Exodus 15:17

15:17 You will bring them in ¹  and plant them in the mountain ²  of your inheritance,

in the place you made ³  for your residence, O Lord,

the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.

Exodus 30:13

30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered ⁴  is to pay this: a half shekel ⁵  according to the shekel of the sanctuary ⁶  (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering ⁷  to the Lord.

Exodus 36:3

36:3 and they received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do ⁸  the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning. ⁹ 

Exodus 36:6

36:6 Moses instructed them to take ¹⁰  his message ¹¹  throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. ¹² 

Exodus 38:26-27

38:26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, ¹³  according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, ¹⁴  603,550 in all. ¹⁵  38:27 The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base.

Exodus 39:1

The Making of the Priestly Garments

39:1 From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn The verb is imperfect.

² sn The “mountain” and the “place” would be wherever Yahweh met with his people. It here refers to Canaan, the land promised to the patriarchs.

³ tn The verb is perfect tense, referring to Yahweh’s previous choice of the holy place.

⁴ sn Each man was to pass in front of the counting officer and join those already counted on the other side.

⁵ sn The half shekel weight of silver would be about one-fifth of an ounce (6 grams).

⁶ sn It appears that some standard is in view for the amount of a shekel weight. The sanctuary shekel is sometimes considered to be twice the value of the ordinary shekel. The “gerah,” also of uncertain meaning, was mentioned as a reference point for the ancient reader to understand the value of the required payment. It may also be that the expression meant “a sacred shekel” and looked at the purpose more – a shekel for sanctuary dues. This would mean that the standard of the shekel weight was set because it was the traditional amount of sacred dues (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 333). “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams…Whether an official standard is meant [by ‘sanctuary shekel’] or whether the sanctuary shekel had a different weight than the ‘ordinary’ shekel is not known” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181).

⁷ tn Or “contribution” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah).

⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive “to do it” comes after “sanctuary”; it makes a smoother rendering in English to move it forward, rather than reading “brought for the work.”

⁹ tn Heb “in the morning, in the morning.”

¹⁰ tn The verse simply reads, “and Moses commanded and they caused [a voice] to cross over in the camp.” The second preterite with the vav may be subordinated to the first clause, giving the intent (purpose or result).

¹¹ tn Heb “voice.”

¹² tn The verse ends with the infinitive serving as the object of the preposition: “from bringing.”

¹³ sn The weight would be about half an ounce.

¹⁴ tn Heb “upward.”

¹⁵ tn The phrase “in all” has been supplied.

¹⁶ sn This chapter also will be almost identical to the instructions given earlier, with a few changes along the way.