TABERNACLES
425
TABERNACLES
linen, embroidered in violet, purple, and scarlet and
" twice dyed " on a white ground (probable meaning of
Ex., xx\-ii, 16). All these curtains were suspended
from sixty pillars, but not in a "loose and flowing
manner", as Josephus wrongly states, since the total
length of the curtains is exactly the .same ;is the perim-
eter of the court, one pillar being assigned to every
five cubits of curtain. These pillars of set im wood, five
cubits high, stood on bases ("sockets", Ex., xxxix, 39)
of brass and were held in position by means of cords
(ibid., xxxix, 40) fastened to brass pegs ("pins", ibid.,
XXXV, 18) which were stuck in the ground; the pillars
ended in a capital ("head", Exod., xxxix, 17, etc.; we
must beheve that the height given above includes
both the base and capital of the pillar) with a band or
necking (to hang the curtain) overlaid with silver.
East of the entrance were found successively: tlie altar
of holocausts (Ex., xx\'ii, 1-8, etc.), the brazen layer
(xxx, 18-21; xxxviii, 8, etc.), and the tabernacle
proper. The latter was conceived to be the dwelling-
tent of God; hence it consisted essentially of cur-
tains, the wooden framework, though indispensable,
being only of secondary importance. The whole
structure measured 30 by 10 cubits, and was divided
into two sections; the one to the west, the "Holy
Place", containing the altar of incense, the golden
candlestick, and the table of shewbreads; and the
other, the "Holy of Hohes", containing the Ark of
the Covenant with the propitiatory and the cherubim.
These sections were respectively 20 and 10 cubits long.
Jewish exegetical tradition, followed by almost
every ChrLstian exponent of the Bible, understood the
wooden framework to be made up of 48 massive
boards (rather beams) of setim wood, measuring 10
by 1 H by 1 cubit, placed side by side. This means a
weight (about fifty tons) out of proportion with what
these beams would have to bear and very difficult of
transportation. Some modern scholars having studied
more closely the technical terms used in the original
adopt another view. According to them the "boards"
of the tabernacle must be understood as light frames
consisting of two uprights joined (probably at the top,
middle, and bottom) by ties or cross-rails (the "mor-
tises" in Ex., xxvi, 17). Of these frames, overlaid
with gold (xxvi, 29), there were 20 on the north side
of the tabernacle, 20 on the south, and 6 on the east.
To provide solidity and rigidity, a slanting frame was
put at the north-cast and south-east corners to but-
tress the structure (x.\vi, 23); the lower part of the
uprights was sunk deep into silver sockets or bases,
probably to be understood as square blocks (about
I cubit high and ^4 cubit square) ; finally, five wooden bars, passing through rings attached to the frames, ran along the sides (xxvi, 26-28). On the west the frames were to be replaced by five pillars of setim- wood overlaid with gold, sunk in brass bases, and crowned with golden capitals (xx\'i, 37). Four pillars of the same workmanship, with silver bases, separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Hohes.
A curtain, two pieces of fine tapestry joined by golden rings, was spread over the whole framework; each piece of tapestry consisted of five strips, 28 by 4 cubits, fitted together by loops. The total dimension of this being 20 by 40 cubits, it must have reached on the north and south the top of the bases, against which it was possibly fixed (there were loops at the top of the curtains likely for this purpose), whereas on the east it reached to the ground. Covering this curtain was another, woven of goats' hair (the orilinary tent mate- rial), fitted in somewhat similarly; its dimensions,
II (6-|-.5)X4=44 by 30 cubits, were so calculated as to cover entirely the inside curtain on the north, east, and south sides and to hang down doubled on the west aide, thus covering the tops and capitals of the pillars (Ex., xwi, 7-13). Two outer coverings (no dimen- sions are given), one of dyed rams' skin and one of dugongs' skin, protected the whole structure. A
hanging, of apparently the same workmanship as that
closing the entrance of the court, screened the en-
trance of the tabernacle (ibid., 36); finallj', a veil of
the same tapestry as the inner curtain, hooked
from the four pillars mentioned above, completed the
separation of the Holy of Hohes from the Holy Place.
History. — Delayed by the people's outburst of
idolatrous worship pending the long intercourse of
Moses with God on Mount Sinai, the construction was
achieved by the skilful workmen selected by God, and
was dedicated on the first day of the second year after
the flight from Egypt. Henceforth the tabernacle,
under the special care of the Levites of the family of
Gerson, accompanied the Israelites through their wan-
derings in the wilderness; during marches, it came
after the first six tribes and before the other six
(Num., ii, 3-34); in encampments, it occupied the
middle of the camp, three tribes being on each side.
After the crossing of the Jordan, it remained very
hkely at Galgala until its removal to Silo (Jos., xviii,
1), where it remained many years. In Saul's time we
hear of the tabernacle at Nobe (I Kings, xxi, 1-6), and
later at Gabaon (I Par., xvi, 39), until Solomon had it
removed to his new Temple (III Kings, viii, 4; II Par.,
V, 5). It disappeared in the first years of the sixth
century b. c, being either taken away by the Baby-
lonian army in 588, or, if credence be given the letter
prefacing II Mach., hidden by Jeremias in an un-
known and secure place.
Josephus, Jewish Anliquitiea, III, vi; Philo, De Vita Moysit. Talmud Babyl.: Tract. Middoth, a baraitha gives the opiniona of the ancient doctors on the subject. Brown, The Tabernacle (6th ed., 1899); Onn, The Problem of the O. T. (New York, 1906); Ottis^y. Aspects of the O.TAOxIotA, 1S97); Wellhausen, Pto- tegomena (Edinburgh, 1885); Westcott. Essay on the General Significance of the Tabernacle in The Epistle to the Hebrews (New York, 1889), 233 sqq.; Bahr, Symbolik des mosaisch. Kultus (1837-39); Fhiedrich, Symbolik der mos. Stiflshutte (Leipzig. 1841); Graf, Die geschichll. Bucher des A. T. (Leipzig, 1866), 51 sqq.; Neumann, Die Stiflthaite (Gotha, 1861); Popper, Der bibl. Bericht Ober die Stiftshmte (Leipzig, 1862); Rioqen- BACH, Die mosaisch. Stiftshmte (1861); Schick, S(i/tsAfl«« u. Tempel (1898).
Charles L. Souvat.
Tabernacles, Feast of, one of the three great feasts of the Hebrew hturgical calendar, even the greatest, according to Philo (eoprCov fju-ylcrTri) and Josephus (eopTT) ayiwrirT) xal lieylffTr)). The common name, feast of Tabernacles — among Greek-speaking Jews dK-qmirrifla, that is, "the pitching of the tent" (John, vii, 2) — recalls to mind the custom established by the law of Lev., xxiii, 40, of erecting on the roofs of houses, and even in streets and public squares, booths of branches and foliage, wherein all who were not exempted tlirough illness or weakness were obli- ged to live during the entire celebration. It is some- times asserted that the origin of the feast was simi- lar to our "harvest-home" festivities.
This naturalistic view, based on the assumption that the religious enactments of the Law are of rela- tively recent date and mere sacerdotal ordinances, takes no account of the significance which at all times attached to the feast. True it is that one of the fea- tures of the celebrations was to be, after a fashion, a harvest-home, and to offer thanksgiving for the crops of the year (Deut., x\-i, 13; Ex., xxiii, 16) ; and it is per- haps owing to this special feature that the character of the feast was one of joy and merriment (cf. Ps. iv, 7-8, in Heb.; Joseph., Ant., VIII, iv, 1), and that numerous sacrifices were then offered (Num., xxix, 12-39); yet to the Jews the feast of Tabernacles was always and primarily in commemoration of their fore- fathers' indwelling in tents in the wilderness (Lev., xxiii, 43) and in thanksgiving for the permanent abode given them in the Promised Land, and, later on, after the erection of the Temjile, for a permanent place of worship (cf. Ill Kings, viii, 2; xii, 32). The feast began on the fifteenth daj' of the seventh month, Ethanim of Tishri (about our September), and lasted
