656
TABER^^ACLE
TABERXACLE
a sanctuary, wliith in its fabric, in its personnel, and in all its appointments, shall be for future ages the ideal of a ht dwelling for J", the holy covenant God of the community of Israel, once again restored to His favour. That this is the point of view from which to approach our study of the tabernacle of the priestly writers is placed beyond question, not only by the characteristic designation of the tabernacle proper as the miskhCtn or dwelling (see above, § iii. ), but by the express statement at the opening of the legislative section : ' Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them' (Ex 2d', cf. 29").
Such a dwelling could only be one reared in accordance with the revealed ywiW of J" Himself. Moses, accordingly — according to the representa- tion of P — is summoned to meet J" in the cloud that rested on the top of Mt. Sinai, soon after tlie arrival there of the children of Israel (Ex 24'^'''). The command is given to summon the Israelites to make voluntary oli'erings of the materials neces- sary for the construction of the sanctuary. A pattern or model of this dwelling and of all its furniture is shown to Moses, who is at the same time instructed in every detail by J" Himself (Ex 251-9 [pg-i _ 354-29 |-p.^_ cf 38=1-31). In the later
strata of P we find the call of Bezalel (so RV), the son of Uri, and his endowment by J" as con- structor-in-chief, assisted by Oholiab ( A V Aholiab), the son of Ahisamach (31'-" = 35™-36i 38"').
A list of the materials emplojed is succinctly given at the head of each section (25'''- = 35^"^ ). Of these the three great metals of antiquity, bronze (see Brass), silver, and gold, are used in a significant gradation as we proceed from the outer court to the innermost sanctuary. Of the last-named, two varieties are emploj'ed — the ordi- nary gold of commerce, and a superior quality in which the pure metal was more completely sepa- rated from its native alloys, hence known as re- fined or ' pure ' gold (mno 3171). As to the technical treatment of the metals, we find various methods employed. They might be used in plain blocks or ilaba, as for the bases of pillars and for the mercy- seat ; or they might be beaten into plates (Nu W [Heb. \&»]) and sheets (Ex 39') for the sheath- ing of large surfaces, like the great altar, the frames (but see § vii. (6)), and most of the furni- ture. The most artistic work is the hammered or repoussi work in gold, of which the cherubim and the candlestick are examples.*
The wood used throughout was that of the tree named nsv) shiUah ( AV ' shittim wood,' RV ' acacia wood '), now usually identified with the Acacia seyal or A. nilutica (see, further, Shittah). Its wood is noted for its durability (cf. LXX render- ing iv\a 5.ar)iTTa). We eoiiie next to a graduated series of products of the loom. At the bottom of the scale we have the simple shesh (ea). This material has been variously identified with linen, cotton, and a mixture of both. The history of the textile fabrics of antiquity favours linen (see Linen, and Dillmann's elaborate note, Exod,- Levit." 305 11'.). A superior quality of it was termed ' fine twined linen ' (iifC t'v), spun from yam of which each thread was composed of many delicate strands. When dyed with the costly Phoenician dyes, both yarn and cloth received the names of the dyes, ' blue, purple, and scarlet ' (25'' etc.). The first two represent different shades
* No account is taken here of the quantities of these metals provided for the tahemacle. for the passntje Ex 3S^-3i was lorijj affO recognized (Popper, Der bibl. Bericht iiber die Sriftshiitte^ 1862) aa a. late insertion in a late context. This is evident from the one fact alone that the silver, which provided, inter alia, for the sockets or bases at a talent each, is thought to be the pro- duce of the poll-tax of half a shekel, which was not instituted till some time after the tabernacle had beeu aeC up (cl. Nu 11 ivith Ex lO'i
of purple (see Colours), and may be conveniently rendered by ' violet ' and ' purple ' respectively. The spinning of tlie yarn was the work of the women, the weaving of it the work of the men (352a. 33^ cf 3gj) Among the latter a clear dis- tinction is drawn between the ordinary weaver and the more artistic rOkem and hushcb, who re- present respectively the two forms of textile artistry practised from time immemorial in the East — embroidery and tapestry. The rOkfm or embroidei'er (so RV) received the web, complete ia warp and weft, from the loom, and worked his figures in colours upon it with the needle. The hu>:hcb (lit. 'inventor,' ' artist,' as 31*; EV 'cun- ning workman '), on the other hand, worked at the loom, weaving with 'violet, purple, and scarlet' yarn (cf. LXX 28* Ifryov lufiai'Tdi/ roiKiXroO) his figures into the warp, and producing the tapestry for which the East has always been famed. A gradation from without inwards, similar to that in the application of the metals, will meet us in the employment of these varied products of the loom.