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Exodus 40:3

in Exodus 40

Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil.

KJV

And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.

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This verse in Exodus 40

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

put therein the ark of the testimony

on Exodus 40:3-5

The order of the command runs from the inside out. The ark goes in first and the vail covers it before anything else is placed, then the table and the candlestick, then the altar of gold for the incense, then the hanging at the door. Most of what is arranged here stands in two rooms closed to everyone outside the priesthood.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And thou shall put therein the ark of the testimony,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH SHALT THOU SET UP THE TABERNACLE OF THE TENT OF MEETING. In the opinion of our Rabbis. Sifra, beginning of Seder Shemini.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Exodus 40:2:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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. 4 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

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.

  • וְשַׂמְתָּ֣and you will put

    vesamtaH7760 →584 times

  • שָׁ֔םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • אֵ֖ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • הָעֵד֑וּתthe testimony

    haedutH5715 →59 times

  • וְסַכֹּתָ֥and you will cover

    vesakotaH5526 →24 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאָרֹ֖ןthe ark

    haaronH727 →202 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃the curtain

    haparokhetH6532 →25 times

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

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Hebrews 9:4containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.6 worksNumbers 4:5Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.5 worksExodus 35:12the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it;5 worksExodus 40:21Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him.5 worksRevelation 11:19Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.4 worksHebrews 9:3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Leviticus 16:14And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.3 worksExodus 25:22And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.3 worksExodus 40:20–21Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.3 worksPsalms 78:5For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,3 worksExodus 25:10And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.2 worksExodus 36:35–36Next, he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.2 worksExodus 26:33–34And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.2 worksExodus 37:1–9Bezalel went on to construct the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.2 worksExodus 26:31Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.2 worksExodus 38:21This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.2 worksExodus 27:21In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites for the generations to come.2 worksExodus 30:6Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.2 works

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 25:22

    And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 29:42–43

      For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

    • Numbers 7:89

      When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony.…

    • Isaiah 37:16

      “O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

  • Through

    Revelation 11:19

    Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake,…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 16:21

      And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.

    • Ezekiel 38:22

      I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

    • Revelation 15:5–8

      After this I looked, and the temple—the tabernacle of the Testimony—was opened in heaven.

    • Revelation 4:5

      From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven Spirits of God.

  • Through

    Exodus 35:12

    the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it;

    it leads to

    • Exodus 25:10–22

      And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

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 40 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Exodus 40 →