Bible chapter guide

Exodus 38

The bronze altar, the basin made from the women's bronze mirrors, and the courtyard hangings are made, and the metals are counted: about twenty-nine talents of gold, a hundred talents of silver from the census money, and seventy talents of bronze.

Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.

What happens in this chapter

Bezalel makes the bronze altar and then the basin and its stand, and the text adds where that bronze came from: the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The courtyard follows, with its linen hangings, sixty pillars and embroidered gate, just as in chapter 27. Then comes an audit, made by Ithamar son of Aaron for the Levites: over twenty-nine talents of gold, a little more than a hundred talents of silver from the half-shekel paid by 603,550 men, and over seventy talents of bronze. The chapter says what each metal became, down to the silver hooks and the bronze tent pegs.

What the lab shows, and where to look

In the Tabernacle lab, open the Bronze Basin: its card mentions the women's mirrors, but its size and its bowl-on-a-stand shape are speculative, since the text gives neither. Priest washing at the basin shows it in use. For the audit, go to Silver Sockets, whose card counts a hundred sockets of a talent each, 96 under the boards and four under the veil pillars, and gives the silver used; then Court Pillars, for the silver hooks and bands made from the remaining 1,775 shekels. The Camp of Israel card gives the same total counted, 603,550.

Questions people ask

Who were the women with the bronze mirrors?

The text says only that they "assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation" (38:8), where the Hebrew verb is the one used for service, and 1 Samuel 2:22 mentions such women at the entrance again at Shiloh. What their service was is not said: some think of practical work or guarding the entrance, while the Greek translation calls them women who fasted there. Since the tent had not yet been set up, some read the verse as describing them by their later role, others as referring to the tent of 33:7.

Plausible

How much metal went into the tabernacle?

By the text's own figures, about 29 talents of gold, 100 of silver and 70 of bronze, plus odd shekels (38:24–29). The silver sum shows that a talent was 3,000 shekels: 603,550 half-shekels make exactly 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. At roughly 30–34 kg a talent that is nearly a tonne of gold, three tonnes or a little more of silver and over two tonnes of bronze; the metric figures depend on the weight of the shekel.

Strongly supported

Why is the number of men the same as in Numbers?

603,550 is also the total of the census in Numbers 1:46, taken a month after the tabernacle was set up. Exodus 30 had tied the half-shekel to a census, so the silver here assumes a count of that size; how the two counts relate in time is not explained. Whether such large numbers mean individual men or smaller units is debated, and the Exodus lab sets out the views.

Textually stated

See it in the Labs

People in this chapter

Ithamar

Places

Courtyard

Also in this chapter

Bronze Altar Bronze Basin Silver Sockets Court Gate Court Pillars, Pegs and Cords About 600,000 men on foot

How sure can we be?

Textually stated
One hundred silver sockets were cast from 100 talents of silver, a talent for each.
Stated directly in the text.
Textually stated
The gate screen was 20 cubits wide and 5 high on four pillars, facing east.
Stated directly in the text.

Explore this chapter in the Knowledge Graph

Read the chapter

King James Version (KJV) Chinese Union Version, 1919 (Wikisource)