The Tabernacle: A Concession to Human Religious Needs?

Nahum M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), 196.

Amy Cooper-Robertson, “Repetition and the Tabernacle: Eternity in the Face of Change,” The Torah (2014).

While serious text critical problems exist with this form of the verb ז.כ.ר here, what is relevant to us is that God will come to Israel in these places.

Editor’s note: For another discussion of the distinction between this passage and that of the Tabernacle, see Jonathan Ben-Dov, “The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,” TheTorah (2017).

Although the difference between the term mikdash, “sanctuary” or “holy place,” and mishkan, Tabernacle or covered tent, is unclear, it would seem that the latter term refers specifically to the tent itself, while the former refers to the entire complex. Numerous drawings of the sanctuary and the tabernacle are available on the internet; most are quite conjectural; see also Moshe Levine, The Tabernacle: It Structure and Utensils, 4^th ed. (New York: Soncino Press, 1989).

While the tent here is called mishkan, “dwelling place,” other texts refer to it as ohel moed, the tent of meeting, and later in Exodus, at the end of the legislation about the daily offering, we are told that this is where YHWH will meet the Israelites:

^{שמות כט:מב} עֹלַת תָּמִיד לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה אֲשֶׁר אִוָּעֵד לָכֶם שָׁמָּה לְדַבֵּר אֵלֶיךָ שָׁם. ^כט:מג וְנֹעַדְתִּי שָׁמָּה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל... ^כט:מה וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים.

^{Exod 29:42} a regular burnt offering throughout the generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before YHWH. For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you, ^29:43 and there I will meet with the Israelites… ^29:45 I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God.

The description of “meeting place” seems different than that of dwelling place, though the passage ends with the statement that God will dwell among the Israelites, which is also what we see in Exodus 25:8.

Other places in the Torah refer to God’s presence in the land. For example, at the end of the rules about how to treat killers, we find:

^{במדבר לה:לד} וְלֹא תְטַמֵּא אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם יֹשְׁבִים בָּהּ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי שֹׁכֵן בְּתוֹכָהּ כִּי אֲנִי יְ־הוָה שֹׁכֵן בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

^{Num 35:34} You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I Myself abide, for I YHWH abide among the Israelite people.

Closer to the idea in the Tabernacle texts, we find throughout Deuteronomy (12:5, 12:11, 16:2, 16:6, 16:11, 26:2), we are told that God will either make his name dwell (לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ) or establish his name (לָשׂוּם שְׁמוֹ) in the place that he will choose. For a discussion of the difference between these two expressions, see Zvi Koenigsberg, “The Place(s) that YHWH Will Choose: Ebal, Shiloh, and Jerusalem,” TheTorah (2018); Yair Zakovitch, “לשכן שמו שם לשום שמו שם” [‘To Cause His Name to Dwell There’ ‘To Put His Name There’] Tarbiz 41 (1972): 338–340.

This description echoes Exodus 24:16, which says that God’s kavod dwelt on Mt. Sinai. For further discussion of the difference between name and kavod, see Michael Carasik, “In the Presence of God,” The Torah (2015).

A gaseous substance can fill a room, whereas a body enters a room. Yet, in other passages, the kavod does seem to refer God’s body. When Moses asks to see God’s kavod at Exodus 33:18, it means something identical to or intimately related to God, since God responds that he will do as Moses asks, but will have to cover Moses’ face while he passes, and Moses can only look once God has passed, and thus, will see only his back. Although it would seem that kavod here refers to YHWH physical body, this is still a guess.

This is how the kavod is described in another part of the Sinai revelation:

^{שמות כד:טז} וַיִּשְׁכֹּן כְּבוֹד יְ־הוָה עַל הַר סִינַי... ^כד:יז וּמַרְאֵה כְּבוֹד יְ־הוָה כְּאֵשׁ אֹכֶלֶת בְּרֹאשׁ הָהָר לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

^{Exod 24:16} The kavod of YHWH abode on Mount Sinai… ^24:17 Now the kavod of YHWH appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.

Whether the text is saying that the kavod is actually fire or merely appears as fire is unclear.

According to Mishnah, Kiddushin 14:4, Abraham observed all the commandments of the Torah, but the Torah itself is silent on this matter.

For a discussion of Maimonides’ understanding of Abraham’s philosophical journey, see Seth Kadish, “How Did Abraham Discover God? The Rationalist Approach,” TheTorah (2013).

In Maimonides’ thinking, Abraham was a monotheist, and the entire Torah is clearly monotheistic. Nevertheless, a close look at the biblical text does not necessarily support this view. See my discussion in, Kenneth Seeskin, “When Did the Bible Become Monotheistic?” TheTorah (2019).

Maimonides bases this idea on Joshua 24:14.

Editor’s note: For a discussion of this point, see David Gillis, “On the Problem of Sacrifices: Maimonides’ Ladder of Enlightenment,” TheTorah (2018). On the debate between Maimonides and Nachmanides on this point, see Menachem Kellner, “Tabernacle, Sacrifices, and Judaism: Maimonides vs. Nahmanides,” TheTorah (2020).

For more on God’s concessions to Israel, see Kenneth Seeskin, Thinking about the Torah (Philadelphia: JPS, 2016), 85-100.

See discussion in Michael B. Hundley, Gods in Dwellings: Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient Near East, Writings from the Ancient World Supplement series (Atlanta: SBL, 2013).

The problem with this explanation is the claim that the rejection of idolatry will occur in stages. If so we would expect there to be a time when concessions that God made to our ancient ancestors would no longer needed. Reasonable as this suggestion is, it contradicts Maimonides’ conviction that the Torah is valid for all time.

Josephus also thought Abraham was a scientist. See Annette Yoshiko Reed, “Abraham as Chaldean Scientist and Father of the Jews: Josephus, "Ant." 1.154-168, and the Greco-Roman Discourse about Astronomy/Astrology,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period 35.2 (2004): 119–158.