They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman.
Parallel Translations
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They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman.
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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.
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And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into threads, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman.
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Exodus 39:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 26:1 “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skillful workman.
- Exodus 36:8 All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. They did beat the gold into thin…
Verse 3. They did beat the gold into thin plates] For the purpose, as it is supposed, of cutting it into wires (פתילם) or threads; for to twist or twine is the common acceptation of the root פתל pathal. I cannot suppose that the Israelites had not then the art of making gold thread, as they possessed several ornamental arts much more difficult: but in the present instance, figures made in a more solid form than that which could have been effected by gold thread, might have been required.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 39:3. Cut it into wires — They had…
Exo 39:3. Cut it into wires — They had not then the art which we have now, of drawing a piece of gold into threads of what length we please; but they beat it first into thin plates, and then cut off small wires, which they wove with the other materials here mentioned.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Threads. Hebrew, "wires to work it in the blue....with…
Threads. Hebrew, "wires to work it in the blue....with cunning work." The ancients had the art of beating gold into thin plates, with which they adorned the horns of their victims, &c. (Æneid iv.) See Numbers xvi. 58. (Calmet)
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 cut the gold into wires to work it--that is,…
cut the gold into wires to work it--that is, the metal was beaten with a hammer into thin plates, cut with scissors or some other instrument into long slips, then rounded into filaments or threads. "Cloth of golden tissue is not uncommon on the monuments, and specimens of it have been found rolled about mummies; but it is not easy to determine whether the gold thread was originally interwoven or subsequently inserted by the embroiderer" [TAYLOR].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. As far as fine linen, an addition, not…
3. As far as fine linen, an addition, not in Exo_28:6, explaining how the gold was used; it was beaten into thin plates, and these were then cut into narrow strips, forming wires or threads, which were worked in with the variously coloured yarns (Exo_35:25). Cf. Wilk.-B. ii. 166 f.
beat] cf. Num_16:38-39. The verb is the one from which râḳîa‘, ‘firmament,’ lit. something beaten out, is derived.
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the cunning workman] the designer, or pattern-weaver.
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 (3) They did beat the gold into thin plates…
(3) They did beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires.—This very primitive method of forming gold thread is nowhere else mentioned. It implies a ruder state of the art of metallurgy than we should have expected.
To work it in the blue.—The blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the white linen thread were woven into a patterned fabric. The gold was inserted afterwards in the way of embroidery. A similar practice prevailed in Egypt (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii., p. 128).
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 They did beat the gold into thin plates and…
They did beat the gold into thin plates and out it into wires. This mode of producing gold thread is remarkable, and had not been previously mentioned.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.