Matthew Henry on Exodus 25:1-9
We may suppose that when Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and abode there so long, where the holy angels attended the shechinah, or divine Majesty, he saw and heard very glorious things relating to the upper world, but they were things which it was not lawful nor possible to utter; and therefore, in the records he kept of the transactions there, he says nothing to satisfy the curiosity of those who would intrude into the things which they have not seen, but writes that only which he was to speak to the children of Israel. For the scripture is designed to direct us in our duty, not to fill our heads with speculations, nor to please our fancies.
In these verses God tells Moses his inten…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 25:5
badgers' skins--The badger was an unclean animal, and is not a native of the East--rather some kind of fish, of the leather of which sandals are made in the East. [See on Exo 39:34 and Eze 16:10.]
shittim wood--or Shittah (Isa 41:19), the acacia, a shrub which grows plentifully in the deserts of Arabia, yielding a light, strong, and beautiful wood, in long planks.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 25:6
Oil for the light - This they must have brought with them from Egypt, for they could not get any in the wilderness where there were no olives; but it is likely that this and some other directions refer more to what was to be done when in their fixed and settled residence, than while wandering in the wilderness.
Spices - To make a confection for sweet incense, abounded in different parts of these countries.
John Gill on Exodus 25:6
Oil for the light,.... For the light of the lamps in the candlestick: this was oil olive, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, see Exodus 27:20,
spices for anointing oil; for the anointing of Aaron and his sons, and the tabernacle and its vessels, such as pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia:
and for sweet incense; as stacte, onycha, and galbanum; from whence they had this oil and these spices, it is not easy to say, unless they brought them out of Egypt with them; which is likely, since the deserts of Arabia could not furnish them with them.
