Copyright ©1992 by
THE USE OF MISKAN AND
'OHEL MO'ED IN EXODUS 25-40
RALPH E.
HENDRIX
The previous study1 in this
series on miskan and 'ohel
mo'ed in
Exod
25-40 concluded that miskan means
"dwelling place," that it
concerns a
"place" or "site" (similar to the modem noun
"camp"),
and that
it carries connotations of transience.
It should not be
limited to a
specific form or kind of "dwelling" (particularly not
what is
implied by the English word "tent" and by the Latin
tabernaculum), since such a usage leads to confusion
with 'ohel.
Regarding
the phrase 'ohel mo'ed
we found that it is a genitival
construct
which means "tent of assembly" or "tent of encounter,"
that this
was the name of the structure in which the Divine and the
human met,
and that the term emphasizes the event rather than the
structure.
The previous study further revealed that Ugaritic parallels to
these two
Hebrew terms provide no additional helpful information
beyond what
is already known from the Hebrew itself, except
possibly that
the Hebrew differentiation between nonsedentary and
sedentary
connotations of the words seems to be lost in the
Ugaritic. I
suggested that the reason for this difference in usage
could be
the fact that
the
literature we examined was written (MB III [II C) to LB I),
whereas
book of
Exodus.
1Ralph E. Hendrix, "Miskan and 'Ohel Mo'ed: Etymology,
Lexical Definitions,
and
Extra-biblical Usage," AUSS 29/3
(1991):213-224. The author here wishes
to
express
appreciation to J. Bjonar Storfjell,
Richard M. Davidson, and Randall W.
Younker,
members of the faculty of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological
Seminary,
this and
related studies.
3
4 RALPH E. HENDRIX:
Finally, we found that by translating both miskan
(dwelling
place) and
'ohel (tent) as skene
(tent), the LXX has obscured the
difference
between the two Hebrew terms, as does the Vulgate in
its use
of tabernaculum. I suggested that perhaps the two terms
were
considered to be synonyms by the time of the translation of
the LXX,
and that if so, this may be another example of
sedentarization obscuring the terms.
Building upon this initial etymological
analysis, subsequent
study of
the MT of Exod 25-40 has revealed that the
expressions
miskan and 'ohel mo'ed are discrete and specific; they are not
interchangeable. The term selected in each
case depends on the
literary
context in which the term appears. Miskan is the biblical
writer's
expression of choice when the construction or assembling
of the
dwelling place is the subject, while 'ohel mo'ed is the
expression of
choice when the context is cultic. Thus
the habitation
of YHWH
may properly be called the "
phrase
which conveys both aspects of this duality.
Both past and contemporary structural
analyses of Exod 25-40
lack
sensitivity to the distinctions between miskan
and 'ohel mo'ed.2
This may be
due to the application of an external methodology
2Brevard S. Childs, Introduction
to the Old Testament as Scripture (
Fortress
Press), 73, d. 100; John I. Durham, Exodus, Word Biblical Commentary,
vol. 3
(Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 353, 371 (for examples of scholarly analyses,
see pp.
350-499); and George V. Pixley, On Exodus: A
Liberation Perspective, trans.
Robert R.
Barr (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books, 1987), xvii. On terminological
insensitivity, see (chronologically): Julius Wellhausen,
Prolegomena to the History of
Ancient
Charles
Black, 1885), 44; Baruch A. Levine, "The Descriptive Tabernacle Texts of
the
Pentateuch,"
JAOS 85 (1965): 307-318; U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of
Exodus, trans.
Cole, Exodus:
An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale
Old Testament
Commentary
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 52;
Charles L. Feinberg,
"Tabernacle,"
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. Merrill C. Tenney
(Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 5:572-573; P. J. Kearney, "Creation and Liturgy:
The P
Redaction of Ex 25-40," ZAW 89 (1977): 386; Joe O. Lewis, "The
Tent," RevExp 74 (1977): 537; Victor (Avigdor)
Hurowitz, 'The Priestly Account of
Building the
Tabernacle," JAOS 105 (1985): 22; John J. Davis, Moses and the
Gods of
Pixley,
195; W. Johnstone, Exodus, Old Testament Guides
(
Press,
1990), passim; Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus,
Interpretation: A Bible
Commentary
for Teaching and Preaching
(Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991), esp.
263-316; and
Nahum M. Sarna, The
JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus (
Publication Society, 1991), esp. 49, 158, 176.
USE OF MISKAN AND 'OHEL MO'ED 5
rather than
making use of a literary-structural analysis.3 Under
these
circumstances, a terminologically sensitive analysis of Exod
25-40 is
timely. The present study is an endeavor to fill this
vacuum for Exod 25-40. A third
(and concluding) article will
present an
overview of the literary structure of Exod 25-40,
through
which this
terminological pattern weaves.4
1. Occurrences of the Terms
Statistical
Analysis
Miskan and 'ohel
(most often in the phrase 'ohel mo'ed) are
names of YHWH's habitation which the text of Exod
25-40
indicates
Moses was commanded to construct, equip, and
ceremonially prepare for service. Other
appellative expressions for
this
habitation either do not occur in chapters 25-40 or occur only
once,
whereas miskan and 'ohel
occur in reference to the habitation
some
fifty-eight times each.5 The
present study will be limited to
the
contextual usage of these two denominatives.
3By "external
methodology" is meant the type popularized by Julius
Wellhausen in
his Prolegomena, and summarized by Edgar Krentz,
The Historical-
Critical
Method
(Philadelphia: Forcress Press, 1975),55-61. This method has mutated
through time
(see Douglas A. Knight, "The Pentateuch," in The Bible and Its
Modern
Interpreters, ed. Douglas A. Knight and Gene M. Tucker
[
19851,
265-287), but still retains at least one essential Wellhausian
theme: namely, the
etiological
nature of the
truth is,
that the tabernacle is the copy, not the prototype, of the temple in
"Introduction
to the Book of Exodus," IB (New York: Abingdon Press, 1952) 1:845;
idem,
"Exegesis of the Book of Exodus," IB (New York: Abingdon
Press, 1952),
1:1027; James Muilenberg, "The
History of the Religion of
Buttrick (New
York: Abingdon Press, 1962), 308-309; Martin Noth, Exodus:
A
Commentary, crans. J. S. Bowden (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962), 211; Jack
P. Lewis,
"Mo'ed," Theological Wordbook of
the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris,
Gleason L.
Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1980), 1:389;
4Ralph E. Hendrix, "A
Literary-Structural Overview of Exod 25-40," AUSS
(forthcoming).
5All statistical data are
derived from Gerhard Usowsky and Leonhard
Rost,
Konkordanz zum Hebraischen
Alten Testament (Stuttgart Wurttembergische
Bibelanstalt, 1958). Hekal (palace, temple) does not occur in Exod 25-40. Miqdas (holy
precinct),
and Bayit (house) in reference to the divine
dwelling, each occurs only
once, in Exod 25:8 and 34:26 respectively.
6 RALPH E. HENDRIX:
The word miskan
(dwelling place) occurs 139 times in the OT.
Of these
occurrences, 104 (74.8%) are found in the Pentateuch as
follows: fifty-eight (55.8%) in Exodus, four (3.9%) in
Leviticus, and
forty-two (40.4%)
in Numbers, with none in Genesis and
Deuteronomy. Every occurrence of miskan in Exodus (41.7% of all
OT
occurrences) are found in Exod 25-40.
The word 'ohel
(tent) occurs 344 times in the OT. In
the
Pentateuch
it is found 214 times in one or another of the
expressions 'ohel (tent), 'ohel mo'ed (tent of meeting), 'ohel
hamiskan (tent over the dwelling place), and 'ohel ha'edut (tent of the
testimony). It is used in the Pentateuch to refer to a
personal tent
forty-seven
times (13.7%), with all twenty-three occurrences in
Genesis
(6.7%) being of this nature. It occurs
forty-four times in
Leviticus, forty-three (97.7%) of which are in the phrase 'ohel mo'ed.
In Numbers,
it occurs seventy-six times, of which fifty-six (73.7%)
are in
the phrase 'ohel mo'ed. Deuteronomy has nine occurrences,
four
times (45.4%) either in the phrase 'ohel mo'ed or with this
phrase as
its antecedent.
In Exodus 'ohel
without an antecedent appears four times
(6.5%). It occurs in the phrase 'ohel mo'ed thirty-four times,
plus
three more
times with 'ohel mo'ed
as its antecedent, for a total of
thirty-seven
occurrences (59.7% of its Exodus occurrences).
It is
found in
the phrase 'ohel al-hamiskan
two times, but with twelve
more
occurrences with 'ohel in reference to 'ohel al-hamiskan, for a
total of
fourteen times (22.5% of the total Exodus occurrences). In
Exod 33
it is found seven times as the 'ohel of Moses
(11.3% of the
Exodus occurrences). 'Ohel
ha'edut (tent of the testimony) does not
occur in
Exodus. Thus, in one form or another 'ohel occurs a total
of
sixty-two times in Exod 25-40 (29.1% of its OT
occurrences).
There are
fifty-eight times in Exod 25-40 wherein some form of
'ohel refers to the habitation of YHWH, the
most common being
thirty-four
occurrences in the phrase 'ohel mo'ed.
The
Patterning of the Occurrences
A sequential listing of the occurrences of
miskan and 'ohel
mo'ed in Exod 25-40
reveals a terminological pattern.6
The data in
6This is S. Bar-Efrat's "verbal level," as suggested in "Some
Observations on
the Analysis of Structure in Biblical Narrative," VT 30 (1980): 157.
USE OF MISKAN AND 'OHEL MO'ED 7
the
Table on page 8 (derived from Lisowsky and Rost)7 make it
apparent that
the use of miskan continues uninterrupted
(nineteen
times)
from Exod 25:9 through 27:19. Then in Exod 27:20,
the
beginning of a
second terminological unit is evidenced by an
abrupt
shift to 'ohel mo'ed,
a term which continues through to Exod
33:7
(seventeen occurrences in all).8 In Exod
35:1-39:43 we find a
third termi-nological unit, one that is "predominantly miskan."
In it,
miskan occurs twenty-two times while 'ohel mo'ed occurs five times.
Finally, a
fourth terminological unit constitutes a "mixed" miskan
and 'ohel mo'ed passage
encompassing Exod 40:1-38. Here miskan
occurs
seventeen times and 'ohel mo'ed
twelve times.
The terminological structure of miskan and 'ohel mo'ed in Exod
25-40
consists therefore of four compositional units:
miskan only,
'ohel mo'ed only, predominantly miskan,
and mixed miskan and 'ohel
mo'ed expressions. Why is this so?
2. Explanations and Solutions
Among the scholarly analyses noted, only
that of G. V. Pixley
acknowledges a terminological aspect of the text. He does so,
however,
only once and without explanation.9
I suggest that it is
the
literary context in which each of these expressions is used that
provides the
key to understanding the terminological structure. A
broad
study of the literary structure of Exod 25-40 will be
presented in a
forthcoming article; however, the overview that will
be
given therein is not necessary in order for us to analyze here the
contextual
usages of miskan
and 'ohel mo'ed.10
"Miskan Only" Terminological Unit
(Exod 25:9-27:19) I
Miskan
(occurring nineteen times) is the only term used to
name the
habitation of YHWH in the text of Exod
25:9-27:19. This
7Lisowsky and Rost, 30-33, 873-874.
8Pixley,
199.
9See specific references in
Cole,
Pixley,
199, and Sarna, 176, regarding the shift from miskan to 'ohel mo'ed in Exod
27:19-20.
10This article is scheduled for
publication in the next issue of AUSS.
8 RALPH E. HENDRIX:
Occurrences
of Miskan and 'Ohel Mo'ed in Exodus 25-40
Miskan 'Ohel Mo'ed Miskan 'Ohel Mo'ed
"Miskan Only" "Predominantly
Miskan"
25:9 35:11
26:1 :15
:6
:18 35:21
:7
36:8
:12
:13
:13
:14
:15
:20
:17
:22
:18
:23
:20
:25
:22
:27
:23 :28
:26
:31
:27
:32
:27 :32
:30
38:8
:35
38:20
27:9 :21
:19
:21
:30
:31
39:32 :32
:33
:40 :40
"'Ohel Mo'ed
Only. Mixed Terminology
27:21 40:2 :2
28:43 :5
29:4 :6 :6
:10 :7
:11 :9
:30 :12
:32 :17
:42 :18
:44 :19
30:16 :21
:18 :22 :22
:20 :24 :24
:26 :26
:36 :28
31:7 :29 :29
33:7 :30
:7 :32
:33
:34 :34
:35 :35
:36
:38
USE OF MISKAN AND 'OHEL MO'ED 9
passage is
part of a slightly larger section (Exod 25:1-27:19),
the
content of
which consists of commands for constructing the
dwelling: its size, pattern, and materials. This section also details
the
physical arrangements of the dwelling:
an ark (throne), a table
(for eating), a lampstand (for
light), an audience chamber and
private
compartment, an altar (kitchen), and a courtyard (public
area). All of these elements were common to
dwellings in general,
and thus
the writer's use of miskan
is not surprising.
"'Ohel Mo'ed Only"
Terminological Unit
(Exod 27:20-34:35)
In Exod 27:20,
there is a change of context which witnesses an
abrupt
shift in denominatives. Exod 27:21 contains the first
instance
of the
use of the term 'ohel mo'ed. This phrase, which occurs
seventeen
times, is used exclusively for the divine habitation in
Exod
21:20-33:7.
Whereas the literary context of miskan was about
construction,
the
literary context of 'ohel mo'ed
appears to involve the function of
the cult
of YHWH. Exod
27:20-21 concerns the cultic function and
use of
oil in the liturgy. Exod
28:1-43 concerns the priests, their
garments
(ephod, breastpiece, robe, turban, tunic, and under-
garments),
along with the time and manner of their function in the
cult. Exod 29:1-46
describes the process of consecrating and
dressing the
priests. It also speaks of offerings
(sin, burnt, and
wave);
ordination; and the continuous, "daily" burnt offering. Exod
30:1-10
concerns the incense altar: its placement, use, and
perpetuity, but
these verses do not give evidence of either name for
YHWH's habitation. Exod 30:11-31:18 concerns atonement money,
the
priests' wash basin, the anointing oil, incense, the providential
provision of
craftsmen, and the sabbath(s). Where an expression
naming the
habitation of YHWH is found in each of these literary
subsections of Exod 27:20-33:7, the term is exclusively 'ohel mo'ed.
In this
cult-functional context, the biblical writer chose 'ohel
mo'ed
rather than
the previously used miskan.
Because of the cult-functional use of 'ohel mo'ed, this phrase
continues into
the four narratives of Exod 32-34. It occurs twice in
Exod 33:7, in the narrative
of the Theophany in Moses' Tent. In
the
preceding
narrative about the Golden Calf and in the subsequent
two
narratives about the Theophany on the Mountain and
the
Episode of
the Second Tablets, the phrase does not occur.
Thus,
although the
phrase is used only twice, and this in conjunction
10 RALPH E. HENDRIX:
with only
the second narrative, all four narratives are apparently
cultic and
may be considered as being in a cult-functional context.
Predominantly
Miskan Terminological Unit
(Exod 35:1-39:43)
The suggested term-context association
seen in the first two
terminological units appears straightforward. Individual expres-
sions are used in clearly definable literary
contexts. However, the
two
mixed terminological units found in Exod 35:1-39:43
and 40:1-
38 provide
both a challenge to, and vindication of, the term-context
relationship suggested in this study.
We find within the literary
structure of Exod 35:1-39:43 that miskan
occurs twenty-two times,
while 'ohel mo'ed occurs five
times. For convenience, it is designated
as a
"predominantly miskan"
terminological unit.
Exod 35:1-36:7
relates to the construction of the equipment of
the
habitation (which explains the presence miskan),
but it also
includes the
mention of the cult function (hence the presence of
‘ohel
mo’ed in Exod 35:21). Miskan is
used three times in the
construction context; 'ohel mo'ed
occurs once, in a cult-function
context.
Exod 36:8-38:20
is an "assembly" passage which parallels the
"command" passage in Exod
25:8-31:18. It primarily concerns
construction. Thus the writer uses miskan, except in Exod 38:8,
where the
concern is cult-functional (necessitating the use of 'ohel
mo'ed). Miskan is used thirteen times, in construction
contexts; and
'ohel ma'ed is used once, in a cult-function context.
Exod 38:21-31
concerns the metal used in constructing
components of
the habitation. Here miskan
occurs three times in
construction contexts, and 'ohel mo'ed occurs once in the context of
the
bronze altar. This is the altar of burnt
offering (the incense altar
was
gold) and may be considered as cult-functional.
Finally, Exod
39:1-43, the "assembly" parallel to the Exod
28:1-
43
"command" section, concerns the priestly garments, ephod,
stones, breastpiece, robe, tunic, and plate/turban. Here, however,
the
emphasis is not on the cultic function of this equipment, but on
its
construction.
Apparent exceptions to this construction
context are Exod
39:32 and
39:40, where both miskan and 'ohel mo'ed are found in the
same
literary phrase. The two verses are
worded in the Hebrew in
such a
way as to be rendered in English as "the dwelling place of
USE OF MISKAN AND 'OHEL MO'ED 11
the Tent
of Assembly."11 Here the context is still
construction:
namely, the
construction of the dwelling place of the Tent of
Meeting. Up to this point, miskan
has been used solely in reference
to YHWH's
besides YHWH's, so too can miskan
simply mean a "dwelling
place." Here it is consistent with the previous
differentiation of
terms for miskan to mean "dwelling place" as a
reference to the
dwelling
place of the 'ohel mo'ed.
The Combined
Miskan and 'Ohel Mo'ed
Context
(Exod 40:1-38)
The fourth unit, Exod
40:1-38, exemplifies the combined miskan
and 'ohel mo'ed context. Here miskan
occurs seventeen times and
'ohel mo'ed twelve times. The terminological distinction is much
more
narrow (as an "assembly" context might require); however,
the same
constructional and cult-functional usages are detectable.
Exod
40:1-8 concerns the assembling of the whole Cult-
Dwelling from component parts.
Although the cult articles are
mentioned,
this is in the context of construction.
Hence miskan
occurs once
as the
twice as
the "dwelling place" of the Tent of Meeting (in genitival
construct). 'Ohel mo'ed occurs alone only in Exod
40:7, in the
context of
the placement of the priests' wash basin--clearly a cultic
object that
pertains to cult-function.
Exod 40:9-16
concerns the command to anoint the miskan, its
furnishings, the
altar of burnt offerings and its utensils, and the
wash
basin and stand, as well as the priests. That this is clearly
cult-functional (as the term "anoint" suggests) is verified by the
presence of 'ohel mo'ed. Here the command to anoint the miskan
may seem
troublesome unless one allows for its generic meaning
"dwelling place."
The apparent problem is resolved, however, if
one
reads miskan as the "dwelling place"
of the Tent of Assembly,
rather than
as the "
Exod 40:17-33
concerns the placement of certain objects.
Miskan
is the
primary term of the passage where it refers to the Dwelling
11My
translation. Exod
39:32 is simply a genitival construct wherein miskan
is
in the
construct state and 'ohel mo'ed
is its genitive: "dwelling place of the Tent of
Assembly." Exod
39:40 is not a genitival construct, but 'ohel mo'ed is preceded by the
dative
prefix le, which may carry the genitival idea "of" and
therefore retains the
same
meaning and translation in Exod 39:40 as in Exod 39:32.
12 RALPH E. HENDRIX:
Place of
YHWH (v. 17) and the typical dwelling furniture therein
(vv. 18-21). In vv.
22-24, a very close association of miskan and 'ohel
is
witnessed; however, this is not in actual or effective genitival
construct as
before, but rather in a literary association with
theological
import: YHWH's
dwelling furniture (table and
lampstand) are placed in the structure that is
called by its cult-
functional
name! This suggests that the act of
placing the furniture
was considered
by the biblical writer to be cultic, not
constructional. In other words, there is
more to the placing of this
particular
furniture than merely mimicking what is done with
household
furniture. The text, in mid-sentence,
explicitly unites the
constructional and cult-functional aspects of the Cult-Dwelling:
YHWH both
dwells and conducts cultic placement of furniture in
a
single physical structure. Thus there is
one Structure with two
aspects.
In v. 29, the same genitival construct
relationship is witnessed
as
before: "the dwelling place of the Tent of Meeting," a
construction context. In vv. 30-32,
straightforward cult-functional
contexts
(concerning the washing of the priests) use 'ohel mo'ed
without
difficulty for the reader. Finally, in
v. 33, the writer
switches back
to miskan in the constructional context of
putting up
the
curtain around the courtyard.
Exod 40:34-38,
the final passage of Exod 25-40, exhibits the
closest
literary relationship between miskan and 'ohel mo'ed found
in this
study up to this point. Here the subject
is the indwelling of
YHWH in the Cult-Dwelling. As one might expect in the
light of
YHWH's
roles, the indwelling occurs simultaneously in the miskan
and the 'ohel mo'ed, since both are
dual aspects of one single
physical
entity. The terms remain connotatively
distinct while
referring to
the same physical Structure. The Glory
of YHWH
resides
inside the miskan, while the Cloud hovers
above the
entrance of
the 'ohel mo'ed.
3. Summary and Conclusions
Four terminological units occur within
the basic literary
structure of Exod 25-40. This
terminological "axis" has generally
been
overlooked by scholars, resulting in an insensitivity to the
discrete and
separate connotations of miskan and 'ohel mo'ed. By
tracing the
terms along the terminological axis through the literary
structure,
this study has suggested that miskan is used
in
constructional contexts, primarily associated with commands to
USE OF MISKAN AND 'OHEL MO'ED 13
manufacture and
assemble the
secondarily in
its generic sense as simply "dwelling place." The
phrase 'ohel mo'ed appears in
literary contexts where the cultic
function of
the habitation is the concern.
This relationship between the context and
the precise term that
is used
suggests intentionality: i.e.,
particular terms are used in
particular
contexts. Specifically, what is
suggested by the usage is
that the
biblical writer wished to associate miskan
with construction
contexts and 'ohel mo'ed with liturgical,
cult-functional contexts.
When writing
about the command to construct a dwelling and to
establish the
cult, the writer could easily use the discrete terms
separately. The writer dealt first with one subject
(construction),
and used
an appropriately "constructional" name for the structure.
In dealing
with the second subject (cult-function), the writer used
a
totally distinct, but equally appropriate expression. We must
realize that
the writer was distinguishing dual, yet discrete, aspects
of a
single physical reality.
When describing the assembly process,
these discrete
denominatives are used in close association, but not necessarily
synonymously. Even though the two terms occur at times in a
single
paragraph or sentence, it is always with discrete conno-
tations.
This is evident in the two terminological units where
miskan and 'ohel mo'ed occur separately, and it is discernibly
consistent in
the latter two terminological units, where, in tightly-
worded
texts, the terms are in close association.
Thus, in all contexts within Exod 25-40 the biblical writer has
masterfully
controlled the use of miskan and 'ohel mo'ed in order to
clarify the
dual nature of YHWH's habitation. That habitation was
to be
understood as a transient dwelling place, such as was
consistent with
the dwelling places of nomadic peoples; therefore
the
choice of miskan. But yet, that habitation also had the
continuing
function of fostering the cultic relationship, and this
aspect was
best expressed by the choice of 'ohel mo'ed.
This material is cited with gracious
permission from:
SDA Theological
Berrien Springs
http://www.andrews.edu/SEM/
Please report any errors to Ted
Hildebrandt at: