Exodus 25:22

Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony, of all [things] which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Ver. 22. From between the two cherubims.] Which covered the place from whence the Lord spake, to restrain curiosity.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25:22 I will meet with you there: The Ark was located in the innermost part of the sanctuary (26:33), which was in effect God’s throne room (see study note on Lev 16:2). In a comparable pagan sanctuary, one would find an idol in this location. The Tabernacle had no idol, only a box that physically represented the covenant faithfulness and grace of God. God meets his people in that context, not in the context of idolatry. An idol reflects the belief that a deity is continuous with the created order and that it can be manipulated with the right ritual. It assumes that we can secure blessings from the deity without regard to our own character or commitment. But God is completely distinct from this world, and he cannot be manipulated in any way. He wants to bless us, but those blessings can only be given to those who receive his grace as a gift and surrender to him in trust.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

General Information:

Yahweh continues to speak to Moses.

It is at the ark that I will meet with you

"I will meet with you at the ark." In Exo 25:22 the word "you" is singular and refers to Moses. (See: Forms of You)

atonement lid

This is the lid that sits on top of the ark where the atonement offering was made. See how you translated this in Exodus 25:17.

translationWords

ark of the covenant

atonement

cherub

command

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Or, will appoint with thee.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat--The Shekinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, rested on the mercy seat, and was indicated by a cloud, from the midst of which responses were audibly given when God was consulted on behalf of His people. Hence God is described as "dwelling" or "sitting" between the cherubim.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. And there I will meet with thee] That is, over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. In this place God chose to give the most especial manifestations of himself; here the Divine glory was to be seen; and here Moses was to come in order to consult Jehovah, relative to the management of the people.

Ainsworth has remarked that the rabbins say, "The heart of man may be likened to God's sanctuary; for as, in the sanctuary, the shechinah or Divine glory dwelt, because there were the ark, the tables, and the cherubim; so, in the heart of man, it is meet that a place be made for the Divine Majesty to dwell in, and that it be the holy of holies." This is a doctrine most implicitly taught by the apostles; and the absolute necessity of having the heart made a habitation of God through the Spirit, is strongly and frequently insisted on through the whole of the New Testament. See the note on the following verse.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) There will I meet with thee.—The place of the Shechinah, or visible manifestation of God’s presence, was to be between the two cherubim over the mercy seat. There God would meet His people, “to speak there unto them” (Exo_29:42), either literally, as when He answered inquiries of the high priest by Urim and Thummim, or spiritually, as when He accepted incense, and the blood of offerings, and prayers, offered to Him by the people through their appointed representatives, the priests. It was for the purpose of thus “meeting” His people that the entire tabernacle was designed, and hence its ordinary name was “the Tent of Meeting,” unhappily rendered in the Authorised Version by the “tabernacle of the congregation.” (See Note on Exo_27:21.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. And there I will meet with thee] An explanation (cf. Exo_30:6; Exo_30:36; also, with the people as the object, Exo_29:42-43, Num_17:4) of the term ‘Tent of Meeting’ (see on Exo_27:21), as signifying the appointed place where Jehovah met Moses for the purpose of speaking with him. Not the word used in Exo_3:18, Exo_5:3, which means to ‘meet by chance.’

commune] an archaism for converse, occurring 28 times in AV., and 22 times in RV. (e.g. Gen_18:33; Gen_34:6; Gen_34:8; Gen_34:20). The Heb. is the ordinary word for speak.

from above, &c.] Cf. Num_7:89.

23–30 (cf. Exo_37:10-16). The table of Presence-bread. This was a table of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, 2 cubits (3 ft.) long, one cubit (1½ ft.) broad, and 1½ cubits (2 ft. 3 in.) high. The top,—to judge from that of the Table represented on the Arch of Titus,—was some 6 in. thick; and the sides and ends of this were each decorated with a solid gold moulding running round it, giving them the appearance of panels sunk into the table (see the left end of the top as represented in the fig.). The legs, according to Josephus, were square in the upper, and rounded in the lower half, terminating in claws: they were connected by cross-stays, or frames, about 3 in. broad, probably about half-way down (see fragments of these frames in the fig.), which also had golden mouldings upon them. On the four legs, close by the cross-stays, were four rings, through which poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, were passed, when the table had to be moved. For the service of the table, various dishes and other vessels were provided, all made of gold.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,.... Cover it with a plate of gold, so that the wood was not seen; which may denote either the excellency of Christ's human nature, being pure and spotless, and adorned with the grace of the Spirit of God without measure; or rather of his divine nature, which is the head of Christ, and said to be as the most fine gold, for in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily:

and make thereto a crown of gold round about; that is, on both sides and at both ends; for though it is called a crown, it was a square, and this was both to ornament the table, and to keep from falling off of it what was set upon it. Jarchi says, it was a sign of the crown of the kingdom, for a table signifies riches and greatness, as they say a king's table: and indeed this was the table of the King of kings, who has on his head many crowns, and one must be made upon his table.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

There I will meet with thee; there I will be in a special and gracious manner present with thee.

From between the cherubims, which spreading forth their wings formed a kind of seat, which the Divine Majesty was pleased to possess.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. There I will meet with thee — Here, as also in Exo_29:42-46, we have an intimation of the main idea, symbolized in the tabernacle, namely, the union and communion of Jehovah and his people.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there I will meet with thee. The whole of the foregoing description has been subordinate to this. In all the arrange-meats for the tabernacle God was, primarily and mainly, providing a fit place where he might manifest himself to Moses and his successors. The theocracy was to be a government by God in reality, and not in name only. There was to be constant "communing" between God and the earthly ruler of the nation, and therefore a place of communing. Compare Exo_29:42-45. The special seat of the Divine presence was to be the empty space above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim, and above the ark of the covenant.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ונועדתי AND [THERE] I WILL BE MET [BY THEE] — When I shall appoint you a place of meeting to speak to you that place will I appoint as the place of meeting whither I will come to speak to you.

ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת AND I SHALL SPEAK WITH THEE FROM ABOVE THE COVER — In another passage, however, it says, (Leviticus 1:1) “And God spake unto him out of the appointed tent, saying” — this is that part of the Tabernacle outside the partition veil whilst the ark and the cover were on the other tide of the veil — consequently we have two verses contradicting each other! But there comes a third verse and reconciles them: (Numbers 7:89) “And when Moses came into the appointed tent to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking unto him from off the covering etc.” This verse explains exactly what happened. Moses came into the Tabernacle and as soon as he had passed the entrance a voice fell from heaven to the place on the cover which was between the cherubim, and from there it issued and was heard by Moses in the tent of meeting (outside the Holy of Holies; cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 58 and Rashi on Numbers 7:89).

ואת כל אשר אצוה אותך אל בני ישראל AND OF ALL WHICH I SHALL COMMAND THEE CONCERNING THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — This ו of the word ואת is redundant and without import; there are many sentences similar to this in Scripture. However if you wish to explain this ו the verse must be interpreted as follows: [I shall speak with thee from above the cover] and that which (ואת) I shall speak to you will be everything I shall command thee concerning the children of Israel.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.