1 And he maketh the altar of burnt-offering of shittim wood, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth (square), and three cubits its height ;
2 and he maketh its horns on its four corners ; its horns have been of the same ; and he overlayeth it with brass ;
3 and he maketh all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the sprinkling-pans, the forks, and the fire-pans ; all its vessels he hath made of brass.
4 And he maketh for the altar a brazen grate of net-work, under its border beneath, unto its midst ;
5 and he casteth four rings for the four ends of the brazen grate — places for bars ;
6 and he maketh the staves of shittim wood, and overlayeth them with brass ;
7 and he bringeth in the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it with them ; hollow [with] boards he made it.
8 And he maketh the laver of brass, and its base of brass, with the looking-glasses of the women assembling, who have assembled at the opening of the tent of meeting.
Note · Exode 38.1–8
Des matériaux reçus de personnes concrètes
L’autel est fabriqué avec ses accessoires ; la cuve utilise les miroirs de femmes présentes à l’entrée de la tente. Le texte signale cette contribution sans décrire précisément toute leur fonction. Il serait abusif d’en faire une condamnation générale de la parure ou de la valeur du corps féminin.
9 And he maketh the court ; at the south side southward, the hangings of the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit,
10 their pillars [are] twenty, and their brazen sockets twenty, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] silver ;
11 and at the north side, a hundred by the cubit, their pillars [are] twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty ; the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] silver ;
12 and at the west side [are] hangings, fifty by the cubit ; their pillars [are] ten, and their sockets ten ; the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] silver ;
13 and at the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14 The hangings on the side [are] fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three,
15 and at the second side at the gate of the court, on this and on that, [are] hangings, fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three ;
16 all the hangings of the court round about [are] of twined linen,
17 and the sockets for the pillars of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets of silver, and the overlaying of their tops of silver, and all the pillars of the court are filleted with silver.
18 And the covering of the gate of the court [is] the work of an embroiderer, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen ; and twenty cubits [is] the length, and the height with the breadth five cubits, over-against the hangings of the court ;
19 and their pillars [are] four, and their sockets of brass four, their pegs [are] of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their fillets [are] of silver ;
20 and all the pins for the tabernacle, and for the court round about, [are] of brass.
Note · Exode 38.9–20
Le dehors participe à la cohérence de l’ensemble
Le parvis et son entrée reprennent les prescriptions antérieures. L’attention au bord de l’espace n’est pas moins réelle que celle accordée aux objets intérieurs. La qualité du service touche aussi les éléments qui ne seront pas au centre de la cérémonie.
21 These are the numberings of the tabernacle (the tabernacle of testimony), which hath been numbered by the command of Moses, the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
22 And Bezaleel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, hath made all that Jehovah commanded Moses ;
23 and with him [is] Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and designer, and embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and in linen.
Note · Exode 38.21–23
Des responsabilités peuvent être nommées
Le relevé est placé sous l’ordre de Moïse et sous une direction identifiée. Les artisans sont eux aussi nommés. La confiance dans un projet commun ne demande pas d’effacer ceux qui exécutent et ceux qui rendent compte ; le récit leur donne au contraire une place visible.
24 All the gold which is prepared for the work in all the work of the sanctuary (and it is the gold of the wave-offering) [is] twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
25 And the silver of those numbered of the company [is] a hundred talents, and a thousand and seven hundred and five and seventy shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary ;
26 a bekah for a poll (half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary,) for every one who is passing over unto those numbered, from a son of twenty years and upwards, for six hundred thousand, and three thousand, and five hundred and fifty.
27 And a hundred talents of silver are to cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail ; a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket ;
28 and the thousand and seven hundred and five and seventy he hath made pegs for the pillars, and overlaid their tops, and filleted them.
29 And the brass of the wave-offering [is] seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels ;
30 and he maketh with it the sockets of the opening of the tent of meeting, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grate which it hath, and all the vessels of the altar,
31 and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.
Note · Exode 38.24–31
Le précieux doit aussi pouvoir être compté
L’or, l’argent et le bronze sont reliés à leurs usages. Les mesures anciennes ne peuvent être converties en une somme moderne exacte sans hypothèses supplémentaires. Le point important du passage est que le don et son emploi sont articulés, et non que le sanctuaire puisse être évalué par un prix contemporain certain.