Chapter Overview
Summary
Exodus 38 covers the bronze altar of burnt offering (vv. 1–7), the bronze basin (v. 8), the courtyard (vv. 9–20), and an inventory of materials used (vv. 21–31). The material-inventory at the chapter's end preserves the remarkable detail about the bronze basin (v. 8) being fashioned from the mirrors of the women who 'served at the entrance of the tent of meeting' — a tantalizing glimpse of women's liturgical participation in early Israelite cult.
Notable Variants
The 'women who served at the tent of meeting' at 38:8 — one of the Hebrew Bible's most debated texts about women's liturgical roles; the half-shekel census total at 38:25–26 (603,550 males) connecting back to the 30:13 temple-tax system; LXX 38 follows MT numbering here with minor variants.
Structural Notes
LXX 38 corresponds substantially to MT 38 with modest reordering. The LXX's 4–5% overall shortening affects most chapters in 35–40 at the detail level.
He built the altar for burnt offerings from acacia wood — five cubits long, five cubits wide (it was square), and three cubits tall.
Bronze altar construction tracks MT, parallel to 27:1–8.
He made horns at its four corners as one piece with the altar, and overlaid the whole structure with bronze.
Horns at corners track MT.
He produced all the altar's equipment — the pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and fire pans — fashioning everything from bronze.
Bronze altar equipment tracks MT.
He made a bronze mesh grating for the altar, fitting it beneath the ledge so it extended halfway up.
Bronze grating tracks MT.
He cast four rings at the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the carrying poles.
Four rings at grating corners track MT.
He crafted the carrying poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
Acacia carrying-poles track MT.
He slid the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar for carrying it. The altar was built hollow, constructed from planks.
Hollow-plank construction tracks MT.
He fashioned the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
Masoretic (WLC)
וַיַּעַשׂ אֵת הַכִּיּוֹר נְחֹשֶׁת וְאֵת כַּנּוֹ נְחֹשֶׁת בְּמַרְאֹת הַצֹּבְאֹת אֲשֶׁר צָבְאוּ פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ ἐποίησεν τὸν λουτῆρα χαλκοῦν καὶ τὴν βάσιν αὐτοῦ χαλκῆν ἐκ τῶν κατόπτρων τῶν νηστευσασῶν αἳ ἐνήστευσαν παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου
the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who fasted, who fasted beside the doors of the tent of witness
A fascinating LXX-MT divergence. MT: the women 'who served' (tsaveu — 'armies, mustered-for-service'). LXX: the women 'who fasted' (nēsteusasōn). The Hebrew verb tsaba suggests cultic service (analogous to priestly 'host' service); the LXX interpretively reads this as fasting-at-the-tent.
Either reading preserves the remarkable detail that women had an identifiable liturgical role at the entrance of the tent of meeting — women serving (or fasting, or praying) at the sanctuary-threshold.
1 Samuel 2:22 mentions 'women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting' in a context of Eli's sons' abuse — the same LXX-MT divergence of serving/fasting appears. Luke 2:37 (Anna the prophetess 'worshipping night and day with fastings and prayers' at the Temple) draws on this LXX tradition of women's fasting-service at the sanctuary.
He constructed the courtyard. On the south side, the courtyard curtains were of finely twisted linen, spanning one hundred cubits.
Courtyard south side tracks MT.
Their twenty posts and twenty bronze bases had silver hooks and silver bands on the posts.
Twenty posts and bronze bases track MT.
On the north side the curtains also spanned one hundred cubits, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases; the hooks and bands on the posts were silver.
North side tracks MT.
On the west side the curtains spanned fifty cubits, supported by ten posts with ten bases; the hooks and bands on the posts were silver.
West side tracks MT.
The east side measured fifty cubits across.
East side tracks MT.
Curtains spanning fifteen cubits were on one side of the entrance, supported by three posts and three bases.
South-entrance curtains track MT.
On the other side of the courtyard entrance — on both sides of the gate — were curtains of fifteen cubits, with three posts and three bases.
North-entrance curtains track MT.
All the curtains surrounding the courtyard were of finely twisted linen.
Finely twisted linen track MT.
The bases for the posts were bronze, while the hooks and bands were silver. The post capitals were overlaid with silver, and all the courtyard posts were banded with silver.
Bronze bases, silver hooks and bands, track MT.
The screen at the courtyard entrance was embroidered work of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, matching the courtyard curtains.
Courtyard entrance screen tracks MT.
It had four posts with four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, and their capitals and bands were overlaid with silver.
Four posts and bronze bases track MT.
All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and the surrounding courtyard were bronze.
Bronze tent pegs track MT.
This is the inventory of materials for the tabernacle — the tabernacle of the testimony — recorded at Moses's direction, carried out by the Levites under the supervision of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The tabernacle-inventory record under the Levites tracks MT. The 'tabernacle of the testimony' (skēnē tou martyriou) is the LXX's standard designation; Revelation 15:5 ('the temple of the tent of the testimony in heaven,' ho naos tēs skēnēs tou martyriou) directly cites this LXX title.
Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, carried out everything the LORD had commanded Moses.
Bezalel's execution tracks MT.
Working alongside him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan — an engraver, a skilled designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.
Oholiab's collaboration tracks MT.
The total gold used in all the sanctuary construction — the gold from the wave offering — amounted to twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels by the sanctuary standard.
Gold inventory (29 talents and 730 shekels) tracks MT.
The silver collected from those in the community who were counted came to one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels by the sanctuary standard —
Silver inventory (100 talents and 1,775 shekels) tracks MT.
a bekah per person (that is, half a shekel by the sanctuary standard) for everyone who passed through the census, twenty years old or older — totaling 603,550 men.
Masoretic (WLC)
בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ לְכֹל הָעֹבֵר עַל־הַפְּקֻדִים מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה לְשֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים
a bekah per person (that is, half a shekel by the sanctuary standard) — totaling 603,550 men
Septuagint (LXX)
δραχμὴ μία τῇ κεφαλῇ τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ σίκλου κατὰ τὸν σίκλον τὸν ἅγιον
one drachma per head, the half of the shekel by the holy shekel
The 603,550 census total (from 30:11–16 half-shekel collection) appears at Numbers 1:46 and 26:51 with similar totals — the 'census generation' of the wilderness.
The precise census-arithmetic is a striking integration of the 30:13 half-shekel provision with its actual fulfillment: each man counted → half-shekel paid → silver for sanctuary. The LXX preserves the mathematical consistency.
The one hundred talents of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and the bases for the curtain — one hundred bases from one hundred talents, one talent per base.
Silver for the 100 bases tracks MT.
From the remaining one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their capitals, and fashioned bands for them.
Remaining-silver uses track MT.
The bronze from the wave offering totaled seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
Bronze inventory (70 talents and 2,400 shekels) tracks MT.
With this bronze he made the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, its bronze grating, and all the altar's equipment,
Bronze uses — tent-entrance bases, altar, grating, equipment — track MT.
along with the bases around the courtyard, the bases for the courtyard entrance, and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and the surrounding courtyard.
Courtyard bases and tent pegs track MT. The material-inventory closes: the tabernacle is now fully provisioned and constructed.