SEA COWS: Heb "tachashim". Translated, variously, "sea
cows" (NIV; WEB); "dugongs" (mg); "porpoises" (NASB); "seals" (JPS); or
"badgers" (KJV; Roth). The general scholarly consensus on the word is that it is
Egyptian in origin. The Arabic word "duhas" refers to a dolphin. They are common
in the Red Sea; their skins are used for clothing by the Bedouin. The word has
also been connected to an Egyptian word for "leather" (BDB). This is followed by
NRSV and NET ("fine leather").
THE BREAD OF THE PRESENCE: "The bread of the face(s)"
or "shewbread" (AV). Called also "perpetual bread" (Num 4:7).
Setting "in order" is a significant thing in the service of
God: Gen 22:9; Exo 26:17; 39:37; 40:4,23; Lev 1:7,8,12; 6:12; 24:8; 1Ki 18:33;
2Ki 20:1; 2Ch 13:11; 29:35; Eze 41:6; Acts 18:23; 1Co 11:34; 14:40; Tit
MOSES INSPECTED THE WORK: Moses inspected the finished
work, and saw that it was all very good -- it had been completed just as the
LORD had commanded. This language echoes Gen 1:31: "God saw all that he had
made, and it was very good." In this correspondence of language, it may be seen
that the building and furnishing of the tabernacle parallels the creation and
peopling of the earth... because this was a "recreation" of God's
SO MOSES BLESSED THEM: So Moses blessed the workmen in
their work, just as God had blessed the man and woman in the beginning, as well
as the seventh day (Gen 1:28; 2:2).