¹tn Heb “to do them.”
²tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
³tn The word is vd#q) (qodes), “holiness.” Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (p. 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
⁴sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor l^e Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-206; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.
⁵sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not a work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. But the Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-317.
⁶tn Heb “dwelling places.”
⁷sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7).
⁸sn The book now turns to record how all the work of the sanctuary was done. This next unit picks up on the ideas in Exod 31:1-11. But it adds several features. The first part is the instruction of God for all people to give willingly (35:4-19); the next section tells how the faithful brought an offering for the service of the tabernacle (35:20-29); and the next section tells how God set some apart with special gifts (35:30-35), and finally, the narrative reports how the faithful people of God enthusiastically began the work (36:1-7).
⁹tn Heb “from with you.”
¹⁰tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.
¹¹tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object; but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”
¹²tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.
¹³tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
¹⁴tn Heb “and stones.”
¹⁵tn Heb “filling.”
¹⁶tn The construction is “wise of heart”; here also “heart” would be a genitive of specification, showing that there were those who could make skillful decisions.
¹⁷tn Heb “and.” In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style.
¹⁸tn Heb “and.”
¹⁹tn Heb “and.”
²⁰tn “for” has been supplied.
²¹tn Heb “and.”
²²tn Heb “and.”
²³tn Heb “man.”
²⁴tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.
²⁵tn The clause includes “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).
²⁶tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.
²⁷tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (p. 1017).
²⁸tn Heb “all gold utensils.”
²⁹tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made.
³⁰tn The text uses a relative clause with a resumptive pronoun for this: “who was found with him,” meaning “with whom was found.”
³¹tn The conjunction here is translated “or” because the sentence does not intend to say that each person had all these things. They brought what they had.
³²tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
³³tn Here “them” has been supplied.
³⁴tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without as much difference what had just been said.
³⁵sn Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (p. 458). It is unlikely that they had a good deal of wood in their tents.
³⁶tn Here “it” has been supplied.
³⁷tn Here too the text has “wisdom of heart,” which means that they were skilled and could make all the right choices about the work.
³⁸tn The text simply uses a prepositional phrase, “with/in wisdom.” It seems to be qualifying “the women” as the relative clause is.
³⁹tn Heb “and stones of the filling.”
⁴⁰tn Here “them” has been supplied.
⁴¹tn Heb “by the hand of.”
⁴²tn Or “chosen.”
⁴³tn Heb “to set.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.
⁴⁵sn The expression means that God has given them the ability and the desire to teach others how to do the work. The infinitive construct “to teach” is related to the word Torah, “instruction, guide, law.” They will be able “to direct” others in the work.
⁴⁶tn The expression “wisdom of heart,” or “wisdom in heart,” means artistic skill. The decisions and plans they make are skilled. The expression forms a second accusative after the verb of filling.
⁴⁷tn The expression “all the work” means “all kinds of work.”
⁴⁸tn Here “They are” has been supplied.
⁴⁹tn Heb “doers of all work.”
⁵⁰tn Heb “designers of designs.”