Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:exodus Chapter 40 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of exodus, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Exodus 40
New Revised Standard Version
1The LORD spoke to Moses:
2On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
3You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain.
4You shall bring in the table, and arrange its setting; and you shall bring in the lampstand, and set up its lamps.
5You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.
6You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting,
7and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
8You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.
9Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy.
10You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy.
11You shall also anoint the basin with its stand, and consecrate it.
12Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water,
13and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest.
14You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them,
15and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come. Moses personally sets up and places each item
16Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him.
17In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up.
18Moses set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars;
19and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent over it; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
20He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and set the mercy seat above the ark;
21and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
22He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain,
23and set the bread in order on it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
24He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,
25and set up the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
26He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the curtain,
27and offered fragrant incense on it; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
28He also put in place the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.
29He set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering as the LORD had commanded Moses.
30He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,
31with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.
32When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
33He set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the screen at the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. The climax of the book
34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey;
37but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up.
38For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey. LEVITICUS
207LEVITICUS Introduction The third book of the Torah or Pentateuch is chiefly concerned with matters surrounding the worship of God at his sanctuary. Its English name, Leviticus, which characterizes the book as having to do with matters associated with priests, who are of the tribe of Levi, derives from the early Greek translation. Leviticus is part of the Priestly writings of the Pentateuch. These writings are not from a single hand or tradition. The two main components of the Priestly source in Leviticus are the "Priestly Torah" and the materials from the "Holiness School," which are largely found in chs 17-26, the "Holiness Code," or "Holiness Collection." Material from the Holiness School is found interspersed occasionally in chs 1-16 and to a lesser or greater extent in chapters attributed to the Priestly source in the other books of the Torah. While many scholars have viewed the Holiness School materials as earlier than the Priestly Torah, recent work suggests that Holiness School material often supplements the Priestly Torah material, and therefore postdates it. Though the specific dates of these works are disputed, it is reasonable to assume that the Holiness Collection was produced at the end of the exile (538 BCE) or soon thereafter. The Priestly Torah must have existed before this, and may have been edited in the form taken up by the Holiness School in the early exile (after
586BCE). These dates refer to the editing of these works; in part, they both incorporate earlier, preexilic traditions. Inasmuch as Holiness School supplements Priestly Torah, it depends upon it and accepts its basic perspectives. But it is novel, especially in laying out rationalizations for matters such as sacrifice, holiness, the relationship of God to the people, and the relationship of God and the people to the land. It thus explains many issues that were present, but LEVITICUS
208not explained in the Priestly Torah. The Holiness School updates the Priestly Torah, systematizes it further, and endows it with theological dynamism. (See further the Introduction to the book of Numbers.) HT TH Leviticus has four main sections and displays a logical development. (1) Sacrifice (chs 1-7). This is subdivided into (a) basic prescriptions (1.1-67) and (b) a recapitulation with elements pertinent to priests (6.87.38). This entire section interrupts the narrative flow between the end of the book of Exodus and Leviticus 8-9 in order to outline the customs that the priests and people are about to undertake at the sanctuary. (2) The priestly consecration ceremony and its aftermath (chs 8-16). It has four subdivisions: (a) the seven-day consecration and eighth-day concluding ceremony (chs 8-9), which resumes the narrative at the end of the book of Exodus; (b) the sin of Aaron's sons and rules for priests (ch 10); (c) impurity laws (chs 11-15), which interrupt the narrative flow between chs
10and
16to provide background on impurity, the central concern of the ceremony in ch 16; and (d) the Day of Atonement sanctuary purification ceremony (ch 16). (3) The "Holiness Code" or "Holiness Collection" (chs 17-26). This has five subdivisions: (a) sacrificial law (ch 17), which follows from the subject of ch 16; (b) moral and ethical laws (chs 18-20); (c) priestly and sacrificial rules (chs 21-22); (d) holy occasions (chs 23-25; ch
24interrupts this, giving miscellaneous ritual laws and resuming the narrative left off in chs
10and 16); and (e) blessings and curses (ch 26; these conclude the "Holiness Collection"). Chapters 17-26 roughly follow the outline of chs 1-16: sacrifice (chs 1-7; 17), priestly duties (chs 8-9; 21-22), and holy occasions (chs 16; 23; 25). (4) An appendix dealing with vows and dedications (ch 27). Leviticus is difficult to understand and appreciate since it is technical and presumes knowledge of its ritual system almost at every turn. As the outline above indicates, although there is a narrative that runs through it, this is meager. Most of the book consists of blocks of laws. A first reading might include exemplary chapters: chs 16-17 on sacrifice, ch
8on the priesthood, chs 11-12 on impurity, ch
23on festivals, ch
25on economic laws, and ch
19on ethical concerns. From here, a reader can go on to focus on a particular topic or group of laws, as indicated LEVITICUS
209in the outline. A careful and concentrated exploration of a chapter or group of related chapters, which tries to discover the system inherent in it, can provide the reader with knowledge and a sense of how to read the material that will then elucidate almost any other chapter of Leviticus, as well as similar chapters in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.