Preface: Once everything has been manufactured and fabricated, the artisans bring the finished work to Moses for inspection. Moses is satisfied with their work.

The Bible Summary of Exodus 39 (in 140 characters or less): They made the ephod, breastplate, tunics, turban and sash for Aaron. Moses saw that it had all been made as the LORD had commanded.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Exodus. This will be the most extensive examination of Exodus 39, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 39:

Introduction

         vv.     1–5           The Construction of the Ephod

         vv.     6–21         The Construction of the Breast Piece and the Mounting of the Stones

         vv.    22–26         The Weaving of the Robe

         vv.    27–29         The Tailoring of the Other Clothing for the Priests

         vv.    30–31         The Plate of the Holy Crown

         vv.    32–43         The Finished Work is Inventoried

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Exodus 39 (by various commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Exodus 39 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Exodus 39

         Introduction         The Prequel of Exodus 39

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Principals of Exodus 39

         Introduction         The Places of Exodus 39

         Introduction         Map of the Exodus Journey (a graphic)

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         Timeline for Exodus 39

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 39

         Introduction         Outlines of Exodus 39 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 39 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Exodus 35–40)

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions (for Exodus 39)

         Introduction 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.       1              Thus Moses did according to all the Lord Had Commanded Him (a graphic)

         v.       1              The Uniform of the High Priest, the finished product (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.       9              Urim and Thummim (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      13              Stones for the Breastpiece (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      18              The Ephod and the Breastpiece (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      21              The Ephod, Breast Piece and Belt (a graphic)

         v.      23              Blue Robe of Jewish High Priest (a graphic)

         v.      24              The Pomegranate in Scripture

         v. 

         v.      26              Pomegranates and Bells (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      30              The Plate of Pure Gold (a graphic)

         v.      30              The Crown of the High Priest and Its Gold Plate (a graphic)

         v. 

         v.      31              The Uniform of the High Priest; the big picture (a graphic)

         v.      31              What Spiritual Uniforms are Proper for Today’s Christian?

         v.      31              Some guy wearing a green overcoat for religious purposes (a graphic)

         v.      31              3 Catholics wearing special clothes (a graphic)

         v.      32              Erection of the Tabernacle and Sacred Vessels (by Gerard Hoet 1728)

         v.      35              The 5 Pieces of Furniture for the Tabernacle that Were Brought to Moses (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      38              The 7 Pieces of Furniture Brought Before Moses (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Exodus 39 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Exodus 39

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Exodus 39

         Summary            Shmoop Summary of Exodus 39

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Exodus 39

         Summary 

         Addendum          The Word of Judgement (from the 2001 Translation)

         Addendum          The Royalty of Jesus Christ (by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Exodus 39

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Exodus 39

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Exodus 39

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Exodus 39

——————————

An Introduction to Exodus 39

I ntroduction: Exodus 39 covers the making of the priestly garments and is a review and a confirmation of the work order issued earlier in Exodus 28 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). There are two things which set this chapter apart from all of the previous chapters: (1) Often, in this chapter, those who are involved with making the priests clothing are described in the plural rather than in the singular. We will see a lot of they constructed this or that. (2) Secondly, we find the phrase, as Y^ehowah commanded Moses occurring over a half dozen times. I must admit that I do not know why it occurs so often here and not as often as the previous chapters. However, this conveniently marks the point at which a new paragraph begins. It is possible that every time we see this phrase, that a different team of weavers and tailors are involved.

Most of Exodus 39 is about making the Ephod and the clothing worn by the priests. The end of Exodus 39 summarizes all that was made for the Tabernacle.

We should appreciate that all of the items found in this chapter have a real meaning. It is not a matter of God (or Moses) coming up with the idea, “Hey, I think it would be cool if we placed something gold right here, and some silver over there.”

The giving of the directives by God, presented in Exodus 28, is nearly identical to the text in this chapter. For Moses, these are two very different experiences. In Exodus 28, God is speaking to Moses and possibly even showing him scale models or visions of what he is to build. In Exodus 39, we actually see the stuff being made (in our mind’s eye we see this). A lot happens to Moses in between Exodus 28 and Exodus 39. He does not see this material as repetitious because these are two very different experiences to him. Again, I have given the example of holding the blueprints of building plans for your new home and examining; and then taking part in the construction of said house. These are two very separate experiences, despite being closely related. It makes perfect sense for Moses, the author of Exodus, to write both chapters. It makes much less sense for some group of authors hundreds of years later to pen both chapters, particularly if none of them have ever even seen the Tabernacle before (it is not on display anywhere when scholars claim Exodus was actually written). And since I am on this topic, let me add that there is no evidence whatsoever of Exodus being written by anyone other than Moses. None. This is a theory (called the JEPD theory) which is clever, but lacking in any actual evidence. It is based upon three foundations: (1) there was no writing done in the time of Moses (which has been shown to be false) and (2) some sections use the name Elohim more often than the name Y^ehowah; and in other chapters, it is the other way around. (3) Prophetical passages like Leviticus 26 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) had to have been written much later because there is no such thing as prophecy (some will admit to this reasoning and some will not).

God always has His people taking a very active part in the (correct) Jewish faith. Obviously, God could have made all of these things and made them appear suddenly before the Israelites, but He did not. Their participation is integral because the choices made by man and his actions are integral to the plan of God.

As an aside, it is this latter reason why some scholars date the gospels as having been written after the 1^st century; prophecy is impossible, there are prophecies in the gospels which are fulfilled in the 1^st century; therefore, the gospels had to be written after the prophecies were fulfilled. People will reason that the information found in the gospel records cannot be true because they are written too long after the fact. Do you see the circular reasoning here? Apart from the skeptics’ theories, there is no evidence that the gospels are written after the 1^st century.

Because so much of the material for this chapter has already been covered, my commentary is going to be limited.

We need to know where this chapter takes place.
The Places of Exodus 39
Place	Description
Mount Sinai Map of the Exodus Journey (a graphic); from Precept Austin (a good resource); accessed June 27, 2020.

Timeline for Exodus

There are a great many graphics to be found in this chapter. These graphics represent someone’s best guess as to what these priestly clothes looked like. The same is true of any graphic from this section of the Bible.

——————————

The Construction of the Ephod

Exodus 28:6–14

The Ephod was somewhat of an article of clothing put under the care of the high priest. He did not wear it all of the time. The king could ask a question of God by calling for the Ephod to be brought to him. It is an interesting key to human nature that this is rarely done. 1Samuel 23:9 30:7

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The comparisons which I do are primarily between the English translations which are taken from the ancient tongues. For the most part, the variances are so minor that I rarely investigate them any further than that.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_Exodus.html and first published in 1862.

Occasionally, there is an obvious error in the English translation, and I correct those without additional mention or footnoting. For instance, the online version of the Targum of Onkelos which I use has gorund in Ex. 4:9; I simply corrected the text. This may occur once or twice in a chapter.

I attempt to include translations which are different in their vocabulary and phrasing. On many occasions, I may include a translation which is not substantially different than another listed translation.

Most of the translations can be found here.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And from the violet and the purple and dye of the scarlet, they made garments of a braided work to serve in the holy [place]. And so they make garments of the holiness which [are] for Aaron, as which commanded Y^ehowah Moses.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and fine linen, the vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Mar-Yah commanded Mosha.

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     And they made garments of ministry of blue and of purple and of fine white linen dyed scarlet to minister in Holiness and they made garments of holiness for Ahron as LORD JEHOVAH commanded Moshe.

Samaritan Pentateuch           And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy [place], and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses. This is Exodus 39:2 in the Samaritan Pentateuch

Updated Brenton (Greek)       .And the blue that was left, and the purple, and the scarlet they made into garments of ministry for Aaron, so that he should minister with them in the sanctuary;.. (Exodus 39:13)

Significant differences:           Generally speaking, throughout this chapter, these verses get more and more out of whack, with regards to the verse numbering matching up. This is very much a repetition of Exodus 28, and it is possible that many generations found this repetition to be boring. It is not impossible to imagine that, ancient translations and ancient manuscripts lost words, verses, phrases; and got numerically mismatched for this reason.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And from the needlework of blue and purple and red they made the robes used for the work of the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

Easy English                          The clothes for the priests

The workers used blue, purple and red material to make beautiful clothes for the priests. They would wear them when they served God in the Holy Place. They made these special clothes for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Easy-to-Read Version–2002  The workers used the blue, purple, and red yarn to make special clothes for the priest to wear when they served in the {Lord’s} holy place. They also made the special clothes for Aaron like the Lord had commanded Moses.

Good News Bible (TEV)         With the blue, purple, and red wool they made the magnificent garments which the priests were to wear when they served in the Holy Place. They made the priestly garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Message                         Vestments. Using the blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, they made the woven vestments for ministering in the Sanctuary. Also they made the sacred vestments for Aaron, as God had commanded Moses.

Names of God Bible               The Holy Clothes

From the violet, purple, and bright red yarn they made special clothes worn for official duties in the holy place. They also made the holy clothes for Aaron. They followed Yahweh’s instructions to Moses.

NIRV                                      The Clothes for the Priests

The workers made clothes from the blue, purple and bright red yarn. The clothes were worn by the priests who served in the holy tent. The workers also made sacred clothes for Aaron. They made them just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             Exodus 39

Israel finishes tent worship center

Making the priests clothes

Artisans skilled in fabric made beautifully tailored clothes for priests who ministered in the tent worship center’s main room: the Sacred Room. Fabric colors were blue, purple, and crimson. Artisans also made Aaron’s high priestly clothes, as Moses instructed.

Contemporary English V.       Beautiful priestly clothes were made of blue, purple, and red wool for Aaron to wear when he performed his duties in the holy place. This was done exactly as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Living Bible                     Then, for the priests, the people made beautiful garments of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth—garments to be used while ministering in the Holy Place. This same cloth was used for Aaron’s sacred garments, in accordance with the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    Making the Clothes of the Religious Leader

They used the blue, purple and red cloth for the well-made clothing for those working in the holy place. They made the holy clothing for Aaron, just as the Lord had told Moses.

New Living Translation           Clothing for the Priests

The craftsmen made beautiful sacred garments of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth—clothing for Aaron to wear while ministering in the Holy Place, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Unlocked Dynamic Bible        .

Unfolding Bible (simplified)    Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled workmen made the beautiful clothes for Aaron to wear while he did his work as a priest in the holy place. They made them from blue, purple, and red woolen cloth, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          And from what was left over of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made into garments for the services of Aaron, so that he could officiate in them in the Holy Place, as the Lord had instructed Moses.

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           Making the priests’ clothing

They used the blue, purple, and deep red yarns to make the woven clothing for those ministering as priests in the sanctuary. They made the holy clothes for Aaron as the Lord had commanded Moses.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Besellel made vestments, too, of blue and purple, scarlet and lawn, for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy place, as the Lord had prescribed them to Moses.

Translation for Translators                                 They made the sacred clothes for Aaron

Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled workmen made the beautiful clothes for Aaron to wear while he did his work as a priest in the Holy Place. They made them from blue, purple, and red cloth, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Christian Standard Bible        Making the Priestly Garments

They made specially woven [Hb obscure] garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  And of the azure, and purple, and blue-red, they made the service robes, to serve in the sanctuary, as well as the holy robes for Aaron, as the EVER-LIVING commanded to Moses.

International Standard V        The Priestly Garments

From the blue, purple, and scarlet material they made finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, and they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Lexham English Bible            And from the blue and the purple and the crimson yarns they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, and they made the holy garments that were for Aaron, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    With the blue, purple, and scarlet wool, they made finely-woven garments for service in the holy place. They made Aaron's garments for the holy place, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Urim-Thummim Version         From the blue, purple, and scarlet, they fashioned clothes of braided work for the service in the Holy Place, and fashioned the Holy garments for Aaron as YHWH commanded Moses.

Wikipedia Bible Project          And from the cyan and magenta and second-weave, they made pleated garments for holy service. And they made the holy clothing, which are for Aaron, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  From the purple wool, violet shade and red, the crimson wool, and the fine linen they made beautiful priestly vestments for service in the sanctuary. They made the sacred vestments for service for Aaron, as Yahweh had directed Moses.

The Heritage Bible                 And of the blue, and purple, and bright crimson, they made cloths of needlework to do service in the sanctuary, and made the holy garments for Aaron, what Jehovah commanded Moses.

New American Bible(2011)    The Priestly Vestments.

With violet, purple, and scarlet yarn were woven the service cloths for use in the sanctuary, as well as the sacred vestments^a for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

a. [39:1] Ex 31:10.

New Jerusalem Bible             From the violet-purple, red-purple and crimson materials, they made the liturgical vestments for service in the sanctuary. They made the sacred vestments for Aaron, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

Revised English Bible–1989   They used violet, purple, and scarlet yarn in making the stitched vestments for ministering in the sanctuary and in making the sacred vestments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made the garments for officiating, for serving in the Holy Place; and they made the holy garments for Aharon, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

Hebraic Roots Bible               And from the blue and the purple and the crimson they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary. And they made the holy garments which were for Aaron, as YAHWEH commanded Moses.

Kaplan Translation                 From the sky-blue, dark red and crimson wool, they made the packing cloths for sacred use. They [also] made the sacred vestments for Aaron, as God had commanded Moses. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

The Scriptures–2009              And of the blue and purple and scarlet material they made woven garments, to do service in the set-apart place. And they made the set-apart garments which were for Aharon, as יהוה had commanded Mosheh.

Tree of Life Version                Next they made woven garments of blue, purple and scarlet, for ministering in the holy place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as Adonai commanded Moses.

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Alpha & Omega Bible            AND THE BLUE THAT WAS LEFT, AND THE PURPLE, AND THE SCARLET THEY MADE INTO GARMENTS OF MINISTRY FOR AARON, SO THAT HE SHOULD MINISTER WITH THEM IN THE SANCTUARY;... (Exodus 39:13)

Awful Scroll Bible                   From the violet, magenta, crimson and scarlet, they are to have made the garments, a braided work, for to minister in that set apart, even was he to make the designated garments for Aaron; as Sustains To Become is to have given charge to Moses.

Concordant Literal Version    From the blue, the purple and the double dipped-crimson they made colored garments for ministering in the holy place. They made the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as Yahweh had instructed Moses.

exeGeses companion Bible   CONSTRUCTION OF THE CLOTHES

And of the blue and purple and scarlet

they work clothes of stitching

to minister in the holies;

and work the holy clothes for Aharon;

as Yah Veh misvahed Mosheh.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And from the turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, they made bigdei serad (elaborately woven garments) for service in HaKadosh, and made Bigdei Hakodesh for Aharon; as Hashem commanded Moshe.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                The Priestly Garments

Moreover, from the blue and purple and scarlet fabric, they made finely woven garments for serving and ministering in the Holy Place; they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Expanded Bible              Clothes for the Priests

They used blue, purple, and ·red [scarlet] thread to make woven clothes for the priests to wear when they ·served [ministered] in the Holy Place. They made the holy clothes for Aaron as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-7

The Ephod and its Girdle

And of the blue and purple and scarlet, the fine woven fabrics which they had made, they made cloths of service, to do service in the Holy Place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses. This included all the vestments and paraments in use in the Tabernacle.

The Voice                               For the priests who served in the holy place, they decorated finely woven garments with blue, purple, and scarlet thread donated by the people. They also made the sacred garments Aaron was to wear, exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

Bible Translations with Many Footnotes:

The Complete Tanach           And out of the blue, purple, and crimson wool they made the meshwork garments to serve in the Holy, and they made Aaron's holy garments, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

NET Bible®                             The Making of the Priestly Garments

From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.¹

^1sn This chapter also will be almost identical to the instructions given earlier, with a few changes along the way.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. And <of the blueˎ and the purpleˎ and the crimson> made they cloths of variegated stuffˎ for ministering in the sanctuary,—and they made the holyʹ garments which were for Aaron,—

As Yahweh commanded Moses.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans....and from the blue, and the purple, and the kermes of the scarlet they (made) the garments of braided work, to minister in the special place, and they (made) the garments of specialness which are (for) "Aharon ^{Light bringer}", <just as> "YHWH ^{He Is}" directed "Mosheh ^{Plucked out}",...

Charles Thomson OT            And what was left of the blue and purple and scarlet yarn they made up into sacerdotal garments for Aaron to minister in them, as a priest in the sanctuary. (Exodus 39:13)

Literal Standard Version        And of the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, they made colored garments, to minister in the holy place; and they make the holy garments which [are] for Aaron, as YHWH has commanded Moses.

Modern Literal Version 2020  And of the blue and purple and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place and made the holy garments for Aaron, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

New American Standard B.    The Priestly Garments

Now from the violet [Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch], purple, and scarlet material they made finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, as well as [Lit and they made] the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Niobi Study Bible                   Making the Garments of the Priesthood and How They Were Dressed
And of the blue and purple and scarlet they made clothes of service to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Updated Bible Version 2.17   And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

A Voice in the Wilderness      Of the violet, purple, and scarlet thread they made woven garments, to serve in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Webster’s Bible Translation  And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made clothes of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Young’s Updated LT             And of the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, they made coloured garments, to minister in the sanctuary; and they make the holy garments which are for Aaron, as Jehovah has commanded Moses.

The gist of this passage:     Moses oversaw the making of the garments for the priests.

Translation: From the [remaining] violet, purple and scarlet-dyed [materials], Bezalel and Aholiab [lit., they] made carefully constructed garments to serve in the holy place.

God gave Moses the particular instructions, but Moses was to employ men with special skills in order to do that things necessary for the worship to be done by the Hebrew people.

It appears that the clothing worn by most people was fairly basic and simple, with very little color.

These royal colors would cause a person to stand out, just as the clothing of a king or other royalty might stand out.

Translation: They made [these] holy garments which [are] for Aaron [and his sons],...

Aaron would act as the first High Priest; and the garments made were primarily for him; but there would be additional clothing designed for his sons.

Translation: ...just as Y^ehowah commanded Moses.

God was very specific about these things in His instructions to Moses.

Thus Moses did according to all the Lord Had Commanded Him (a graphic); from A Little Perspective; accessed June 26, 2020.

Exodus 39:1 From the [remaining] violet, purple and scarlet-dyed [materials], Bezalel and Aholiab [lit., they] made carefully constructed garments to serve in the holy place. They made [these] holy garments which [are] for Aaron [and his sons], just as Y^ehowah commanded Moses. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

I have often played devil’s advocate with myself as I study these books of the Torah, and suggest to myself, what if Moses just made this stuff up? I do not discuss this very often as I go through these books, but I develop scenarios in mind, what if Moses just kept making this stuff up about these words from God?

First of all, apart from what we have read in the first half of Exodus, Moses would have had no standing with the Hebrew people. He essentially came out of nowhere and had to establish his authority in some way. The first half of Exodus tells us how God established his authority, both with the Hebrew people and with the Egyptian pharaoh.

Secondly, despite what critics claim, nowhere do we have a set of laws like the Ten Commandments. They are succinct and cover most everything. The other laws, which provide protection for a people during a time of no refrigeration; which define the Messiah; and which provide a governmental structure which lasted a thousand years. No doubt, Moses is a genius, but is he able to really look into the future and talk about the Messiah and provide numerous types for our Lord? Who is really able to do that, except God?

The Uniform of the High Priest, the finished product (a graphic); from Pinterest; accessed June 28, 2020.

This next chapter will go into great detail about the uniform worn by Aaron and his sons. This graphic will help you to be prepared for the parts outfit of this that we will study.

Exodus 39:1 Bezalel and Aholiab carefully made garments to be used by the priests in the holy Tabernacle, making use of the remaining material dyed violet, purple and scarlet (royal colors). They made these set-apart garments for Aaron and his sons, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses for them to do. (Kukis paraphrase)

The priests, who represent man before God, will wear colors of royalty and dignity. This is not because of their association with man but because they appear before God.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he makes the ephod [from] gold, violet, and purple and a dye of scarlet and fine linen twisted. And so they beat out plates of gold and he has cut off threads to make in a midst of violet and in a midst of purple and in a midst of dye of scarlet and in a midst of fine linen twisted, a work being thought out. Shoulder pieces he has made for him joined upon two of his ends he joined [them] together.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, With embroidered work, and he cut thin plates of gold, and drew them small into threads, that they might be twisted with the woof of the foresaid colours, And two borders coupled one to the other in the top on either side.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman. They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together.

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     And they made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and fine linen dyed scarlet and fine woven white linen. And they beat out thin metal leaves of gold and they cut threads to pass through inside the blue and within the purple and within the fine linen of scarlet and within the fine white linen, the work of a craftsman. They made shoulder pieces for it, joined by joining its two sides.

Samaritan Pentateuch           And he made the ephod [of] gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut [it into] wires, to work [it] in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, [with] cunning work. They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple [it] together: by the two edges was it coupled together. (Vv. 3–5)

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And he made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen twined. And the plates were divided, the threads of gold, so as to interweave with the blue and purple, and with the spun scarlet, and the fine linen twined, they made it a woven work; shoulder pieces joined from both sides, a work woven by mutual twisting of the parts into one another. (Exodus 36:9–11)

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             The ephod he made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen;  Hammering the gold into thin plates and cutting it into wires to be worked into the blue and the purple and the red and the linen by the designer.  And they made two bands for joining its edges together at the top of the arms.

Easy English                          The ephod

The workers used gold, and blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen, to make the ephod. They used a hammer to hit the gold to make thin pieces. Then they cut these pieces into narrow strings. A worker with special skills used the gold strings to make the blue, purple and red material, and the good linen, look very beautiful. The workers fixed pieces of cloth on the two edges of the ephod. These pieces went over the priest's shoulders to join the front and the back parts of the ephod.

Easy-to-Read Version–2002  They made the Ephod [455] from gold thread, fine linen, [456] and blue, purple, and red yarn. (They hammered the gold into thin strips. Then they cut the gold into long threads. And they wove the gold into the blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen. This was the work of a very skilled person.) They made the shoulder pieces for the Ephod. They tied these shoulder pieces to the two corners of the Ephod.

God’s Word™                         They made the ephod out of fine linen yarn and gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn. They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut them up. They twisted the gold into threads, which they creatively worked into each strand of the violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and throughout the fine linen. They made two shoulder straps attached at the top corners so that the ephod could be fastened.

Good News Bible (TEV)         They made the ephod of fine linen; blue, purple, and red wool; and gold thread.  They hammered out sheets of gold and cut them into thin strips to be worked into the fine linen and into the blue, purple, and red wool.  They made two shoulder straps for the ephod and attached them to its sides, so that it could be fastened.

The Message                         Ephod. They made the Ephod using gold and blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and finely twisted linen. They hammered out gold leaf and sliced it into threads that were then worked into designs in the blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine linen. They made shoulder pieces fastened at the two ends.

NIRV                                      The Linen Apron

The workers made the linen apron. They made it out of thin gold wire, and of blue, purple and bright red yarn, and of finely twisted linen. They hammered out thin sheets of gold. They cut it into thin wire. Then they sewed it into the blue, purple and bright red yarn and fine linen. Skilled workers made it. The workers made shoulder straps for the apron. The straps were joined to two of its corners.

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             Bezalel made Aaron’s apron out of gold and fine linen in blue, purple, and crimson. Artisans hammered gold into thin sheets, which they cut into threads. An expert embroiderer used the golden threads to weave designs in the fabric, alongside threads of blue, purple, and crimson. V. 4 will be placed with the next passage for context.

Contemporary English V.       The entire priestly vest was made of fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Thin sheets of gold were hammered out and cut into threads that were skillfully woven into the vest. It had two shoulder straps to support it and a sash that fastened around the waist.

The Living Bible                     The ephod was made from this cloth too, woven from fine-twined linen thread. Bezalel beat gold into thin plates and cut it into wire threads, to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet linen; it was a skillful and beautiful piece of workmanship when finished. V. 4 will be placed with the next passage for context.

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    Making the Linen Vest

Bezalel made the linen vest of gold and blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen. They beat the gold into plates. Then they cut them into strings to be sewed in with the blue, purple and red cloth and the fine linen, the work of an able workman. They made shoulder pieces for the linen vest, joined at its two top ends.

New Living Translation           Making the Ephod

Bezalel [Hebrew He; also in 39:8, 22.] made the ephod of finely woven linen and embroidered it with gold and with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. He made gold thread by hammering out thin sheets of gold and cutting it into fine strands. With great skill and care, he worked it into the fine linen with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. V. 4 will be placed with the next passage for context.