And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me continually.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.
- KJV And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
- BSB And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.
- NKJV And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.
- NLT Place the Bread of the Presence on the table to remain before me at all times.
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
The bread of the presence was to be set on the table before God continually. This perpetual bread symbolized fellowship and God's ongoing provision.
Overview
The 'bread of the presence,' renewed regularly, represented the twelve tribes set before God and the communion between the LORD and His people. Its continual placement signified an unbroken relationship and God's constant provision. The bread testified that Israel lived in God's presence and by His sustaining grace. It points to Christ, the bread of life, who feeds His people and grants enduring fellowship with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 12:4how he entered into God’s house, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
- Lev 24:5–9“You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake.
- Exod 39:36the table, all its vessels, the show bread,
- Exod 35:13the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread;
- 1 Sam 21:6So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
- Mal 1:7You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’
- 2 Chr 13:11and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table; and the lamp stand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we keep the instruction of Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken him.
- Num 4:7“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.
- 1 Chr 23:29for the show bread also, and for the fine flour for a meal offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all measurements of quantity and size;
- 1 Chr 9:32Some of their brothers, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the show bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.
- Mal 1:12“But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 25:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.