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Exodus 37:6

in Exodus 37

He constructed a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And he made a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

KJV

And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

This verse in Exodus 37

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

he made the mercy seat of pure gold

on Exodus 37:6-9

The mercy seat is solid gold rather than wood overlaid with gold, and it is the one piece of furniture given a length and a breadth with no height, here and at the command in 25:17. The cherubims are beaten out of that same piece, so the guards and the seat are a single object, and their faces are turned inward and down toward it. Cherubims stood at the east of Eden in Genesis 3:24 keeping the way, and here they look at the place where blood is put. The Septuagint renders mercy seat with the Greek hilasterion, the word Romans 3:25 uses of Christ, and Hebrews 9:5 calls these the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

made the mercy seat of pure gold--To construct a figure, whether the body of a beast or a man, with two extended wings, measuring from two to three feet from tip to tip, with the hammer, out of a solid piece of gold, was what few, if any, artisans of the present day could accomplish.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

He made the mercy-seat - See this described Exo 25:17 (note).

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he made

    vaiyaasH62132628 times

  • כַּפֹּ֖רֶתan atonement cover of

    kaporetH372727 times

  • זָהָ֣בgold

    zahavH2091389 times

  • טָה֑וֹרpure

    tahorH288994 times

  • אַמָּתַ֤יִם[was] two cubits

    ʾamatayimH520247 times

  • וָחֵ֙צִי֙and a half

    vachetziH2677125 times

  • אָרְכָּ֔הּlength its

    ʾarekahH75395 times

  • וְאַמָּ֥הand [was] a cubit

    veamahH520247 times

  • וָחֵ֖צִיand a half

    vachetziH2677125 times

  • רָחְבָּֽהּ׃breadth its

    rachebahH7341101 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Titus 2:14

    He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 9:14

      how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

    • Ephesians 2:10

      For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

    • 1 Peter 2:9

      But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

    • 1 Peter 1:18

      For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

    • Titus 3:8

      This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable…

  • Through

    Romans 3:25

    God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

    it leads to

    • Romans 3:23–24

      for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

    • 1 Peter 1:18–20

      For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

    • 1 John 4:10

      And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

About Exodus

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.