 – that they Num 4:16 – the oil Num 7:31 – Bowl Num 18:5 – And ye 2Ch 4:20 – burn after Heb 9:6 – the priests