Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 2 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
25. And he made the incense-altar of shittim-wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it
25. Fecit etiam altare incensi e lignis sittim: cubitus longitudo ejus: et cubitus latitudo ejus, quadratum: duo autem cubiti altitudo ejus: ex ipso erant cornua ejus. a cubit, (it was four-square,) and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same.
26. And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of gold round about.
26. Et texit illud auro puro, tectum ejus scilicet et parietes ejus in circuitu, et cornua ejus, fecitque ei coronam auream per circuitum.
27. And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal.
27. Duos similiter annulos aureos fecit ei sub corona ejus in duobus angulis ejus, in duobus lateribus ejus, per quos trajicerentur vestes ad portandum illud ipsis.
28. And he made the staves of shittim-wood, and overlaid them with gold.
28. Et fecit vectes ipsos e lignis sittim, et texit eos auro.
29. And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.
29. Fecit et oleum unctionis, sanctitatem, et suffimentum aromaticum purum, opere unguentarii.
If the repetition, which might appear to be superfluous in these chapters, should be wearisome to us, let us reflect on the intention of the Holy Spirit, who, in narrating the execution of the work, uses almost the identical words wherein He had previously set forth the commands of God, viz., that we may understand that Moses, and the artificers themselves, did not vary in the smallest point from the rule prescribed to them. God had commanded the Ark of the Covenant to be made, together with its cover; and Moses relates how it was completed, so that the artificers did not omit even its very minutest detail. He ordered a table to be made for the offering of bread, and not a single syllable is neglected. As to the candlestick there was the same scrupulous obedience, so that they did not alter it in any part. In HARMONY OF THE LAW · VOLUME 2 the altar of incense there was no kind of dissimilarity between the command and the work; and, finally, the composition of the oil exactly corresponds with the command. There is no question, then, but that Moses commends obedience, as it is the foundation of true piety, and at the same time reminds us that there was no exercise of the imagination in the whole service of the tabernacle, because there is nothing more opposite to the purity of religion than to do anything which is not enjoined.