The material was acacia wood, overlaid like the ark with pure gold. The sheathing of these two
• The arrangement of the Kunva, indeed, affords • striking
analogy to that of the curtains of the tabernacle.
^ Tills follows from the fact that the veil is to hang directly under the gold clasps joinini.' the two sets of tapestry curtains, and therefore ^ times 4 cubits (the breadth of the individual curtain) from the front of the dwelling (v. •'3). The importance of this datum for the dimensions of the tabernacle has already been pointed out.
t This word has an interesting affinity with the Assyrian word parakhu, the innermost shrine or ' holy of holies* of the Baby- lonian temples in which stood the statue of the patron deity.
5 The usage of Lv 16 is peculiar to itself. The ' holy place ' ol P is here curiously ' the tent of meeting' (v.l8 etc.) ; the ' most holy place' is named simply 'the holy place* (vv.S- 19 etc), shortened from * the holy place within the veil * (v.^
Ij The presence of the" term ' moat holy plnce ' in 1 K 61* stc is now recognized as due to post-exilic glossators.
TABEKXACLE
TABERNACLE
663
«acred articles of the cultus and of the later altar of incense (§ viii. ((■)) is quite in place, and stands on quite a ditlerent footin" from the sheathing of such secandary parts of tlie fabric as the frame- work and the pillars at the entrance, the originality of which we saw reason to Question. The height of the table was that of trie ark, Ik cubits, its length and breailth 2 cubits and 1 cubit respec- tively. The massive top^in the Roman sculpture 6 in. tliick — was decorated with a ztr (it, AV and RV 'crown,' UVm 'rim or moulding') of gold. The preci.se nature of this ornament, which is also prescribed for the ark (v.") and the altar of incense (SO*), is unknown. That it was some species of moulding may be regarded as fairly certain. The Or. translators render variously by arfipdvTi, whence the Vulg. corotia and our ' crown ' ; by Kv/iirta rrpimi ; or by a combination of both. The authors of the divergent Gr. text of 35-40 omit this ornament altogether (LXX 38'"-). The phrase KvfiaTia ffTfKirra. suggests a cable moulding, as ex- plained by pseudo-Aristeas (Epist. ad I'liilocratcm, ed. Wendland, § 58, ' worked in relief in the form of ropes'), which also suits Josephus' description (r4 iSaipoi IXiKos [a spiral], I.e. § 140). On the other hand, the same phrase is used in architecture of an ogee moulding, and this is certainly tlie nature of the ornament on the table of the Arch of Titus (see Reland, op. cit. 73 if., and plate of mouldings opp. p. 76). In any case, both the sides and ends or the massive top were separately decorated bj- a solid gold mouldmg, which gave them the appear- ance of four i}anels sunk into the table (Reland, vt sup., and cf. Jos. § 140, KoCKalverai. ok kciO' lKa<r- Toy rXtupdv, k.t.\. ). The legs, according to Joseiihus, were square in the upper and rounded in the lower half, termin.ating in claws, a statement confirmed by the sculpture and by the analogy of the domestic art of the ancients. They were connected by a binding rail (n-;;;?, EV 'border') 'of an hand- brendth round about' (v.*"), also ornamented with a cjible or an ogee moulding. It doubtless marked the transition from the square to the round portions of the legs. The broken ends of this rail are still vi.sible on the arch with a pair of trumpets leaning against them (illustr. under Music, vol. iii. p. 462). At its four comers four gold rings were attached, through which, and parallel to tlie sides, the two poles or staves were passed by means of which the table was moved from place to place.
For the service of the table a number of gold ves.sels (cf. Reland, op. cit. 99-122), presumably of hammered or repoiuisf, work, were provided. These comprised, in our RV rendering, ' dishes, spoons, fla;;oii8, and bowls to pour out withal' (v.''", cf. AV). The ' dislies ' were the flat salvers or chargers on which the loaves of the presence-bread were Conveyed to, or in which they were placed upon, the table, or both together. The 'spoons' were rather the cups containing the frankincense (LXX Tdt SnliTitat) which entered into this part of the ritual (Lv24'), two of which were still visible in Reland's day. The ' flagons ' * were the larger, the ' liowls ' the smaller vessels (airovicta, <ca! <ti5a9oi) for the wine, wliicli we must suppose also entered into the ritu.al of the ahewbread. The silence of the OT on this point led the Jewish doctors to cive novel and at)surd explanations of the vessels last mentioned — such as hollow pipes between the loaves, or parts of a frame on which they lay. Similarly, tlie.se authorities ditlcr a-s to whether the loaves were laid in two piles lengthwise across the width of thcUible — as one would naturally suppose — or along its length. A favourite tratlition gives the length of each loaf as ten handbreadths (2i ft.) and the breadth as Ave. Since the width of the
* A (UgOD i« % (avouriM type od Jewish coina (Mo.vkt, toL UL p. Mf).