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side. Of the two squares, each measuring 50 cubits by 50, into which the court may be divided, the more easterly was that in which the worshippers assembled. In the centre of this square stood the See also:

ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar of burnt-offering, a hollow See also:

CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest of See also:

ACACIA

acacia See also:

wood overlaid with See also:

BRONZE

bronze. The tabernacle itself also stood east and west, with its entrance towards the east, on the edge of the second square. The essential See also:

PART

part of the structure, to which everything else was subsidiary, was that termed in the See also:

ORIGINAL

original the mishkdn, i.e. dwelling (Eng. Vers. tabernacle, but see Exod. xxv. 9, Rev. Vers. margin). It was formed of ten curtains, in two sets of five, of the finest See also:

LINEN

linen with inwoven coloured figures of See also:

CHERUBIM

cherubim, the whole making an See also:

ARTISTIC

artistic covering measuring 40 cubits by 28. Instead of being suspended on poles after the manner of an See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary tent, the curtains of the dwelling were spread over a series of open frames of acacia wood overlaid with See also:

gold, each to cubits in height by 11 in breadth.' These frames, 48 in all, were so arranged as to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern, western and See also:

NORTHERN

northern sides of a rectangular structure, 30 cubits in length and ro cubits in breadth and height.

Over the frames, as has been said, were thrown the two sets of See also:

TAPESTRY

tapestry curtains above described, while the eastern end, forming the entrance, was closed by a See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

PORTIERE

portiere suspended from five pillars. The dwelling was divided into two parts by a second See also:

HANGING

hanging, the " See also:

VEIL (O.Fr. veile, mod. voile, from Lat. velum, cloth, awning, sail)

veil," to cubits from the western end. These two parts were termed respectively ' For the philological and other arguments in favour of open frames in place of the traditional solid beams—the " boards ' of the English version—as supports of the curtains, see the writer's See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article " Tabernacle " in See also:

Hastings's Dict. of the Bible, iv. 659 f., with illustrative diagrams.the See also:

HOLY

holy place, and the most holy place or " holy of holies." Within the latter stood, in solitary See also:

MAJESTY (Fr. majeste; Lat. majestas, grandeur, greatness, from the base mag-, as in magnus, great, major, greater, &c.)

majesty, the See also:

ARK (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Arche, adapted from the Lat. area, chest, cf. arcere, to shut up, enclose)„ a chest, basket or box. The Hebrew word tebah, translated in the' A.V. by " ark," is used in the Old Testament (1)

ark of See also:

God, in which were deposited the two See also:

stone tables of the See also:

DECALOGUE (in patristic Gr. 7] SercaXoyos, sc. (3i(3)tos or vopoGevia)

decalogue or " testimony." On the ark lay a solid slab of the finest gold, the propitiatory or See also:

mercy-seat, from which See also:

rose the figures of two See also:

GOLDEN

golden cherubim. The propitiatory with its over-arching cherubim formed the innermost See also:

SHRINE (Lat. scrinium, a case or chest for books, hence a casket; from scribere, to write, Fr. ecrin, Ital. scrigno)

shrine of the wilderness sanctuary, the earthly See also:

THRONE

throne of the God of See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

heaven. The furniture of the holy place consisted of the table of shewbread, the altar of See also:

INCENSE

incense—both, like the ark, of acacia wood overlaid with gold—and the golden " See also:

CANDLESTICK

candlestick," the latter in reality a seven-branched See also:

LAMP (from Gr. Xag ras, a torch, Xaµaav, to shine)

lamp-stand. As a See also:

PROTECTION

protection the delicate and artistic curtains of the dwelling were covered by two similar sets of goats'-See also:

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair curtains, which together measured 44 cubits by 3o; these, in their turn, were protected by a See also:

double covering, the one of rams' skins dyed red, the other made of the skins of a Red See also:

Sea mammal, probably the See also:

DUGONG

dugong (Exod. See also:

XXVI

xxvi. 14). (2) The Religious Significance of the Tabernacle.—The aim of the priestly school, to whom we owe the conception of the tabernacle as above described, was to provide a sanctuary and a See also:

RITUAL (from Lat. ritus, a custom, especially a religious rite or custom)

ritual worthy of the higher conceptions of the Deity, which had grown up as the See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of the discipline of the See also:

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap, consul, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

exile. The ideal relation of See also:

JEHOVAH (YAHWEH2)

Jehovah (Yahweh) to the theocratic community of See also:

ISRAEL (Hebrew for " God strives " or " rules "; see Gen. xxxii. 28; and the allusion in Hosea xii. 4)

Israel had already been described by See also:

EZEKIEL (SKpm', " God strengthens" or " God is strong "; Sept. 'IE'EKL?)X; Vulg. Ezechiel)

Ezekiel in the words " my dwelling shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my See also:

PEOPLE

people " (See also:

XXXVII

xxxvii. 27). That this was the religious ideal in the mind of the author of Exodus xxv. if. is evident from the characteristic name which he gives to the essential part of the tabernacle, the dwelling (see above, and cf.

Exod. xxv. 8). All the arrangements of the camp and of the tabernacle are intended to secure the presence of a holy God in the midst of a holy people. The thought of the almost unapproachable holiness of the Deity underlies not only the gradation of the parts of the tabernacle—court, holy place and holy of holies being each marked by an ascending degree of sanctity—but also the careful gradation of the materials employed in its construction. In the proportion and symmetry, which are strongly marked features of the tabernacle, we may further trace the See also:

EARNEST (probably a corruption of the obsolete arles or erles, adapted from Lat. equivalent arrha, due to a confusion with the adjective " earnest," serious, O. Eng. eornust, cognate with Ger. ernst)

earnest endeavour to reflect the See also:

HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony and perfection of the Deity whose See also:

GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory filled the dwelling (Exod. xl. 34). (3) As regards the historicity of this elaborate sanctuary See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

HISTORICAL

historical See also:

criticism has pronounced a negative See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment. This See also:

VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict is based not so much on the many difficulties presented by the narrative itself, or suggested by the unexpected See also:

WEALTH

wealth of material and artistic skill, as on the impossibility of reconciling the picture of the tabernacle and its worship, which is found in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle books of the Pentateuch, with the religious See also:

HISTORY

history of Israel as reflected in the older historical books. There is absolutely no place for the tabernacle of the Priests' See also:

CODE (Lat. codex)

Code in the history of the worship of the See also:

HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE

Hebrews before the exile. It cannot be reconciled with the See also:

account of the historical " tent of See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting " (Auth. Vers. tabernacle of the See also:

CONGREGATION (Lat. congregatio, a gathering together, from cum, with, grex, gregis, a flock, herd)

congregation) of the See also:

OLDEST

oldest Pentateuch sources in any particular except the See also:

COMMON

common designation, and in the later history of the ark, whether at See also:

Shiloh or at See also:

Jerusalem, the older records of See also:

SAMUEL

Samuel and See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

Kings are silent as to the tabernacle. The sections of the Pentateuch devoted to the tabernacle and its worship, therefore, are not to be treated as history but as the expression of a religious ideal.

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