Pgs. 571-580

Ch. 38-40

SECTION XXIII.

PEKUDEY.

These are the sums, weights, and numbers of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, which were counted by the word of the mouth of Mosheh. But the service of the Levites was by the hand of Ithamar bar Aharon the priest. And Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, made all that the Lord had commanded Mosheh; and with him, Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan, a worker in wood, and an artificer, and an embroiderer in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, and in fine linen.

All the gold that was used in making the whole work of the sanctuary, and it was the amount of the gold of the oblation, (was) twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, in the shekel of the sanc­tuary. This was the gold of the oblation, which every man of the sons of Israel, whose heart was willing, had offered as a separation. And the silver of them who were numbered of the sons of Israel, who gave at the time when Mosheh numbered them, every one for the redemption of his soul, a hundred talents, and a thousand and seven hundred and seventy and five shekels, of the shekel of the sanctuary. A drachma for (each) head, a half shekel of the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who passed to the numberments, from twenty years and upwards, for six hundred and thirty thousand and five hundred and fifty (men). And there were a hundred talents of silver for casting the bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the veil, a hundred bases, answering to the talents, a talent for a base. And with the thousand and seven hundred and seventy and five shekels, he made hooks for the pillars, and the overlaying of their capitals and their rods. And the brass of the oblation was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. And he made with it the bases of the gate of the tabernacle of ordinance, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar. And the bases of the court round about, and the bases of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

XXXIX. And of the hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, they made the vestments of ministration, to minister in the sanctuary. And they made the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, as the Lord had commanded Mosheh. And he made the ephoda of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and fine linen twined. And they beat out the plates of gold, and cut them into threads to inwork with the hyacinth, and the purple, and the crimson, and the fine linen, the work of the artificer. Shoulderpieces made they for it conjoined; upon its two sides were they conjoined. And its ordered band[1] that was upon it was of the same; it was according to its work, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, even as the Lord had commanded Mosheh. And they wrought the jewels of onyx, enchased, set, inwrought, graved with graven writing, setting forth the names of the sons of Israel. And he set them on the shoulders of the ephoda, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he made the Breastplate, the work of the arti­ficer, according to the work of the ephoda, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined. Foursquare was it; doubled they made the breastplate, a span its length, and a span its breadth. [JERUSALEM. A palm its length, and a palm its breadth, doubled.] And they filled it with four rows of precious gems, (margalyan,) corresponding with the four corners of the world. The first row, carnelian, topaz, and carbuncle, row one: and upon them were engraven and expressed the names of three tribes, Reuben, Shimeon, and Levi. And the name of the second row, smarag, and sapphire, and chalcedony: and upon them was inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Jehudah, Dan, and Naphtali. And the name of the third row, ligure, agate, and amethyst: and upon them inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Gad, Asher, and Issakar. And the name of the fourth row, chrysolite, and onyx, and jasper: and upon them inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin: enchased and set in gold in their infillings. And the gems were according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names; the writing engraven, inscribed, and set forth as the engraving of a ring; each man's gem according to his name in the twelve tribes. And they made upon the breastplate wreathen chains, entwined work, of pure gold. And they made two sockets of gold, and two golden rings, and set the two rings on the two sides of the breastplate. And they put the two entwinements of gold within the two rings upon the two sides of the breastplate, and the two chains that were arranged on the two sides they fastened upon the two sockets, and set them on the shoulders of the ephoda, toward its front. And they made two golden rings and set them upon the two sides of the breastplate, upon its edge, that was on the border of the ephod inward. And they made two golden rings, and arranged them upon the two shoulders of the ephod below, toward its front, over against the place of conjoinment above the band of the ephod, and fitted the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod by a ribbon of hyacinth, that it might adhere to the band of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosened from being upon the ephod, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he made the mantle‑robe, a work of the weaver, of twined thread of hyacinth. And the aperture of the upper robe (was) double in the midst, like the opening of a piece of armour, with a border round about its edge, that it might not be torn. And they made upon the bottom of the upper robe pomegranates of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and (fine linen) entwined. And they made golden bells, and set the bells among the pomegranates upon the border of the mantle‑robe, round about among the pomegranates; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all of them seventy upon the bottom of the upper robe round about to minister in; as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

    And they made the plate of the crown of holiness of pure gold, and wrote upon it, inscribed, engraven, and set forth, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And they set upon it a twined ribbon of hyacinth, to put it upon the tiara above the forehead; as the Lord commanded Mosheh.                                                        

And all the work of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordinance, was completed: and the sons of Israel did as the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did they. And they brought the tabernacle to Mosheh at his house of instruction, (beth Midrash,) where sat Mosheh and his sons, where he gave direction to them concerning the order of the priesthood; and there, and Aharon, (also) sat the elders of Israel. And they brought to him the tabernacle and all its vessels: its taches, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; and the covering of reddened rams' skins, and the covering of purple skins, and the veil that was to be spread; and the ark of the testimony, and its staves, and the mercy-seat, and the kerubaia produced of beaten work of the same, the one here, and the other there; and the table, and all its vessels, and the bread of faces; and the candelabrum, and its lamps, the lamps of order, which were ordained to correspond to the seven stars, that rule in their prescribed places in the firmament by day and by night; and the oil for the lights, and the golden altar, and the consecration oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle; and the brasen altar, and its brasen grate, and its staves, and all its utensils; and the laver, and its base; the curtain‑work of the court, and its pillars, and the bases and the veil of the gate of the court, its cords, and pins, and all the vessels for the service of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of ordinance; and the vestments of ministration for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons, to minister. According to all that the Lord had commanded Mosheh, so had the sons of Israel made all the service, and, behold, they had made it as the Lord had commanded, so had they made it. And Mosheh blessed them, and said, May the Shekinah of the Lord dwell within the work of your hands!

XL. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, On the day of the first month, that is the month of Nisan, on the first of the month, thou shalt rear up the tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordinance. And thou shalt set there the ark of the testimony, and overlay the ark with the mercy seat. And thou shalt bring in the table on the north side, because, from thence are given riches; for from thence distil the drops of the latter rain upon the herbs, for the food of the inhabiters of the world; and thou shalt arrange its orders, two rows of bread, comprising six cakes in a row, answering to the tribes of Jakob. And thou shalt bring in the candelabrum, on the south side, because there are the paths of the sun and of the moon, and the pathways of the luminaries; and thence are the treasures of the wisdom which resembleth the light. And thou shalt kindle the seven lamps, corresponding to the seven stars which resemble the just, who shine unto eternity in their righteousness. And thou shalt place the golden altar for sweet incense before the ark of the testimony; because the wise who are diligent in the law have a perfume fragrant as the sweet incense. And thou shalt set the veil at the gate of the tabernacle; because the righteous so covereth with their righteousness the people of the house of Israel. And thou shalt place the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; because the rich, who spread the table before their doors and feed the poor, shall have their sins forgiven what time they make the offering upon the altar. And thou shalt place the laver between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, and put water therein for the sins of such as convert by repentance, and pour off their perversity like water. And thou shalt place the court round about, because of the merit of the fathers of the world, which encom­passeth the people of the house of Israel round about. And thou shalt set the hanging of the gate of the court on account of the merit of the mothers of the world, which spreadeth at the gate of Gehennam, that none may enter there of the souls of the children of the peo­ple of Israel. And thou shalt take the consecration‑oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt sanctify it, on account of the crown of the kingdom of the house of Jehudah, and of the King Meshiha, who is to redeem Israel at the end of the days. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its ves­sels, and consecrate the altar, that it may be an altar most holy, on account of the crown of the priesthood of Aharon, and his sons, and of Elijah, the great Priest who is to be sent at the end of the captivity. And thou shalt anoint the laver, and its base, and consecrate it, on account of Jehoshua thy minister, chief of the sanhedrin of his people; by whose hand the land of Israel is to be partitioned: and of Meshiha bar Ephraim, who shall spring from him, by whose hand the house of Israel is to vanquish Gog and his confederates at the end of the days.

And thou shalt bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of ordinance, and wash them with water, and clothe Aharon with the holy vestments, and anoint him, and consecrate him; that he may minister before Me. And his sons thou shalt bring near, and dress them with tunics, and anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister before Me; and their consecration shall be for a perpetual priesthood in their generations.

And Mosheh did all that the Lord commanded, so did he. And it was in the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the second year, in the first of the month, that he reared up the tabernacle. And Mosheh reared the tabernacle, and placed its bases, and set its boards, and placed its bars, and reared its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and placed the covering of the tabernacle upon it above, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he took the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which were given to him in Horeb, and set them up for a sign in the House of Instruction: they are the tables of the testimony. And the broken tables (he deposited) in the ark. And he set the staves in the ark, and placed the mercy seat, with the kerubaia that were produced for it of beaten work, upon the ark above. And be brought the ark into the tabernacle and set the veil of the covering and shadowed there with the ark of the testimony, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he placed the table in the tabernacle of ordinance, at the side of the tabernacle northward without the veil, and set in order upon it the rows of bread before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. [JERUSALEM. And he set in order upon it the order of the bread of faces before the Lord.] And he placed the candelabrum in the tabernacle of ordinance, over against the table upon the side of the tabernacle southward, and kindled the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the golden altar in the tabernacle of ordinance before the veil, and burned sweet incense upon it, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the hanging at the gate of the tabernacle. And the altar of burnt offering he placed at the gate of the tabernacle, and offered thereon the burnt offering and the oblation, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the layer upon its foundation between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, and put living water therein for purification, that it may not fail, nor become corrupt all the days. And Mosheh, and Aharon, and his sons, took from it for their ablutions, and sanctified therewith their hands and their feet; at the time they entered into the tabernacle of ordinance, or approached unto the altar, they purified themselves, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and placed the hanging which was for the gate of the tabernacle. And Mosheh completed the work.

Then the Cloud of Glory overspread the tabernacle of ordinance, and the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Mosheh was not able to enter the tabernacle of ordinance, because the Cloud of Glory rested upon it, and the glory of the Lord's Shekinah filled the tabernacle.

At the time when the Cloud of Glory ascended from the tabernacle, the sons of Israel went forward in all their journeys; but if the Cloud of Glory went not up, they did not go forward until the day when it ascended. For the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord overspread the tabernacle by day, and (as) a column of fire it gave light in the night, that all the sons of Israel might see in all their journeys. [JERUSALEM. Because the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord's Shekinah overspread the tabernacle by day, and a fire shined upon it all the nights; all the sons of Israel seeing in all their journeys.]

[1] Or, "girdle of ordination."

END OF THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM

ON THE SEPHER SHEMOTH.