Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Exodus 39:1

in Exodus 39

From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made specially woven garments for ministry in the sanctuary, as well as the holy garments for Aaron, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

KJV

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the Lord commanded Moses.

This verse in Exodus 39

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It is said of those that are arrayed in white robes that they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, Rev. vii. Holy garments were not made for men to sleep in, or to strut in, but to do service in; and then they are indeed for glory and beauty.

This site's exposition

they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place

The chapter opens on the phrase it repeats seven times, as the Lord commanded Moses, and the first thing named is cloths of service for the holy place. The Hebrew root behind service here is the one Exodus 1:14 used five times over for the bondage in Egypt, where the people served with rigour. Exodus begins with service to Pharaoh and closes with an order of service to God, and the book is the transfer between them.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

proposed

We have elsewhere set forth how far it was from being an empty pomp, as when the Popish sacrificers now-a-days, in order to acquire dignity, dazzle the eyes of the simple by the splendor of their vestments, and their magnificent paraphernalia; but that rather it was for the purpose of placing before men's eyes all that faith ought to consider in Jesus Christ.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

And all true believers are spiritual priests. The clean linen with which all their clothes of service must be made, is the righteousness of saints: and holiness to the Lord must be so written upon their foreheads, that all who converse with them may see they bear the image of God's holiness.
And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Blue and purple, and scarlet - See this subject largely explained in the notes on Exo 25:4 (note).

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Scripture describes. In verse. how they placed the gold amidst the blue.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 39:2:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וּמִן־and from

    umin-H44801188 times

  • הַתְּכֵ֤לֶתthe violet stuff

    hatekheletH850449 times

  • וְהָֽאַרְגָּמָן֙and the purple

    vehaargamanH71338 times

  • וְתוֹלַ֣עַתand [the] scarlet stuff of

    vetolaatH843843 times

  • הַשָּׁנִ֔יthe scarlet

    hashaniH814442 times

  • עָשׂ֥וּthey made

    ʾasuH62132628 times

  • בִגְדֵי־garments of

    vigdei-H899217 times

  • שְׂרָ֖דwoven material

    seradH82784 times

  • לְשָׁרֵ֣תto serve

    lesharetH833497 times

  • בַּקֹּ֑דֶשׁin the holy place

    bakodeshH6944469 times

  • וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֞וּand they made

    vaiyaasuH62132628 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • בִּגְדֵ֤י[the] garments of

    bigdeiH899217 times

  • הַקֹּ֙דֶשׁ֙the holiness

    hakodeshH6944469 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • לְאַהֲרֹ֔ן[belong] to Aaron

    leaharonH175347 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as

    kaasherH8345497 times

  • צִוָּ֥הhe had commanded

    tzivahH6680494 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • מֹשֶֽׁה׃ פMoses

    moshehH4872765 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

    Hebrews 9:12

    He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 10:4

      because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

    • 1 Peter 1:18–19

      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,

    • Hebrews 9:15

      Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under…

    • Ephesians 1:7

      In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

    • Hebrews 5:9

      And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him

  • Through

    Hebrews 9:25

    Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 9:12

      He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

    • Hebrews 9:7

      But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

  • Through

    Exodus 35:19

    and the woven garments for ministering in the holy place—both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 28:1–43

      “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Exodus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.