Exodus 40:4

And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) The table.—The “table of shewbread” is thus commonly designated. (See Exodus 35:13; Exodus 37:10; Exodus 39:36; Exodus 40:22.)

And set in order the things . . . —The twelve loaves are the “things” specially intended (see Exodus 40:23). Whether the frankincense also is glanced at (Leviticus 24:7) may be doubted. It was perhaps an addition to the earliest ritual.

The candlestick.—See Exodus 25:31-37.

And light the lamps.—Not necessarily at once, but at the close of the day. (See Exodus 30:8.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

40:1-15 When a new year begins, we should seek to serve God better than the year before. In half a year the tabernacle was completed. When the hearts of numbers are earnest in a good cause, much may be done in a short time; and when the commandments of God are continually attended to, as the rule of working, all will be done well. The high-priesthood was in the family of Aaron till Christ came, and in Him, the substance of all these shadows, it continues for ever.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The directions given in Leviticus 24:5-9 are here presupposed, and must have been issued before this chapter was written.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. On the first day of the first month—From a careful consideration of the incidents recorded to have happened after the exodus (Ex 12:2; 13:4; 19:1; 20:18; 34:28, &c.), it has been computed that the work of the tabernacle was commenced within six months after that emigration; and consequently, that other six months had been occupied in building it. So long a period spent in preparing the materials of a movable pavilion, it would be difficult to understand, were it not for what we are told of the vast dimensions of the tabernacle, as well as the immense variety of curious and elaborate workmanship which its different articles of furniture required.

the tabernacle—the entire edifice.

the tent—the covering that surmounted it (Ex 40:19).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The things that are to be set in order; the vessels belonging to it, and the shew-bread, Exodus 25:29,30

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou shall bring in the table,.... The table of shewbread, which was to be set in the holy place:

and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; besides the dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls, there were the twelve loaves of shewbread to be set in two rows:

and thou shall bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof; which was to be brought and set in the same holy place with the shewbread table; and though the lamps were to be lighted by Aaron, the priest of the Lord, he being not yet consecrated, the office was performed by Moses.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. See Exodus 26:35, Exodus 25:30; Exodus 25:37 b.

set in order, &c.] lit. arrange its arrangement, with reference to the two piles of loaves arranged upon it. Cf. v. 23 (lit. ‘arranged upon it the arrangement of bread’). Leviticus 24:6 ‘two rows’ (lit. arrangements). And so a later designation of the Presence-bread was ‘bread of arrangement’ (see on Exodus 25:30); cf. the ‘table of the arrangement,’ 2 Chronicles 29:18.

light] fix on: see on Exodus 27:20.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Thou shalt bring in the table - i.e., "the table of shew-bread" (Exodus 25:23-30; Exodus 37:10-16). And set in order the things, etc. It has been observed with reason that the directions of Leviticus 24:5-7 must have been already given, though not recorded till so much later. Bread and frankincense were to be "set in order" on the table in a particular way. The candlestick. The seven. branched candelabrum (Exodus 25:31-39; Exodus 37:17-24). And thou shalt light the lamps. The lamps would have to be lighted on the first day at even (Exodus 27:21; Exodus 30:8). Exodus 40:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After the completion of all the works, the command was given by God to Moses to set up the dwelling of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month (see at Exodus 19:1), sc., in the second year of the Exodus (see Exodus 40:17), and to put all the vessels, both of the dwelling and court, in the places appointed by God; also to furnish the table of shew-bread with its fitting out (ערכּו equals לחם ערך Exodus 40:23), i.e., to arrange the bread upon it in the manner prescribed (Exodus 40:4 cf. Leviticus 24:6-7), and to put water in the laver of the court (Exodus 40:7). After that he was to anoint the dwelling and everything in it, also the altar of burnt-offering and laver, with the anointing oil, and to sanctify them (Exodus 40:9-11); and to consecrate Aaron and his sons before the door of the tabernacle, and clothe them, anoint them, and sanctify them as priests (Exodus 40:12-15). When we read here, however, that the dwelling and the vessels therein would be rendered "holy" through the anointing, but the altar of burnt-offering "most holy," we are not to understand this as attributing a higher degree of holiness to the altar of burnt-offering than to the dwelling and its furniture; but the former is called "most holy" merely in the sense ascribed to it in Exodus 30:10 namely, that every one who touched it was to become holy; in other words, the distinction has reference to the fact, that, standing as it did in the court, it was more exposed to contact from the people than the vessels in the dwelling, which no layman was allowed to enter. In this relative sense we find the same statement in Exodus 30:29, with reference to the tabernacle and all the vessels therein, the dwelling as well as the court, that they would become most holy in consequence of the anointing (see the remarks on Exodus 30:10). It is stated provisionally, in Exodus 40:16, that this command was fulfilled by Moses. But from the further history we find that the consecration of the priests did not take place contemporaneously with the erection of the tabernacle, but somewhat later, or not till after the promulgation of the laws of sacrifice (cf. Leviticus 8 and Leviticus 1:1.).