“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;
- KJV Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
- BSB Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
- NKJV “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
- NLT “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel had the tabernacle of testimony, built exactly as God instructed Moses. True worship followed God's own pattern, not human invention.
Overview
Stephen shifts to the tabernacle, made according to the pattern God showed Moses (Exodus 25:40). This stresses that acceptable worship is defined by God, not by human preference. It also begins his answer to the charge about the temple: God's dwelling among His people was first a movable tent, ordained by God Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 25:40See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.
- Exod 38:21This is the amount of material used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
- Heb 8:5who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”
- Num 18:2Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony.
- Josh 18:1The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them.
- Exod 25:8–9Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
- Num 1:50–53but appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle, and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it.
- Num 17:7–8Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the Tent of the Testimony.
- 1 Chr 28:11Then David gave to Solomon his son the plans for the porch of the temple, for its houses, for its treasuries, for its upper rooms, for its inner rooms, for the place of the mercy seat;
- Num 10:11In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony.
- Heb 8:2a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
- 2 Chr 24:6The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, “Why haven’t you required of the Levites to bring in the tax of Moses the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, out of Judah and out of Jerusalem, for the Tent of the Testimony?”
- 1 Chr 28:19“All this”, said David, “I have been made to understand in writing from Yahweh’s hand, even all the works of this pattern.”
- Exod 26:30You shall set up the tabernacle according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.
- Num 9:15On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony: and at evening it was over the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning.
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Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
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Original language
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