Exodus 39 · a question people ask
Is this chapter echoing the creation story?
Some of the same Hebrew words are there. "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31); "Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded" (39:43). Both verses use ra'ah, saw, and hinneh, behold. "On the seventh day God finished his work" (Genesis 2:2) and "all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished" (39:32) share the verb kalah, finished. The "work" of Genesis 2:2 is mela'khah, the word for "all the work" Moses saw (39:43); the "work" of 39:32 is a different word, avodah. And "God blessed the seventh day" (Genesis 2:3) and "Moses blessed them" (39:43) share barakh. There are differences too: in Genesis God sees all he had made and blesses the seventh day; here Moses sees and blesses the people, and the measure is not "very good" but "as the LORD had commanded". Exodus doesn't say it is pointing back to Genesis. Christians read the shared words in two main ways. Both agree on what the chapter says: the work was finished, Moses saw it was done as commanded, and he blessed the people (39:32, 39:43).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
An echo of creation
Those who hold this view hear the making of God's dwelling told in creation's words: a work finished, seen and blessed (Genesis 1:31-2:3; Exodus 39:32, 39:43), with the same verb and noun again in "So Moses finished the work" (40:33), as in "God finished his work" (Genesis 2:2). They note that Exodus sets the Sabbath beside the building, and gives creation as its reason: "for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested" (31:17).
Genesis 1:31 · Genesis 2:1-3 · Exodus 39:32 · Exodus 39:43 · Exodus 40:33 · Exodus 31:15-17
Ordinary builders' words
Those who hold this view read these as the common Hebrew words for finishing a piece of work. The same verb and noun are used when "Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for King Solomon in the LORD’s house" (1 Kings 7:40), and Solomon, too, "blessed all the assembly of Israel" (1 Kings 8:14) when the temple was done. They read the chapter's own emphasis in its refrain, "as the LORD commanded Moses" (39:1).
1 Kings 7:40 · 1 Kings 8:14 · Exodus 39:1 · Exodus 39:42-43
The verses
“God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.”
“The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.”
“Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they did.”
“Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded. They had done so; and Moses blessed them.”