the Curtains, the divisions of tlie Dwelling, the Veil
and the Screen. Tiii. The furniture of the Holy Place— («) the Table of Shew-
breod or Presence-Table ; (6) the golden Lampstand ;
(c) the Altar of Incense. Ix. The furniture of the Most Holy Place — the Ark and
the Propitiatory or Mercy-seat. X. Erection and Consecration of the Tabernacle. xl. The Tabernacle on the march. xiL The Historicity of P's Tabern.icle. xiii. The ruling Ideas and religious Si^ificance of the
Tabernacle.
Literature.
The term tabemanil^im, whence 'tabernacle 'of the Eng. VSS since Wyclif, denoted a tent with or without a wooden framework, and, like the aKTiri) of the Gr. translators, was used in the L.atin VSS to render indiscriminately the hv^k or goats'- hair 'tent' and the nrp or 'booth' (which see) of the Hebrews. Its special application by the Komans to the tent or templum nnnii.i of the augurs made it also a not altogether inaiinropriate ren- dering of the jjfo or 'dwelling' ot the priestly writers (see § iii.), by which, however, tlie etymo- logical signification of the latter was disregarded, and the confusion further increased. Tlie same confusion reigns in our AV. The Kevisers, as they inform us in their preface, have aimed at greater uniformity by rendering mislikdn by ' tabernacle ' and 'ohel by 'tent' (as AV had already done in certain cases, see § iii.). It is to lie regretted, however, that they did not render the Ilcb. sidckCth with equal uniformity by ' booth ' (e.j. in Mt H'' and parallels), and particularly in the case of the feast of Booths (E\ Tahernacles),
i. The Tk.vt or Tauernaclk of the oldest Sources.— Within the limits of this art. it is manifestly impossible to enter in detail into the problems of history and religion to which the ^tudy of 'the tabernacle' and its appointments, as the.se are presented bj' the priestly autliors of our Pentateucdi, introduces the student of the OT. The idea of the tabernacle, with its Aaronic priesthood and ministering Levites, lies at the very foundation of the religious institutions of Israel as these are conceived and formulated in the priestly sources. To criticise this concei'tion here - a conception which has dominatcil Jewish and Christian thought from the <lays of Ezra to our own — would lead us at once into the heart of the critical controversy which has rageil for two centuries roun<l the literature and religion of the OT. Such a task is as impossilde to compass hero as it is unnecessary. The .ilinost universal accejit- nnce by OT scholars of the jiosl-exilic date of the books of the Pentateuch in their present form is evident on every i>age of this Dictionary. On this foundation, therefore, we are free to build in this art iciu witliout the ncceiisity of »etting forth at
654
TABERNACLE
TABERNACLE
every stage the processes by which the critical results are obtained.
Now, when the middle hooks of the Pentateuch are examined in the same spirit and by the same methoils as prevail in the critical study of other ancient literatures, a remarkable diver^'ence of testimony emerges with regard to the tent which, from the earliest times, was employed to shelter the sacred ark. In the article Ahk (vol. i. p. 1-19'') attention was called to the sudden introduction of the ' tent ' in the present text of Ex 33' as of some- thing with which the readers of this document— the Pentateuch source E, according to the una- nimous verdict of modem scholars — are already familiar. This source, as it left its author's pen, must have contained some account of the con- struction of the ark, probably from the oti'erings of the people (33°) as in the parallel narrative of P ('2j-"'-), and of the tent required for its proper protection. Regarding this tent we are supplied with some interesting information, which maj- he thus summarized : — (a) Its name was in Heb. 'ohcl inGcd (33', AV 'the tabernacle of the congrega- tion,' RV 'the tent of meeting'). The true sig- nificance of this term will be fully discussed in a subsequent section (§ iii.) (b) Its situation was 'without the camp, afar off from the camp,' recall- ing the situation of the local sanctuaries of a later period, outside the villages of Canaan (see High Pl.\ce, Sanctuary). In this position it was pitched, not temporarily or on special occasions only, but, as the tenses of the original demand, throughout the whole period of the desert wander- ings (cf. RV V.' ' Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it,' etc., with AV). Above all, (c) lia pur- pose is clearly stated. It was the spot where J", descending in the pillar of cloud which stood at the door of the tent (v.'-"-, cf. Nu 12=, Dt 31''), ' met his servant Moses and spake unto him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend' (v."). On these occasions Moses received those special revelations of the Divine will which were after- wards communicated to the people. To the tent of meeting, also, every one repaired who had occa- sion to seek J" (v.'), either for an oracle or for purjjoses of worship. Finally, (d) its (cdituus was the j'oung Ephraimite Joshua, the son of Nun, who ' departed not out of the tent ' (v.'', cf. Nu H^), but slept there as the guardian of the ark, as the boy Samuel slept in the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 S