Exodus 25:17-22 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 25:10-22

The first thing which is here ordered to be made is the ark with its appurtenances, the furniture of the most holy place, and the special token of God's presence, for which the tabernacle was erected to be the receptacle. I. The ark itself was a chest, or coffer, in which the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, were to be honourably deposited, and carefully kept. The dimensions of it are exactly ordered; if the Jewish cubit was, as some learned men compute, three inches... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:17

And thou shall make a mercy seat of pure gold ,.... Or "covering" F14 כפרת "opertorium", Montanus; "tegmen sive operimentum", Vatablus; "operculum", Piscator. ; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; for so the word properly signifies; and what is meant was no more than a cover of the ark, which was open at the top, and this was the lid of it, and exactly answered to it, as appears by the dimensions afterwards given of it; and because the root of this word in one form signifies to propitiate or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:18

And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold ,.... Which some take to be in the form of birds, and others of winged animals, such as the like were never seen, so Josephus; the Jews commonly suppose they were in the form of young men, which they observe the word signifies in the Chaldee language; others, that they were in the form of an ox, the face of an ox and a cherub being the same, Ezekiel 1:10 and indeed their form is best discerned from account of them in Ezekiel, and in the Revelation,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:19

And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end ,.... The situation of the cherubim is particularly explained, lest, as Jarchi observes, it should be thought that there were two at both ends of the mercy seat; whereas there were only one at one end, and another at the other, opposite to each other, and both pointing to the mercy seat; which may express the situation and office of the ministers of the word under each dispensation, who are so placed as to derive all... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:20

And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high ,.... From whence it appears they were in the form of winged creatures, as the seraphim in Isaiah's vision, and the living creatures in those of Ezekiel and John; and their wings did not hang down by them, or on the side of them, but were stretched out upwards towards the heaven above their heads; denoting the readiness, agility, and swiftness of the ministers of the word to do the work and will of Christ, as well as their expectation... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:21

And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark ,.... Over it, as a covering for it: this situation of the mercy seat above the ark, where the law was, signifies, that there is no mercy but in a way of righteousness, or of satisfaction to the law of God, and in a consistence with the honour of it; and the cherubim over the mercy seat making a throne for the majesty of God, in which he sat, and the ark below a kind of footstool for him, shows that Christ, the mercy seat and propitiatory,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:22

And there I will meet with thee ,.... With Moses, and so with the high priest in later times, when he should enter into the holy of holies, and with the people of God as represented by him, when he should go in and inquire for them of the Lord: and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim ; converse with him and them about whatsoever they should apply unto him for, these being the symbols of the divine presence: hence the Lord is frequently... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:17

A mercy-seat - כפרת capporeth , from כפר caphar , to cover or overspread; because by an act of pardon sins are represented as being covered, so that they no longer appear in the eye of Divine justice to displease, irritate, and call for punishment; and the person of the offender is covered or protected from the stroke of the broken law. In the Greek version of the Septuagint the word ιλαστηριον , hilasterion , is used, which signifies a propitiatory, and is the name used by the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:18

Thou shalt make two cherubims - What these were we cannot distinctly say. It is generally supposed that a cherub was a creature with four heads and one body: and the animals, of which these emblematical forms consisted, were the noblest of their kinds; the lion among the wild beasts, the bull among the tame ones, the eagle among the birds, and man at the head of all; so that they might be, says Dr. Priestley, the representatives of all nature. Concerning their forms and design there is much... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:22

And there I will meet with thee - That is, over the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. In this place God chose to give the most especial manifestations of himself; here the Divine glory was to be seen; and here Moses was to come in order to consult Jehovah, relative to the management of the people. Ainsworth has remarked that the rabbins say, "The heart of man may be likened to God's sanctuary; for as, in the sanctuary, the shechinah or Divine glory dwelt, because there were the ark, the... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 25:10-22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:20

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 25:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 25:22

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