For the transport of the sacred chest, its pro- pitiatory and chcrubini, two poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold are provided. These are to rest permanently ( Ex '2.')", otherwise Nu 4", where the staves are inserted wlien the march begins) in four rings, attached, according to our present text, to the four 'feet' (v^c:;^5 v.", so RV, but AV ' corners ') of the ark.
But this text and rendering are open to serious question. For (1) of the shape, lenytli, and construction of these *feet' nothing is said ; p) whj' should the author employ the Phoenician word (Di'S) for ' foot ' here in place of the usual ^jn (v.M)f (8) If the rings were attached so far down, a state of dangerously unstable equiUbriura would result ; (4) all the oldest versions apparently read, or at least, as our own AV, rendered as in v.2*J 1V,\'») 'its four corners.' f We must suppose, then, that the rings were attached, perhaps below the moulding, at the corners of the gimrt sides of the ark (so the Baraitha, ^eumann, Keil), along which, and not along the long sides (as Riggenhach, I>illm., and moat), the poles rested. The object of this arrange- ment is to secure that the Uivine throne shall always face in the direction of the march. The weight of the whole must have been considerable, with poles, certainly not 'staves,' and bearers to correspond. \
In the second temple there was no ark, and consequently no propitiatory, notwithstanding the statement in the Apocalyose of liarucli (0") that it was hidden by an angel before the destruction of the temple, a.d. 70. According to P the sole contents of tlie ark, as we liave seen, were the two tables of testimony on which the Decalogue was inscribed. Once a year, on the Day of Atone- ment, the high priest alone entered the Holy of Holies to bring the blood of the sin -offerings mto contact with the propitiatory (Lv 16'^'-; see ATONE- MENT, Day of, vol. i. p. I'J!)).
x. Erection and Consecration of the Tabernacle. — In the oldest stratum of the Priests' Code the directions for the preparation of the sanctuary and its furniture (Ex 25-27), which have engaged our attention up to tliis point, are followed by eiiually minute instructiniis as to the priestly garments (2S), and by the solemn consecra- tion ot Aaron and his sons for the priestlj- oflice (29). The altar alone of the appointments of tlie
• For this idea and its possible bearing on the ultimate historical origin of the ark as the empty throne of an imugeles^ deity, see Meinhold, />(V Lade Jahretn^VMV^), -14 and /7(i*'.f 1 »i , bjised on the researi'hes of Reichel in Ui'hiT yor/irttmiuic/ie iiOtt>'rcuilt (esp. 'lift.); cf. also Budile in Expos. Timeji, June lijUS, p. allUIT. (reprinted (in OermanJ in ZAl'W, 11101, p. 104 If.).
t Cf. 1 K 7'", where ITDl'D of MT (AV here also 'comers') it similarly regarded by recent commentaton u k corruption 01 vnKD or vr;D.
; The i)ropitiatory, even If only a llngerbreadth thick, would alone weigh 700 lb. troi'. The weight of the whole nmst bcr pul at about 0 cwt. The 'Talmud mentions four bearers (Flesch, »>/> eit. 00). Two iuinced for the historical ark (Akk, vol. i. p. UiO*')
666
TABEE2.^ACLE
TABERNACLE
sanctuary is singled out for consecration (29'^' ). In the first of the accretions to the older docuiuent (30. 31), however, we tind instructions for the anointing of 'the tent of meeting' and all the furniture of the sanctuary with the 'holy anoint- ing oil' (30'-'''''- ), with wliich also the priests are to be anointed. When we pass to the still later stratum (35-40; see above, § iii. ), we find a record of the carrying out of the preceding instructions to tlie last detail, followed by the erecting of ' the dwelling of the tent of meeting' (40'"'-) on the first day of the first niontli of the second year, that is, a year less fourteen days from the first anniversary of tlie Exodus (40'-", cf. 12"*). A comparison with 19' shows that according to P's chronology a period of at least nine months is allowed for the construction of the sanctuary and its furniture. Some of the questions raised by 40'"- •' as to the manner in which the curtains ' were spread over the dwelling ' have been discussed by anticipation in § vii. (c) ; it must suffice now to add that after the court and the tabernacle proper had been set up, and all tlie furniture in its place, the whole, we must assume, was duly anointed by Moses him- self in accordance with the instructions of the preceding verses (40*'' )> although this fact is not mentioned until we reach a later portion of the narrative (Lv 8'*"', Nu 7'). This consecration of the sanctuary naturally implies that it is now ready for the purpose for w-hich it was erected. Accord- ingly ' the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of J" filled the dwelling' (40*"-). J" had now taken possession of the holy abode which had been prepared for Him. With the new year, as was most fitting, the new order of things began.
xi. The Tabernacle on the March (Nu 2" 325-38 4ifr. gtc). — The cloud which rested on the dwelling by day and appeared as a pillar of fire by night accompanied the Hebrews ' throughout all their journeys ' in the wilderness. When ' the cloud was taken up from over the dwelling' (Ex 40^', Nu 9") this was the signal for the tents to be struck and another stage of the march begun ; while, 'as long as the cloud abode upon the dwell- ing, whether it were two days or a month or a year,' the children of Israel remained encamped and journeyed not (Nu 9"°^-). The charge of the tabernacle and of all that pertained thereto was committed to the official guardians, the priests and Levites (Nu S"^-). When the signal for the march was given by a blast from the silver trumpets (10'^-), the priests entered the dwelling, and, taking down the veil at the entrance to the Most Holy Place, wrapped it round the ark (4°*). This, as the most sacred of all the contents of the taber- nacle, received three coverings in all, the others but two. Full and precise instructions follow for the wrapping up of the rest of the furniture (4'""). This accomplished, the priests hand over their precious burden to the first of the Levitical guilds, the sons of Kohath, for transport by means of the bearing-poles with which each article is provided (v.""-). The second guild, the sons of Uershon, have in charge the tapestry curtains of the dwell- ing, the hair curtains of the tent, the two outer coverings, the veil, and the screen (3-"- 4^"). For the conveyance of these, two covered waggons and four oxen are provided bj' the heads of the tribes (7* '). The remaining division of the Levites, the sons of Merari, receives in charge the frames and bars of the dwelling, together with the pillars and bases of the dwelling and of the court, with four waggons and eight oxen for their transport (ib.).'