Tabering in Biblical History

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What is Tabering?
TA'BERING
This obsolete word occurs in Nah 2:7. It means "to beat as a taber" or "tabret." The picture is of a company of Ninevite women beating upon their breasts as players upon a taber. A taber is a small drum beaten by one stick, to accompany a pipe. TAB'ERNACLE probably means a tent or movable dwelling-place. Ex 25:9. In this sense it is used in Num 24:5; Job 11:14; Ps 22:23; Matt 17:4, but in the Scriptures generally it is applied to the structure which was prepared by Moses, under the divine direction, in which the Jews were to worship. There is undoubted mention in the O.T. of two sacred tabernacles, the one erected in the wilderness and the other that in which David put the ark, and where it remained until the completion of the temple. 2 Sam 6:17; 1 Kgs 8:1; 1 Chr 16:1. The old tabernacle, meanwhile, was at Gibeon. It is uncertain whether Solomon removed it or the Davidic tabernacle into the temple - most likely the latter. 1 Kgs 8:4. Some commentators claim that prior to the Sinaitic tabernacle there was a tent used for divine worship. They appeal to Ex 33. The tabernacle there referred to was, they say, either the tent Moses had set apart for this purpose, or a sacred tent the Israelites had possessed in Egypt. But if the Hebrew verbs, which are all in the future in this passage, are read in the future tense, then the tabernacle meant is that constructed in the wilderness after the divinely-revealed plan. See Lange, Commentary on Exodus, p. 137. Our Version often confounds "tent" and "tabernacle," as in Ex 33:7-11, where the word should be "tent" throughout. The importance of this distinction is manifest. The Bible account in regard to this structure is derived from Ex 26 and Ex 36:8-38. In this article we follow in the main Mr. Fergusson's article "Temple" in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. "The tabernacle comprised three main parts - the tabernacle, strictly so called, its tent, and its covering. The tabernacle itself was to consist of curtains of fine linen woven with colored figures of cherubim, and a structure of boards which was to contain the holy place and the most holy place; the tent was to be a true tent of goats' hair cloth, to contain and shelter the tabernacle; the covering was to be of red rams' skins and sealskins, and was spread over the goats'-hair tent as an additional protection against the weather." - Bible Commentary, in loco. South East view of the Tabernacle, covered by its Tent. (After fergusson.) The court of the tabernacle was surrounded by canvas screens. Those of the tabernacle were 5 cubits (about 8 feet) in height, and hung from brazen pillars, 8 feet apart, by hooks and fillets of silver. Twenty of these pillars were on each side, and ten on each end, , The space thus enclosed was 150 feet by 75. The enclosure was only broken on the eastern side by the entrance, 30 feet wide, which was closed by a curtain of fine-twined linen with embroidered figures of cherubim. This curtain could be drawn up or aside at pleasure. The pillars were kept firm by cords and tent-pins of bronze, had their capitals overlaid with silver, and stood on bases of bronze. Ex 27:9-18. At the upper end of this enclosure, and facing the entrance, which was toward the east, stood the tabernacle itself. This tabernacle proper was 45 by 15 feet, and 15 feet high. The sides and rear were enclosed with boards, and the front was open. Each of these boards was furnished with two tenons at its lower extremity, which fitted into silver sockets placed on the ground. At the top, at least, they were fastened together by bars of acacia-wood run through rings of gold. The middle bar, which reached from end to end, was, properly speaking, the ridge-pole of the tent. Accordingly, we must conceive of the tabernacle, not as having a flat roof, but a pitched one, like an ordinary tent. See illustration, by which the arrangements of the coverings will also be understood. Over the top was thrown a rich, gorgeous fabric of various materials, the connection and disposition of which, as well as of the other parts of the covering, are prescribed with the utmost minuteness. Ex 26:1-30. The entrance or door of the tabernacle was covered with a beautifully-embroidered curtain suspended on five columns. The interior was subdivided into two apartments, separated, each from the other, by a richly-wrought curtain hanging entirely across and reaching from the top to the bottom. This was called "the veil," or "second veil," Heb 9:3, because the first entrance was also curtained. The outer apartment was called the "holy place," or "sanctuary," or the "first tabernacle," and the inner was the "second tabernacle," or the "most holy place," or the "holiest of all." Heb 9:2-8. As to the furniture of the court, there were - (1) The altar of burnt-offering, which stood near the centre of the enclosure. See Altar. (2) The brazen laver, Ex 30:18, corresponding to the molten sea, 1 Kgs 7:23, which stood between the altar and the tabernacle, in its shape resembling an urn. It contained water for washing the hands and feet of the priests when they were about to enter the sanctuary. See Sea, Brazen. As to the furniture of the tabernacle itself, there were - (1) The golden candlestick, standing on the left of a person entering the sanctuary. See Candlestick. (2) The table of shew-bread, opposite to the candlestick. See ShewBread. (3) The altar of incense, between the shew-bread and the candlestick, and in front of the ark. See Altar. (4) The ark of the covenant. See Ark. The tabernacle and its court were finished with perfect exactness according to the pattern or model supernaturally revealed to Moses. Heb 8:5. It is estimated that the silver and gold used in its construction (to say nothing of the brass or copper, the wood, the curtains and canopies, the furniture, etc.) amounted in value to $1,250,000. When it was finished, after about nine months' labor, it was consecrated, with very solemn and imposing rites, to the service of Jehovah. Ex 30:23-33; Ex 40:9-11; Heb 9:21. While passing through the wilderness the tabernacle was always pitched in the midst of the camp. The tents of the priests and Levites surrounded it in appointed order, and at some distance from them the residue of the tribes, in four great divisions consisting of three tribes each, and each division with its appropriate name and standard or banner. Num 2:2-34. The tabernacle and its furniture were so constructed as to be conveniently taken down, transported, and set up again, and particular individuals or classes had their respective duties assigned to them. Every encampment and removal, and even the order of the march, was directed expressly by Jehovah. On the day the tabernacle was completed God revealed himself in a cloud, which overshadowed and filled it. By this cloud, assuming the shape of a pillar or column, their subsequent course was governed. When it rested over the tent the people always rested, and when it moved the tabernacle was taken down, and the whole host followed wherever it led. In the night this cloud became bright like a pillar of fire, and preceded them in like manner. Ex 40:35-38; Num 9:15-23. When the journeyings of the people were ended and they entered Canaan, the tabernacle was erected at Gilgal, Josh 4:19, where it continued until the country was subdued, and then it was removed to Shiloh, 1 Sam 1:3, where it stood between three hundred and four hundred years. It was thence removed to Nob, 1 Sam 21:1-9, and thence, in the reign of David, to Gibeon, 1 Chr 21:29, where it was at the commencement of Solomon's reign, 2 Chr 1:1-13; and when the temple was finished some suppose the sacred fabric, with its vessels and furniture, was removed into it. See Temple. The "tabernacles" spoken of in Am 5:26 as existing in the northern kingdom of Israel were probably portable, carried upon the shoulders, and contained the idol.

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'tabering' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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