The Other Ohel Moed

A number of biblical passages make reference to “the tent of the Tabernacle,”

^{שמות לה:יא} אֶת הַ֨מִּשְׁכָּ֔ן אֶֽת אָהֳל֖וֹ…

^{Exod 35:11} the Tabernacle, its tent…

^{שמות לט:לג} וַיָּבִ֤יאוּ אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ אֶל מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת הָאֹ֖הֶל וְאֶת כָּל כֵּלָ֑יו…

^{Exod 39:33} Then they brought the Tabernacle to Moses, with the Tent and all its furnishings…

Whether this tent is the Ohel Moed and therefore, the Ohel Moed is just part of the larger Tabernacle structure, or whether the Tabernacle as a whole is synonymous with the Ohel Moed, and this other tent is just part of it, is unclear.

Why this structure is given two names, and why the Torah sometimes uses one or the other, is unclear. It seems likely that each derives from a separate tradition or source/fragment, and that the Priestly author is doing his best to combine the two.

See also:

^{שמות כט:מד} וְקִדַּשְׁתִּ֛י אֶת אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד…^כט:מה וְשָׁ֣כַנְתִּ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים:

^{Exod 29:44} I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting… ^29:45 I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God. ²

^{שמות כה:ח} וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם: ^כה:ט כְּכֹ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ מַרְאֶ֣ה אוֹתְךָ֔ אֵ֚ת תַּבְנִ֣ית הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת תַּבְנִ֣ית כָּל כֵּלָ֑יו וְכֵ֖ן תַּעֲשֽׂוּ:

^{Exod 25:8} And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. ^25:9 Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it.

^{שמות כו:א} וְאֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּ֥ן תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה…

^{Exod 26:1} As for the Tabernacle, make it…

^{שמות מ:יז} וַיְהִ֞י בַּחֹ֧דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֛וֹן בַּשָּׁ֥נָה הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ הוּקַ֖ם הַמִּשְׁכָּֽן:

^{Exod 40:17} In the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the Tabernacle was set up.

^{שמות מ:לד} וַיְכַ֥ס הֶעָנָ֖ן אֶת אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וּכְב֣וֹד יְ־הֹוָ֔ה מָלֵ֖א אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּֽן:

^{Exod 40:34} The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of YHWH filled the Tabernacle.

It is worth noting, however that ibn Ezra discusses the possibility, in his long commentary, that this tent is the Tent of Meeting Tabernacle after it was built but before it was consecrated for use.

ויש אומרים, כי זה הוא אהל המשכן. וספר הכתוב אנא היה המשכן לפני שיקימו הדגלים החמשים יום.

There are those who say that this is the tent of the Tabernacle. And scripture explains where the Tabernacle was before the established the banners on the fiftieth day.

This would require the assumption that the building of the Tabernacle began immediately after the command to Moses, before the golden calf story and its aftermath, but that it was only referenced in Exodus 36.

An ancient Syriac (dialect of Aramaic) translation of the Bible, which sometimes preserves different readings.

“And Moses took his tent (καὶ λαβὼν Μωυσῆς τὴν σκηνὴν αὐτοῦ; ܘܡܘܫܐ ܢܣܼܒ ܡܫܟܢܗ)…”

E.g., Ibn Ezra – האהל – שלו, כמו ”ויבאו האהלה“ (שמות יח:ז)….

It is possible that the text means to say that Moses made his own tent into the Ohel Moed and then set up a new tent for himself in the camp, but this undoes the reason for suggesting this was Moses’ tent in the first place (i.e., that God wished to speak to Moses in his own tent but that God would no longer agree to do so if the tent was in the camp).

The only “tent” in that chapter is Moses’ own tent, in which he and Jethro sit and talk (v. 7).

In its favor is the use of the term נ-צ-ב (v. 14), which is generally associated with this Ohel Moed.

Paul Joüon, Grammaire de l’hébreu biblique (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1965), 425-26 [quoted in Propp, Exodus, ad loc.] Although this example does not seem to appear in the newer Joüon-Muraoka grammar, the category is described as, “Objects which are specifically determinate because they are taken or used for some specific purpose.” See, Paul Joüon and Tamitsu Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew 2^nd ed. (Subsidia Biblica; Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2011), 479. See further on definite articles, James Barr, “‘Determination’ and the Definite Article in Biblical Hebrew,” Journal of Semitic Studies 34.2 (1989): 307-335.

^{במדבר ב:יז} וְנָסַ֧ע אֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֛ד מַחֲנֵ֥ה הַלְוִיִּ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הַֽמַּחֲנֹ֑ת…

^{Num 2:17} Then, midway between the camps, the Tent of Meeting, the camp of the Levites, shall move…

Num 1:51, 3:10, 3:38, 18:7.

^{ויקרא טז:ב} וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְ־הֹוָ֜ה אֶל מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֘ אֶל אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִיךָ֒ וְאַל יָבֹ֤א בְכָל־עֵת֙ אֶל הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת: ^טז:ג בְּזֹ֛את יָבֹ֥א אַהֲרֹ֖ן אֶל הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ…

^{Lev 16:2} YHWH said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, lest he die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover. ^16:3 Thus only shall Aaron enter the Shrine…

A more subtle connection with chapter 33 comes in v. 28.

^{במדבר יא:כח} וַיַּ֜עַן יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֗וּן מְשָׁרֵ֥ת מֹשֶׁ֛ה מִבְּחֻרָ֖יו וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֲדֹנִ֥י מֹשֶׁ֖ה כְּלָאֵֽם:

^{Num 11:28} And Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant from his youth, spoke up and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!”

Why is Joshua at this meeting? He is not one of the 70 elders. One could suggest it is because, as one of Moses’ youths, and his attendant, he follows Moses around. Yet, another explanation seems more likely. We are told in Exodus 33:11 that Joshua never leaves the Tent. Since the conversation between Moses and the messenger occurs at the Tent, Joshua was there because he was always there.

Although it is possible to read vv. 14-15 as Miriam being sent out of the camp, it seems likely that God purposefully strikes her with leprosy outside the camp, to avoid impurity in the camp, just as God leaves before she becomes leprous, to avoid being in contact with impurity.

For more on this text, see my, “Joshua is Appointed Leader Three Times: But Is He in Charge?” TheTorah (2014)

Ramban (ad loc) is so bothered by this he claims that it really means that they waited outside the tent.

Benno Jacob, The Second Book of the Bible: Exodus (trans. Walter Jacob; Hoboken: Ktav, 1992 [German MS, 1940]), 961-966. At the risk of oversimplifying, Jacob believed the Torah was a unified document, but not that it was written by Moses or dictated by God. Jacob spends multiple pages defending this conception and attacking the documentary approach to the problem (which will be explained in the next section), and ends with: “Everything is in perfect order for the coherence of our text” (p. 966).

YHWH’s Glory or Presence (כבוד) may be distinct from Yhwh Himself, but either way, it is the form or manifestation Yhwh takes when residing in the Ohel Moed Tabernacle or communicating with humans. More importantly for our purposes, God’s Glory is notcoterminous with the cloud; it seems to be a vague glowing something, that is covered by the cloud. When it enters into the Ohel Moed Tabernacle, it does not need its covering, since no one is permitted to enter, thus its covering stays on top of the Ohel Moed Tabernacle, reminding the Israelites of the presence of God’s Glory in the tent. (That is why at night it must be a fire; otherwise people would not see it.) Ezekiel appears to have a similar concept of God’s Glory appearing to people and occupying the Temple, though the imagery is quite different (see Ezek chs. 1, 3, 10-11, 43-44). For more on the meaning of God’s Glory or Presence in Priestly texts and how this differs from the Deuteronomic concept of God’s Name, see Michael Carasik, “In the Presence of God,” TheTorah (2015).

It is possible that the Priestly Text believes that God could both dwell in the heavens and be manifest in the Ohel Moed Tabernacle at the same time, but this is unclear.