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Exodus 39:3

in Exodus 39

They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen—the work of a skilled craftsman.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman.

KJV

And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

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This verse in Exodus 39

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

They did beat the gold into thin plates - For the purpose, as it is supposed, of cutting it into wires (פתילם) or threads; for to twist or twine is the common acceptation of the root פתל pathal. I cannot suppose that the Israelites had not then the art of making gold thread, as they possessed several ornamental arts much more difficult: but in the present instance, figures made in a more solid form than that which could have been effected by gold thread, might have been required.

This site's exposition

he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple

on Exodus 39:2-3

Gold is beaten into thin plates and cut into wires so it can be worked into the blue, the purple, the scarlet and the linen, and this is the only place in Scripture that describes how the thread was made. Adam Clarke argues the Israelites already knew how to draw gold wire, and that a beaten plate gave a more solid figure than a drawn thread would. The metal itself came out of Egypt at Exodus 12:35, where the people asked their neighbours for jewels of silver and gold, and the same gold went into the calf at Exodus 32:3.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

"Cloth of golden tissue is not uncommon on the monuments, and specimens of it have been found rolled about mummies; but it is not easy to determine whether the gold thread was originally interwoven or subsequently inserted by the embroiderer" [TAYLOR].

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

18 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.

  • וַֽיְרַקְּע֞וּand they hammered out

    vayrakeuH7554 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • פַּחֵ֣י[the] thin plates of

    pacheiH6341 →

  • הַזָּהָב֮<the> gold

    hazahavH2091 →389 times

  • וְקִצֵּ֣ץand he cut [them] up

    vekitzetzH7112 →

  • פְּתִילִם֒threads

    petilimH6616 →11 times

  • לַעֲשׂ֗וֹתto work

    laasotH6213 →2628 times

  • בְּת֤וֹךְin among

    betokhH8432 →418 times

  • הַתְּכֵ֙לֶת֙the violet stuff

    hatekheletH8504 →49 times

  • וּבְת֣וֹךְand in among

    uvetokhH8432 →418 times

  • הָֽאַרְגָּמָ֔ןthe purple

    haargamanH713 →38 times

  • וּבְת֛וֹךְand in among

    uvetokhH8432 →418 times

  • תּוֹלַ֥עַת[the] scarlet stuff of

    tolaatH8438 →43 times

  • הַשָּׁנִ֖יthe scarlet

    hashaniH8144 →42 times

  • וּבְת֣וֹךְand in among

    uvetokhH8432 →418 times

  • הַשֵּׁ֑שׁthe fine linen

    hasheshH8336 →41 times

  • מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה[the] work of

    maasehH4639 →236 times

  • חֹשֵֽׁב׃a skillful worker

    choshevH2803 →124 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

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

    Exodus 26:1

    “You are to construct the tabernacle itself with ten curtains of finely spun linen, each with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and cherubim skillfully worked into them.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 25:18

      Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Exodus 36:8–19

      All the skilled craftsmen among the workmen made the ten curtains for the tabernacle. They were made of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim skillfully worked into…

    • Exodus 26:36

      For the entrance to the tent, you are to make a curtain embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen.

    • Exodus 36:35

      Next, he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

    • Exodus 26:31

      Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

  • Through

    Exodus 36:8

    All the skilled craftsmen among the workmen made the ten curtains for the tabernacle. They were made of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim skillfully worked into…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 15:1

      David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

    • 2 Chronicles 3:10

      In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of sculptured work, and he overlaid them with gold.

    • Exodus 35:10

      Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make everything that the LORD has commanded:

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 39 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 39 →