The Altar of Burnt Offering

271 'And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth—the altar is square—and three cubits its height. 2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it 'with' brass. 3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass. 4 'And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities, 5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar. 6 'And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them 'with' brass. 7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it. 8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make 'it'.

The Court of the Tabernacle

9 'And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit 'is' the length for the one side, 10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets 'are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets 'are' of silver; 11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred 'cubits' in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets 'are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets 'are' of silver. 12 'And 'for' the breadth of the court at the west side 'are' hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13 And 'for' the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, 'are' fifty cubits. 14 And the hangings at the side 'are' fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15 And at the second side 'are' hangings fifteen 'cubits', their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16 'And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; their pillars four, their sockets four. 17 All the pillars of the court round about 'are' filleted 'with' silver, their pegs 'are' silver, and their sockets brass. 18 'The length of the court 'is' a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets 'are' brass, 19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, 'are' brass.

The Tending of the Lamp

20 'And thou—thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually; 21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which 'is' over the testimony, doth Aaron—his sons also—arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah—a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.

The Garments for the Priests

281 'And thou, bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from the midst of the sons of Israel, for his being priest to Me, 'even' Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron; 2 and thou hast made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for honour and for beauty; 3 and thou—thou dost speak unto all the wise of heart, whom I have filled 'with' a spirit of wisdom, and they have made the garments of Aaron to sanctify him for his being priest to Me. 4 'And these 'are' the garments which they make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and an upper robe, and an embroidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle; yea, they have made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and for his sons, for his being priest to Me. 5 'And they take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the linen,

6 and have made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; 7 it hath two shoulders joining at its two ends, and it is joined. 8 'And the girdle of his ephod which 'is' on him, according to its work, is of the same, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. 9 'And thou hast taken the two shoham stones, and hast opened on them the names of the sons of Israel; 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their births; 11 the work of an engraver in stone, openings of a signet, thou dost open the two stones by the names of the sons of Israel; turned round, embroidered 'with' gold, thou dost make them. 12 'And thou hast set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod—stones of memorial to the sons of Israel—and Aaron hath borne their names before Jehovah, on his two shoulders, for a memorial. 13 'And thou hast made embroidered things of gold, 14 and two chains of pure gold, wreathed work thou dost make them, work of thick bands, and thou hast put the thick chains on the embroidered things.

15 'And thou hast made a breastplate of judgment, work of a designer; according to the work of the ephod thou dost make it; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen thou dost make it; 16 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth. 17 'And thou hast set in it settings of stone, four rows of stone; a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle 'is' the first row; 18 and the second row 'is' emerald, sapphire, and diamond; 19 and the third row 'is' opal, agate, and amethyst; 20 and the fourth row 'is' beryl, and onyx, and jasper; embroidered with gold are they in their settings, 21 and the stones are according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, openings of a signet, each by his name are they for the twelve tribes. 22 'And thou hast made on the breastplate wreathed chains, work of thick bands, of pure gold; 23 and thou hast made on the breastplate two rings of gold, and hast put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate; 24 and thou hast put the two thick bands of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate; 25 and the two ends of the two thick bands thou dost put on the two embroidered things, and thou hast put 'them' on the shoulders of the ephod over-against its face. 26 'And thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its border, which 'is' over-against the ephod within; 27 and thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, beneath, over-against its front, over-against its joining, above the girdle of the ephod, 28 and they bind the breastplate by its rings unto the rings of the ephod with a ribbon of blue, to be above the girdle of the ephod, and the breastplate is not loosed from the ephod. 29 'And Aaron hath borne the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment, on his heart, in his going in unto the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah continually. 30 'And thou hast put unto the breastplate of judgment the Lights and the Perfections, and they have been on the heart of Aaron, in his going in before Jehovah, and Aaron hath borne the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually.

31 'And thou hast made the upper robe of the ephod completely of blue, 32 and the opening for its head hath been in its midst, a border is to its opening round about, work of a weaver, as the opening of a habergeon there is to it; it is not rent. 33 'And thou hast made on its hem pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its hem round about, and bells of gold in their midst round about; 34 a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate 'are' on the hems of the upper robe round about. 35 'And it hath been on Aaron to minister in, and its sound hath been heard in his coming in unto the sanctuary before Jehovah, and in his going out, and he doth not die. 36 'And thou hast made a flower of pure gold, and hast opened on it—openings of a signet—'Holy to Jehovah;' 37 and thou hast put it on a blue ribbon, and it hath been on the mitre—over-against the front of the mitre it is; 38 and it hath been on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron hath borne the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel do hallow, even all their holy gifts; and it hath been on his forehead continually for a pleasing thing for them before Jehovah. 39 'And thou hast embroidered the coat of linen, and hast made a mitre of linen, and a girdle thou dost make—work of an embroiderer.

40 'And for the sons of Aaron thou dost make coats, and thou hast made for them girdles, yea, bonnets thou dost make for them, for honour and for beauty; 41 and thou hast clothed Aaron thy brother with them, and his sons with him, and hast anointed them, and hast consecrated their hand, and hast sanctified them, and they have been priests to Me. 42 'And make thou for them linen trousers to cover the naked flesh: they are from the loins even unto the thighs; 43 and they have been on Aaron and on his sons, in their going in unto the tent of meeting, or in their drawing nigh unto the altar to minister in the sanctuary, and they do not bear iniquity nor have they died; a statute age-during to him, and to his seed after him.

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

211 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, unto the mount of the Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, 'Go on to the village over-against you, and immediately ye shall find an ass bound, and a colt with her—having loosed, bring ye to me; 3 and if any one may say anything to you, ye shall say, that the lord hath need of them, and immediately he will send them.' 4 And all this came to pass, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 'Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Lo, thy king doth come to thee, meek, and mounted on an ass, and a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.' 6 And the disciples having gone and having done as Jesus commanded them, 7 brought the ass and the colt, and did put on them their garments, and set 'him' upon them; 8 and the very great multitude spread their own garments in the way, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and were strewing in the way, 9 and the multitudes who were going before, and who were following, were crying, saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.' 10 And he having entered into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, 'Who is this?' 11 And the multitudes said, 'This is Jesus the prophet, who 'is' from Nazareth of Galilee.'

The Cleansing of the Temple

12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and did cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers he overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves, 13 and he saith to them, 'It hath been written, My house a house of prayer shall be called, but ye did make it a den of robbers.' 14 And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them, 15 and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' were much displeased; 16 and they said to him, 'Hearest thou what these say?' And Jesus saith to them, 'Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?' 17 And having left them, he went forth out of the city to Bethany, and did lodge there,

The Cursing of the Fig Tree

18 and in the morning turning back to the city, he hungered, 19 and having seen a certain fig-tree on the way, he came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and he saith to it, 'No more from thee may fruit be—to the age;' and forthwith the fig-tree withered. 20 And the disciples having seen, did wonder, saying, 'How did the fig-tree forthwith wither?' 21 And Jesus answering said to them, 'Verily I say to you, If ye may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig-tree shall ye do, but even if to this mount ye may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it shall come to pass; 22 and all—as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 21:1-22

Commentary on Matthew 21:1-11

(Read Matthew 21:1-11)

This coming of Christ was described by the prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 9:9. When Christ would appear in his glory, it is in his meekness, not in his majesty, in mercy to work salvation. As meekness and outward poverty were fully seen in Zion's King, and marked his triumphal entrance to Jerusalem, how wrong covetousness, ambition, and the pride of life must be in Zion's citizens! They brought the ass, but Jesus did not use it without the owner's consent. The trappings were such as came to hand. We must not think the clothes on our backs too dear to part with for the service of Christ. The chief priests and the elders afterwards joined with the multitude that abused him upon the cross; but none of them joined the multitude that did him honour. Those that take Christ for their King, must lay their all under his feet. Hosanna signifies, Save now, we beseech thee! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! But of how little value is the applause of the people! The changing multitude join the cry of the day, whether it be Hosanna, or Crucify him. Multitudes often seem to approve the gospel, but few become consistent disciples. When Jesus was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved; some perhaps were moved with joy, who waited for the Consolation of Israel; others, of the Pharisees, were moved with envy. So various are the motions in the minds of men upon the approach of Christ's kingdom.

Commentary on Matthew 21:12-17

(Read Matthew 21:12-17)

Christ found some of the courts of the temple turned into a market for cattle and things used in the sacrifices, and partly occupied by the money-changers. Our Lord drove them from the place, as he had done at his entering upon his ministry, John 2:13-17. His works testified of him more than the hosannas; and his healing in the temple was the fulfilling the promise, that the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the former. If Christ came now into many parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discover and cleanse! And how many things daily practised under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer!

Commentary on Matthew 21:18-22

(Read Matthew 21:18-22)

This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ's curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree.