Exodus 40:2

Exo 40:2. Thou shalt set up the tabernacle — The time for doing this was, On the first day of the first month — This wanted but fourteen days of a year since they came out of Egypt. Probably the work was made ready just at the end of the year, so that the appointing this day gave no delay. In Hezekiah’s time they began to sanctify the temple on the first day of the first month, 2Ch 29:17. The new moon (which, by their computation, was the first day of every month) was observed by them with some solemnity; and therefore this first new moon of the year was thus made remarkable.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

After that Moses had been 40 days, and 40 nights in the mount, that is, from the beginning of August to the tenth of September, he came down, and caused this work to be done: which being finished, was set up in Abib, which month containeth half March and half April.

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

Verse 2. The first day of the first month] It Is generally supposed that the Israelites began the work of the tabernacle about the sixth month after they had left Egypt; and as the work was finished about the end of the first year of their exodus, (for it was set up the first day of the second year,) that therefore they had spent about six months in making it: so that the tabernacle was erected one year all but fifteen days after they had left Egypt. Such a building, with such a profusion of curious and costly workmanship, was never got up in so short a time. But it was the work of the Lord, and the people did service as unto the Lord; for the people had a mind to work.

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

(2) On the first day of the first month.—The Israelites had quitted Egypt on the fourteenth day of the first month, Abib (Exo_12:6). They had reached the wilderness of Sinai in the course of the third month, Sivan, and encamped in front of Sinai shortly after (Exo_19:1-2). The two long absences of Moses in the Mount had occupied nearly three months, and were separated by an interval probably of several days. It must have been the sixth or seventh month before the work was commenced, and very late in the year—the eleventh or twelfth month—before it was accomplished. Hence, the new year was now approaching, and, as it was approaching, its first day was naturally chosen as most fit for the inauguration of the new structure.

The tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.—Rather, the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. The words mishhan and ‘ohel are in apposition, not in regimen. (So also in Exo_40:6.)

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

2. the first day of the first month] viz. (v. 17) of the second year of the Exodus, nine months since the arrival at Sinai (Exo_19:1).

the Dwelling of the tent of meeting] as Exo_39:32.

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.

On the first day of the first month,.... Which was the month Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; which was the month the children of Israel came out of Egypt, out of which they had now been a whole year, excepting fourteen days:

shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation; the tabernacle, which had a tent or covering over it, to which the people were gathered at times for religious service.

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

See Exo 40:17.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Month of the second year, ver. 15. The first day of every month was kept with some degree of solemnity, though it was not a day of rest. (Numbers xxxiii. 11.; 1 Kings xx. 5.; &c.) (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To wit, of the second year after their coming out of Egypt, as is evident.

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

On the first day of the first month. The first of Abib, or Nisan, the "New Year"s Day" of Israel, coinciding nearly with the opening of the vernal equinox, a very suitable day for the inauguration of a place of worship. The tabernacle was to be set up first of all; then the tent was to be placed over it. See vers. 18, 19.

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

The time for doing this is, On the first day of the first month - This wanted but fourteen days of a year since they came out of Egypt. Probably the work was made ready just at the end of the year, so that the appointing this day gave no delay. In Hezekiah's time they began to sanctify the temple on the first day of the first month, 2 Chron. xxix, 17. The new moon (which by their computation was the first day of every month) was observed by them with some solemnity; and therefore this first new moon of the year was thus made remarkable.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

first month

i.e. April.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH SHALT THOU SET UP THE TABERNACLE OF THE TENT OF MEETING. In the opinion of our Rabbis. who say that this was on the eighth day of the installation [of the priests into their sacred office], must mean “set it up permanently etc.,” the meaning of the verse is: “you are to put up the Tabernacle and it should remain so; do not dismantle it and do not put it up again, for when the camps will move, the Levites will dismantle it and put it up.” It was not necessary that G-d should command Moses now about the putting up of the Tabernacle during the first seven days, since He had told him at the start, And thou shalt set up the Tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which hath been shown thee in the mountain. Now since He explained to him here that On the first day of the first month the setting up of the Tabernacle would be of a permanent nature, Moses thus understood that during [each of] the seven days of installation it would be necessary for him to put it up and to dismantle it. Perhaps this was done in order to train the Levites how to do it, for they would see how he did it and would do likewise. Or it may be that this was done in order to crown the eighth day with this special crown [that the Tabernacle was for the first time not dismantled on that day].It would appear according to the opinion of the Rabbis that on the first seven days Moses put up the Tabernacle each morning, and it remained standing all day and all the following night, and at each dawn he would dismantle it and put it up again immediately, for Scripture says, And at the door of the Tent of Meeting shall ye abide day and night for seven days, and there could be no “door” to the Tent of Meeting except at the time when it was erected., we must therefore conclude that the Tabernacle was dismantled at dawn and put up again immediately. The Sages have already interpreted: 4. “he shall bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting — at the time when it is open, and not when [the Tent of Meeting] is taken to pieces.” Similarly, the Rabbis have said: “Peace-offerings which have been slaughtered before the doors of the Sanctuary were opened are invalid, because it is said, and he shall slaughter it at the door of the Tent of Meeting — at the time it is open, and not when it is locked.” Similarly, “at the Tabernacle, [peace-offerings which were slaughtered] before the Levites put up the Tabernacle, or after the Levites had dismantled it, were invalid.” Moreover, [during the first seven days of installation, Moses] used to sacrifice the Daily Offering of the evening and kindle the lamps at night. And in Vayikra Rabbah, 11. I have seen [the following text]: “Moses used to put up the Tabernacle and dismantle it twice every day. Rabbi Chanina the Great says: three times every day, for [the phrase ‘putting up’ of the Tabernacle] is mentioned three times: thou shalt put up; the Tabernacle was put up; and Moses put up the Tabernacle., Verse 18. Once it was put up for the Daily Offering of the morning, and once for the special offerings of the installation, and once for the Daily Offering of the evening.” It is possible that all this was done for the sake of practice, so that they would know the procedure for putting it up, and which order to follow, but they never left it in a dismantled state at all [during the seven days of installation].And that which Scripture states here, And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle, Verse 34. in the opinion of the Rabbis it refers to the eighth day, for Scripture says, So Moses finished the work, Verse 33. and when he had completed this erection on the first of Nisan, the cloud covered the Tabernacle. Now Rashi has already mentioned the interpretation of the Rabbis: “And they came out and blessed the people. During all the seven days of installation when Moses was putting up the Tabernacle, and officiating therein, and dismantling it, the Divine Glory did not rest upon it, and the Israelites felt ashamed, and they said to Moses: ‘Our master! All the trouble which we have taken was only so that the Divine Glory would dwell amongst us, and that we would know that the sin of the calf has been atoned for!’ Then Moses said to them: ‘My brother Aaron is more worthy and meritorious than I am, and it is through his offerings and service that the Divine Glory will rest upon us.’”And in the Parshath Hamiluim. (the Chapter of the Installation) we find written: “I might think that the Tabernacle was put up on the first of the month of Nisan, and that the Divine Glory did not rest thereon until the eighth day of the month. Scripture therefore says, And on the day that the Tabernacle was put up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, even the Tent of Meeting. This teaches us that on the day the Tabernacle was put up, the Divine Glory rested thereon through the service of Aaron.” Thus the Rabbis are clearly saying that the cloud covering the Tabernacle was on the eighth day of the installation, which was on the first day of Nisan.If this is so, then this whole chapter, in the opinion of the Rabbis, took place on the eighth day of the installation. This is indeed so, because Scripture describes the sequence of events as follows: G-d commanded Moses that the final putting up of the Tabernacle should be on the first day of the first month, and then it states that Moses did so and finished the whole work, Verse 33. [of the seven days of installation], and then [on the eighth day] the cloud covered the tent, Verse 34. and so it was always [henceforth whenever they journeyed and put up the Tabernacle at their new place of encampment]. Then Scripture goes back to the beginning of the communication which came to Moses from the Tent, saying, And He called unto Moses. All this is now in proper order.A kind of proof to what the Rabbis have said, [that during the seven days of installation the Tabernacle was dismantled every day], is what Scripture says, And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle. Now if he did not dismantle it, what sense is there to the expression, the day that he ‘made an end’ of setting up the Tabernacle, since he began and finished all the work in one day? In that case it should rather have said: “and it came to pass on the day that Moses set up the Tabernacle.” Moreover, it says there [with reference to the eighth day], This is the thing which the Eternal commanded that ye should do; and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people., Verse 23. The implication of these verses is that the cloud had not yet covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal did not yet fill the Tabernacle.However it may be, from the first day of the installation G-d communicated to Moses from the Tabernacle all the sections from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus until And it came to pass on the eighth day., 9:1. But the cloud did not cover the Tabernacle, and the people therefore thought that the communication from there to Moses was directly from heaven, just as it was in the land of Egypt. But in the Midrash Chazit I have found the following text: “And it came to pass on the eighth day., 9:1. This really should have been the beginning of the Book of Leviticus. Why then was it written here? Because there is no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah.” Now if this is so, then the chapter beginning And He called unto Moses… out of the Tent of Meeting happened after and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people. And there came forth fire from before the Eternal, and consumed upon the altar; and the communication addressed to Aaron, drink no wine or strong drink, 10:9. took place on the following day, for it is impossible that G-d should speak to Aaron from the Tent of Meeting before He had spoken to Moses., took place on the eighth day of the installation. But I do not know whether this Midrash represents the unanimous opinion of all the Sages, or whether they are the words of a single Sage, for they are mentioned there in the Midrash with reference to Rabbi Yishmael.

THOU SHALT SET UP THE TABERNACLE OF THE TENT OF MEETING. G-d did not explain to Moses in this command the order of putting it up, as it is clearly set forth in the actual construction: and he laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof etc. The reason for His not explaining it here is because He had already shown it to him visually, as He said, And thou shalt put up the Tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which hath been shown thee in the mountain. Similarly, He shortened the account here, saying, And thou shalt put therein the ark of the Testimony, and did not mention and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony, for since He used the phrase: the ark of the Testimony, Moses would understand this, since the ark is only termed “the ark of the Testimony” when the Tablets of the Testimony are in it, and they were already commanded at the beginning, And thou shalt put the ark-cover above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee. It was necessary here to mention it only in order to tell him the order of priority, namely that the putting of the ark with the Tablets [into the Tabernacle] should precede the setting up of all other vessels. Similarly He shortened the account of the table and the candelabrum, since He had already commanded him in what place of the Tabernacle they were to be set up., 26:35. He also shortened the subject of the dressing of Aaron and his sons, saying merely, And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and with reference to Aaron’s sons He said, and thou shalt put tunics upon them, Verse 14. for He had already told and commanded Moses in detail about the order of putting on their garments. Here the intention was only to fix the time of the dressing in its correct order, namely, after the whole Tabernacle had been set up. Of the priestly garments He mentioned only the tunics, because it is with them that the dressing began.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.