In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Parallel Translations
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In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
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In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
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In the tent of meeting, without the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order, to burn from evening to morning before the LORD; it shall be a statute for ever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (33)
Passages linked to Exodus 27:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 18:23 But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance.
- Numbers 19:21 It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
- Exodus 30:8 When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.
- Leviticus 3:17 “ ‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’ ”
- Leviticus 16:34 “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- 1 Samuel 3:3 and God’s lamp hadn’t yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in Yahweh’s temple where God’s ark was,
- 2 Chronicles 13:11 and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table; and the lamp stand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we keep the instruction of Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken him.
- Exodus 28:43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.
- 1 Samuel 30:25 It was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
- John 5:35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
- 2 Peter 1:19 We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:
- Matthew 4:16 the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.”
- Luke 12:35 “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 2:1 “To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lamp stands says these things:
- Genesis 1:5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
- Genesis 1:8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
- Exodus 16:34 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
- Exodus 25:16 You shall put the covenant which I shall give you into the ark.
- Exodus 25:21-22 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I will give you. There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the covenant, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
- Exodus 26:31-33 “You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
- Exodus 29:9-10 You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. “You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.
- Exodus 29:28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.
- Exodus 29:42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you.
- Exodus 29:44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office.
- Exodus 30:36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the covenant in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.
- Exodus 40:3 You shall put the ark of the covenant in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
- Leviticus 3:8 and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
- Leviticus 24:3 Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
- Leviticus 24:9 It shall be for Aaron and his sons. They shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire by a perpetual statute.”
- Numbers 8:9 You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel.
- Psalms 134:1 Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!
- Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.
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Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The tabernacle of the congregation was so called, because…
The tabernacle of the congregation was so called, because there the people used to meet not only one with another, but with God also. See Exo 25:22; Num 17:4. Others render it, in the tabernacle of witness, because there God declared his mind and will, and man’s duty. Without the veil, to wit, the second veil, in the holy place.
Before the testimony; a short speech for before the ark of the testimony, as it is elsewhere more largely called: compare Exo 25:16.
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Shall order it, to wit, the lamp, or the lights, taking care that there be a constant supply of them, and that they burn well.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In the tabernacle of the congregation,.... The reasons usually…
In the tabernacle of the congregation,.... The reasons usually given for this name of the tabernacle are, either because the children of Israel gathered and met together here at certain times, or because here the Lord met with Moses, and his successors, as he had promised, Exo 25:22, but neither of them will hold good; not the first, because the place where the candlestick was, and which Aaron and his sons are here said to order, was in the holy place, into which only the priests entered, and therefore could not be called the tabernacle of the congregation, from the people of Israel being gathered and assembling there; not the latter, because it was in the most holy place, where the Lord promised to meet with Moses, and commune with him, even from between the cherubim over the mercy seat there: indeed, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation the children of Israel assembled, and there the Lord met them, and so the whole might be called from thence, and there seems to be no other reason for it, Exo 29:42 and this place was
without the vail, which is before the testimony; that is, without the vail which divided between the holy and the most holy place, and which vail was before the ark, where the law or the testimony was put; for the candlestick was in that part of the tabernacle which was without the vail, or in the holy place: and here
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Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord; that is, they were to take care that the lamps which went out might be lighted; and that they be kept clear and burning, they were to trim and snuff them, for which they had proper instruments provided for them, Exo 25:37. This points at the word of God, which shines as a light in a dark place, and is a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path, and to the constant application of Gospel ministers in preaching it, in order to enlighten men in all ages unto the end of the world:
it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations, on the behalf of the children of Israel; on whom it was incumbent to provide oil for the lamps, as long as the tabernacle and temple service lasted; and figured out either the maintenance of Gospel ministers by the churches, or the grace and gifts of the Spirit, with which they are furnished by the head of the church, often signified by oil in Scripture.
Next: Exodus Chapter 28
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. The tabernacle of the congregation] The place…
Verse 21. The tabernacle of the congregation] The place where all the assembly of the people were to worship, where the God of that assembly was pleased to reside, and to which, as the habitation of their king and protector, they were ever to turn their faces in all their adorations.
Before the testimony] That is, the ark where the tables of the covenant were deposited. See Ex 25:16.
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Aaron and his sons] These and their descendants being the only legitimate priests, God having established the priesthood in this family.
Shall order it from evening to morning] Josephus says the whole of the seven lamps burned all the night; in the morning four were extinguished, and three kept burning through the whole day. Others assert that the whole seven were kept lighted both day and night continually; but it appears sufficiently evident, from 1Sa 3:3, that these lamps were extinguished in the morning: And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, c. See also Ex 30:8: And when Aaron LIGHTETH THE LAMPS AT EVEN. It appears therefore that the business of the priests was to light the lamps in the evening and either to extinguish them in the morning, or permit them to burn out, having put in the night before as much oil as was necessary to last till daylight.
A statute for ever] This ordering of the lamps night and morning, and attendance on the service of the tabernacle, was a statute that was to be in full force while the tabernacle and temple stood, and should have its spiritual accomplishment in the Christian Church to the end of time. Reader, the tabernacle and temple are both destroyed; the Church of Christ is established in their place. The seven golden candlesticks were typical of this Church and the glorious light it possesses, Re 1:12-20; and Jesus Christ, the Fountain and Dispenser of this true light, walks in the midst of them. Reader, hast thou that celestial flame to enlighten and animate thy heart in all those acts of devotion which thou professest to pay to him as thy Maker, Redeemer, and Preserver? What is thy profession, and what thy religious acts and services, without this? A sounding brass, a tinkling cymbal.
TERTULLIAN asserts that all the ancient heathens borrowed their best notions from the sacred writings: "Which," says he, "of your poets, which of your sophists, have not drunk from the fountain of the prophets? It is from those sacred springs that your philosophers have refreshed their thirsty spirits; and if they found any thing in the Holy Scriptures which hit their fancy, or which served their hypothesis, they took and turned it to a compliance with their own curiosity, not considering those writings to be sacred and unalterable, nor understanding their true sense, every one altering them according to his own fancy." - Apologet.
The reader's attention has already been called to this point several times in the preceding parts of this work, and the subject will frequently recur. At the conclusion of Ex 25:31 (See Clarke on Ex 25:31) we had occasion to observe that the heathens had imitated many things in that Divine worship prescribed by Moses; but in application to their own corrupt system every thing was in a certain measure falsified and distorted, yet not so far as to prevent the grand outlines of primitive truth from being discerned. One of the most complete imitations of the tabernacle and its whole service is found in the very ancient temple of Hercules, founded probably by the Phoenicians, at Gades, now Cadiz, in Spain, so minutely described by Silius Italicus from actual observation. He observes that though the temple was at that time very ancient, yet the beams were the same that had been placed there by the founders, and that they were generally supposed to be incorruptible; a quality ascribed to the shittim wood, termed ξυλον ασηπτον, incorruptible wood, by the Septuagint. That women were not permitted to enter this temple, and that no swine were ever suffered to come near it. That the priests did not wear party-coloured vestments, but were always clothed in fine linen, and their bonnets made of the same. That they offered incense to their god, their clothes being ungirded; for the same reason doubtless given Ex 20:26, that in going up to the altar nothing unseemly might appear, and therefore they permitted their long robes to fall down to their feet. He adds, that by the laws of their forefathers they bore on their sacerdotal vestments the latus clavus, which was a round knob or stud of purple with which the robes of the Roman knights and senators were adorned, which these priests seem to have copied from the breastplate of judgment made of cunning work, embroidered with purple, blue, c. See Ex 28:15. They also ministered barefooted, their hair was trimmed or cut off, and they observed the strictest continency, and kept a perpetual fire burning on their altars. And he farther adds that there was no image or similitude of the gods to be seen in that sacred place. This is the substance of his description but as some of my readers may wish to see the original, I shall here subjoin it.
Vulgatum (nec cassa fides) ab origine fani
Impositas durare trabes, solasque per aevum
Condentum novisse manus: hic credere gaudent
Consedisse Deum, seniumque repellere templis.
Tum, queis fas et honos adyti penetralia nosse,
Foemineos prohibent gressus, ac limine curant
Setigeros arcere sues: nec discolor ulli
Ante aras cultus: velantur corpora lino,
Et Pelusiaco praefulget stamine vertex.
Discinctis mos thura dare, atque, e lege parenturn
Sacrificam LATO vestem distinguere CLAVO.
Pes nudus, tousaeque comae, castumque cubile,
Irrestincta focis servant altaria flammae.
Sed nulla effigies, simulacrave nota Deorum
Majestate locum, et sacro implevere timore.
Punicor., lib. iii., ver. 17-31.
This is such a remarkable case that I think myself justified in quoting it at length, as an extraordinary monument, though corrupted, of the tabernacle and its service. It is probable that the original founders had consecrated this temple to the true God, under the name of אל EL, the strong God, or אל גבור EL GIBBOR, the strong, prevailing, and victorious God, Isa 9:6, out of whom the Greeks and Romans made their Hercules, or god of strength; and, to make it agree with this appropriation, the labours of Hercules were sculptured on the doors of this temple at Gades.
In foribus labor Alcidae Lernaea recisis
Anguibus Hydra jacet, &c., &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The tabernacle of the congregation - More literally, the…
The tabernacle of the congregation - More literally, the tent of meeting. This is the first occurrence of this designation of the tabernacle, and the idea connected with it is that of Yahweh meeting with either Moses, or the priests, or (in a few cases) with the people gathered into a congregation at the entrance of the tent.
Without the rail, which is before the testimony - i. e. the holy place (see Exo 25:16).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Aaron. Here God declares that the sons of Aaron…
Aaron. Here God declares that the sons of Aaron are chosen by him to perform this office. They were not anointed priests till chap. xxix. (Haydock) --- Light. Thus God admonishes us to let our good works always shine before men. (Ven. Bede, Taber. iii. 1.)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain shall order it from evening to morning--The tabernacle having…
shall order it from evening to morning--The tabernacle having no windows, the lamps required to be lighted during the day. JOSEPHUS says that in his time only three were lighted; but his were degenerate times, and there is no Scripture authority for this limitation. But although the priests were obliged from necessity to light them by day, they might have let them go out at night had it not been for this express ordinance.
Next: Exodus Chapter 28
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. Without the vail — Outside and in front…
21. Without the vail — Outside and in front of the vail described Exo_26:31-33.
Before the testimony — In front of the most holy place, in which the ark of the testimony was set. The mention of Aaron and his sons, in connexion with this service, leads naturally to an account of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood, which follows in the next chapter.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. the tent of meeting] Heb. ’ôhel mô‘çd, i.e.…
21. the tent of meeting] Heb. ’ôhel mô‘çd, i.e. the tent of appointed meeting (cf. Job_30:23 ‘the house of appointed meeting for all living,’ of Sheol), the tent appointed by Jehovah as the place where He will ‘meet’ Moses (see in P Exo_25:22, Exo_30:6; Exo_30:36) and Israel (Exo_29:42-43, Num_17:4), and communicate His will to them, or (OTJC.2[205] 246) the ‘tent of tryst’ (i.e. of appointment to meet). It is the oldest name of what we now commonly know as the ‘Tabernacle’ (see on Exo_25:9), being first found in E (Exo_33:7 : see the note), where it denotes the tent which Moses used to pitch outside the camp, to which everyone resorted who sought Jehovah, and whither Moses also used to repair in order that Jehovah might speak with him. It is mentioned besides in JE in Num_11:16; Num_12:4, Deu_31:14. The Tent of meeting, as described by P, is a much more elaborate structure than that can have been (see p. 257 f.). He mentions it some 130 times.
[205] W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.
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The rendering of AV. ‘tabernacle (i.e. tent: see on Exo_25:9) of the congregation’ is based on a mistaken interpretation of mô‘çd, as though this word were a synonym of ‘çdâh, ‘congregation’ (Exo_12:3 &c.). The LXX. render the expression by ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ‘the tent of the testimony’ (whence Vulg. tabernaculum testimonii), treating ’ôhel mô‘çd incorrectly as a synonym of ’ôhel hâ‘çdûth (Num_9:15; Num_17:7-8, 2Ch_24:6†), which does mean ‘the tent of the testimony’ (see on Exo_25:16): cf. Act_7:44, Rev_15:5.
outside the veil, &c.] cf. Exo_26:35; and on Exo_25:21.
order] an archaism for set in order, arrange; so often in EVV., as Lev_24:4, Jdg_6:26, 1Ki_20:14, Jer_46:3 : cf. in the Communion Service, ‘when the priest hath so ordered the bread and wine,’ &c.; and in PBV. of Psa_37:23; Psa_40:2; Psa_40:6 (cf. Job_13:18), Psa_50:23. The meaning is, arrange the lamps on the stand.
from evening to morning] the lamps were to be removed every morning to be trimmed (Exo_30:7), and to be lighted and replaced every evening to burn during the night (Exo_30:8, 2Ch_13:11). (The later usage was, however, different; see DB. iv. 664a, and Schürer, as cited.)
a due for ever from] ḥuḳḳâh may mean either a prescribed rule (i.e. a statute), or a prescribed portion (i.e. a due): so ḥôḳ, Exo_29:28, Lev_7:34 b, Lev_7:36, Exo_24:8 (AVm.); cf. Pro_30:8; Pro_31:15 (RVm.).
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) In the tabernacle of the congregation.—Heb., in the…
(21) In the tabernacle of the congregation.—Heb., in the tent of meeting—i.e., the place where God met the earthly ruler of His people. (See Exo_25:22.)
Before the testimony—i.e., in front of the Ark which contained “the Testimony,” or “Two Tables.” (See Note on Exo_16:34.)
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Aaron and his sons.—The priestly character of Aaron and his descendants, laid down in the next chapter, is here anticipated.
From evening to morning.—See the second Note on Exo_27:20.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The tabernacle of the congregation. Rather, "the tent of…
The tabernacle of the congregation. Rather, "the tent of meeting the tent where God would meet the earthly ruler of the people (Exo_25:22) and give him commands and directions not the place of meeting for the people themselves, who might in no case go beyond the entrance to the structure. The testimony i,e., the ark which contained the "testimony," or two tables of stone written with the finger of God. Aaron and his sons. Compare Exo_24:1. The intention to confer the priesthood on the descendants of Aaron, first openly revealed in the next chapter (vers. 1-43), is tacitly assumed from time to time in the earlier narrative. Shall order it from evening to morning. See the comment on ver. 20. It is difficult to assign these words any distinct meaning unless we accept the view, that the lamp burnt during the night only. It shall be a statute for ever. This expression is not at all common. In Exodus it occurs only here and in four other places. In Leviticus it is met with some six or seven times. The portions of the law thus characterised must be regarded as of special importance. (See the homiletics on this verse.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 27:21 the Tabernacle (literally the Tent of Meeting): The…
27:21 the Tabernacle (literally the Tent of Meeting): The expression Tent of Meeting sometimes refers to the Tabernacle tent; in these cases the expression is essentially synonymous with Tabernacle, and the NLT consistently renders it Tabernacle. In addition, a temporary tent also called the “Tent of Meeting” is mentioned in 33:7-11. See study note on 40:2.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.