Messianic Education Trust
		Vayakhel   (Ex 35:1 - 38:20)

Shemot/Exodus 38:8   And he made the bronze laver and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

The Torah here offers us one of its slight anachronisms. Since the Tabernacle is only now being constructed and has certainly not been in operation, there could not yet be women serving at its door. The Who Is ...

Ramban: Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman Girondi or Nachmanides (born in Gerona, 1194; died in Israel 1270), Spanish rabbi, author and physician; defended Judaism in the Christian debates in Barcelona before making aliyah
Ramban suggests that this could be referring to Moshe's private tent outside the camp, but the text is more likely to be thinking of the women who would shortly be serving at the door of the Tabernacle once the work had been finished and Aharon and his sons had been ordained so that the service of the Tabernacle was being performed on a daily basis. Richard Elliott Friedman starts our conversation by pointing out that "this is the first mention of the female workers at the Tabernacle." The identity of these women has long puzzled the commentators; they are referenced only here and in 1 Samuel, where Eli's sons - among other sin - profaned the priesthood by sexual relations "with the women who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting" (1 Samuel 2:22, NJPS): a classic case of power abusing those who serve under it. Nahum Sarna tells us that "nothing is known about this class ... The Hebrew idiom tsavo' tsava' is also used of the Levites and means 'qualified to serve in the workforce', so that it is likely that these women performed menial work. None of the evidence supports the notion that they exercised any ritual or cultic function." Brevard Childs reports that "some commentators have suggested a cleaning and repairing service, others singing and dancing."¹

Nevertheless, the classic commentators peer into the mist to try to recover something of these women. Who Is ...

Abraham Ibn Ezra: (1089-1167 CE), born in Tudela, Spain; died in the South of France after wandering all around the shores of the Mediterranean and England; a philosopher, astronomer, doctor, poet and linguist; wrote a Hebrew grammar and a commentary on the Bible
Ibn Ezra, for example, proposes that "these were the skillful women who spun the five types of cloth used in the construction of the Tabernacle. Or it may refer to the women who came regularly to pray at the tent and to study the commandments. They had abandoned all the vanities of the world; hence they gave up their mirrors, which they no longer needed." Who Is ...

Chizkuni: Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah (13^th century), French rabbi and exegete; his commentary on the Torah was written about 1240 in memory of his father, based principally on Rashi, but using about 20 other sources
Chizkuni says that, "they crowded at the entrance to pray and to hear the priests and Levites praise the Holy One," while the Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno suggests they they came "to hear the words of the Living G-d, as the Torah says, 'whoever sought the L-rd would go out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp' (Shemot 33:7). These women rejected their ornaments and sanctified their mirrors, demonstrating that they no longer needed them." Were does the idea of praying come from? What Is ...

Targum Onkelos: An early (1^st-2^nd Century CE) translation/paraphrase of the Torah into Aramaic; attributed to a Roman convert to Judaism, Onkelos; used in Babylonian synagogues during the Talmudic era
Targum Onkelos is the earliest source, adding the extra verb "to pray" after "to serve", so that his text reads, "the women who serve in prayer" - that, add Drazin and Wagner, "is their purpose in gathering."

In modern times, we are used to mirrors made of silvered glass in our houses and handbags, but in ancient times mirrors were almost always hand-held. They were usually cast as disks of copper of bronze metal, then burnished to a high polish and fitted with handles made of wood, ivory or metal. Egypt was the center of manufacture for mirrors for the entire Ancient Near East, but due to the shortage of natural resources, broken or unwanted metal objects were not discarded but recycled by being melted down and re-used. The word translated "from them mirrors" here - בְּמַרְאֹת, the preposition בְּ followed by the construct feminine plural noun מַרְאֹת, itself derived from the root רָאָה, to look or see, so a place to see, a mirror - is more usually translated 'vision', but is taken here as 'mirror' to make more sense. The Who Is ...

Ba'al HaTurim: Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (1269-1343 CE), born in Cologne, Germany; lived for 40 years in and around Toledo, Spain; died en route to Israel; his commentary to the Chumash is based upon an abridgement of the Ramban, including Rashi, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra; it includes many references to gematria and textual novelties
Baal HaTurim plays on that when he reports that the word בְּמַרְאֹת appears four times in Tanakh: (i) here; (ii) "G-d spoke to Israel in visions of the night" (B'resheet 46:2) and twice (iii) and (iv) "in visions of G-d" in Ezekiel (8:3 and 40:2). He comments, "this indicates that these women removed themselves from worldly pleasure and donated their mirrors to the construction of the Tabernacle; and the Spirit of G-d descended upon them."

Following the general pattern for this section of the narrative, where each unit relates the assembly or fabrication of a previously mentioned item of equipment, furniture or apparel. In this case, this is the laver - a basin or large bowl used for washing - whose construction and purpose was commanded in in chapter thirty: "Make כִיּוֹר נְחֹשֶׁת  a laver of bronze and כָּנּוֹ נְחֹשֶׁת its stand of bronze, for washing; and place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it, and let Aharon and his sons wash their hands and feet from it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to serve, to turn into smoke an offering by fire to HaShem, they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die. It shall be a law for all time for them -- for him and his offspring -- throughout the ages" (Shemot 30:18-21). As Peter Enns observes, "the priests are to use it to wash themselves before entering the Holy Place. As with other elements of the Tabernacle ceremony, there is no room for negotiation. If they do not wash, they will die."² Rabbi Who Is ...

Hirsch: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888 CE), German rabbi, author and educator; staunch opponent of the Reform movement in Germany and one of the fathers of Orthodox Judaism
Hirsch explains that "it is deeply significant that the vessel of the Sanctuary which was to represent 'the moral keeping holy of one's acts and efforts' was made out of the women's mirrors. Mirrors are articles which lay stress on the physical body appearance of people being an object of special consideration."

Agreeing with Hirsch, Thomas Dozeman tells us that "the mirrors of the women become the source material for priestly purification with the basin of water,"³ before asking if there is "a parallel to the destruction of the censers of the Korah group: 'Remove the fire pans of those who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar -- for once they have been used for offering to the L-RD, they have become sacred -- and let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel. Eleazar the priest took the copper fire pans which had been used for offering by those who died in the fire; and they were hammered into plating for the altar' (B'Midbar 17:3-4, NJPS)." Interestingly, when Moshe reviews the accounts in the next parasha, neither the laver or its base are listed in the articles made from the bronze of the main wave-offering brought by the people, so Umberto Cassuto concludes that "the mirrors brought by the women constitute an exceptional gift, which was not included in the contribution to the sanctuary."⁴ Leon Kass suggests that "even these instruments of vanity and adornment - serving sexual attractiveness - are surrendered to the service of the L-rd."⁵

The word 'mirror' only occurs a few times in the Apostolic Writings. Comparing our present world with when Yeshua returns, Rav Sha'ul writes that "now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV). His readers would be only too familiar with the need to frequently buff and re-polish mirrors to keep them clean, shiny and smooth; copper so easily discolours and corrodes in a damp or humid climate. In our day, we have all seen old glass mirrors that have become 'foxed', with the silvering partially rubbed or polished away, so that they start to look more like a cheap pair of sunglasses, neither fully reflecting nor really transparent! A mirror that doesn't properly reflect is not fit for purpose. As disciples of Yeshua, one of our callings is to be mirrors, reflecting His glory into the world around us. To do that properly, we too have to be burnished and polished frequently, to keep us clean and free of discolouration and corrosion. Only then will people see an accurate picture of Yeshua when they look at us.

James takes this a step further, linking the idea of a mirror to our conduct and behaviour as ambassadors for the kingdom of G-d. "if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (James 1:23-24, ESV). If we only hear the word of G-d but do not put it into practice, then it is as if we look only at ourselves and then promptly even forget what we look like. But, on the other hand, "the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing" (v. 25, ESV). When we look not at our own reflection, but the perfect law of G-d and do what it says, then we reflect Yeshua correctly for others to see and our actions will be blessed. As Yeshua Himself said, "Blessed are those who hear the word of G-d and keep it!" (Luke 11:28).

Our question for today, then, is where are we looking and what are we doing with what we see? The writer to the Hebrews urges us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Yeshua, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of G-d" (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV). When we look consistently at Him and do as He did, we become more polished and smooth, able to more accurately reflect Him in our context. As people look at us, they will see an ever-more faithful reflection of Him and so be drawn to know Him for themselves. Lord Yeshua, let Your glory shine and let us reflect Your light into every corner and shaded place, that Your light may pierce through the darkness and redeem this fallen world!

1. - Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary, The Old Testament Library, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), page 636.

2. - Peter Enns, Exodus, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), page 539.

3. - Thomas B. Dozeman, Exodus, Eerdmans Critical Commentaries, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmanns, 2009), page 669.

4. - Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, (Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1983), page 467.

5. - Leon R. Kass, Founding G-d's Nation - Reading Exodus (New Haven, Yale University press, 2021), page 578.

Further Study: Vayikra 22:31-33; Psalm 1:1-2; Hebrews 10:35-38; Revelation 1:3

Application: How well do you think you are reflecting Yeshua today in your home, your workplace and your wider social network? Do people see a clear, clean and faithful image of the Master, or have tarnish, discolouration and even a pitted surface built up to distort or obscure the view? Ask Him to re-burnish and polish you afresh to bring you back to a true mirror that perfectly displays His glory.

Comment - 07:27 03Mar24 Ann Pangbourne: Helpful, insightful and thought provoking. Thank you

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© Jonathan Allen, 2024

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