Exodus 38:8
in Exodus 38Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the ministering women that ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.
KJV
And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
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This verse in Exodus 38
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHe made the laver - See Clarke’s note on Exo 30:18, etc. The looking-glasses - The word מראת maroth, from ראה raah, he saw, signifies reflectors or mirrors of any kind. Here metal, highly polished, must certainly be meant, as glass was not yet in use; and had it even been in use, we are sure that looking - Glasses could not make a Brazen laver. The word therefore should be rendered mirrors, not looking-glasses, which in the above verse is perfectly absurd, because from those maroth the brazen laver was made.
This site's exposition
made the laver of brass
The laver is the only vessel in the tabernacle whose material is traced to the people who gave it, and the verse names the women assembling at the door and then says nothing further. Exodus 30:18 commanded a laver of brass and gave neither its size nor its source, so this line supplies what the instruction left out and still gives no measurement. The same phrase for women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle returns at 1 Samuel 2:22, where it describes a standing service at the entrance rather than a crowd passing by. Matthew Henry reads the gift as women parting with the metal they had used to look at themselves in, and Adam Clarke argues the word means polished mirrors, since glass did not yet exist and could not have been cast into a laver.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
For Moses places the bronze laver in which the priests ought to be washed and enter the holy of holies, because the law of God first commands us to be washed through compunction, so that our uncleanness may not be unworthy for penetrating the purity of God's secrets.
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
This wisdom results from many mysteries of the Scriptures, as out of many mirrors there results a multiplication of light rays and fires. These are the "mirrors of the women" out of which "the bronze laver" was made; this is Scriptures, "with faces unveiled, reflecting …
But then we truly preach right things to others if we show our words by deeds, if we ourselves are pierced with divine love, and wash with tears the daily stains of human life, which can in no way pass without fault. But then we are truly pierced with compunction about ourselves if we carefully consider the deeds of the fathers who went before, so that from beholding their glory, our own life may become vile in our own eyes.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass,....
This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the looking-glasses (or mirrors) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See the marginal reference. The women who assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting were most probably devout women who loved the public service of religion. The giving up of their mirrors for the use of the sanctuary was a fit sacrifice for such women to make (compare Exo 35:22 note).
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֗עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכִּיּ֣וֹר | hakiyor | the laver | H3595 → | 23 times |
| נְחֹ֔שֶׁת | nechoshet | bronze | H5178 → | 140 times |
| וְאֵ֖ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כַּנּ֣וֹ | kano | base its | H3653 → | 17 times |
| נְחֹ֑שֶׁת | nechoshet | bronze | H5178 → | 140 times |
| בְּמַרְאֹת֙ | bemarot | with [the] mirrors of | H4759 → | |
| הַצֹּ֣בְאֹ֔ת | hatzoeot | the serving [women] | H6633 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צָֽבְא֔וּ | tzaveu | they served | H6633 → | |
| פֶּ֖תַח | petach | [the] entrance of | H6607 → | 164 times |
| אֹ֥הֶל | ʾohel | [the] tent of | H168 → | 345 times |
| מוֹעֵֽד׃ ס | moed | meeting | H4150 → | 223 times |
וַיַּ֗עַשׂand he made
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
הַכִּיּ֣וֹרthe laver
hakiyorH3595 →23 times
נְחֹ֔שֶׁתbronze
nechoshetH5178 →140 times
וְאֵ֖תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כַּנּ֣וֹbase its
kanoH3653 →17 times
נְחֹ֑שֶׁתbronze
nechoshetH5178 →140 times
בְּמַרְאֹת֙with [the] mirrors of
bemarotH4759 →
הַצֹּ֣בְאֹ֔תthe serving [women]
hatzoeotH6633 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
צָֽבְא֔וּthey served
tzaveuH6633 →
פֶּ֖תַח[the] entrance of
petachH6607 →164 times
אֹ֥הֶל[the] tent of
ʾohelH168 →345 times
מוֹעֵֽד׃ סmeeting
moedH4150 →223 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Luke 2:37and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 5:5
The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
- Psalms 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
- Acts 14:23
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
- Psalms 27:4
One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the…
- Acts 13:3
And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
- 1 Timothy 5:5
Through
1 Timothy 5:5The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
it leads to
- Luke 2:37
and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
- 1 Timothy 5:3
Honor the widows who are truly widows.
- 1 Corinthians 7:32
I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
- Luke 2:37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.