1560 Geneva Bible: Exodus 24-26
In these two incredibly important chapters, YHWH spells out how He wishes to live among/amidst/within the Children of Israel — by using the physical setting of the Ark of the Covenant. He gives instructions for how to build the “Mishkan”, the site of holy presence.
In the Hebrew, YHWH is telling Moses to build what sounds like a divine technology — almost like a radio receptor — which will allow him to speak to and meet with Moses. There is a part of the structure called a Kapporet, which literally means “ark cover” or “lid”.
In the Hebrew, YHWH may be saying, simply, I will speak to you from the lid of the ark, from between the gold cherubim that are at either end of the structure, and this is how I wish to be a “neighbor” “among/amidst” you.
YHWH explains that he will communicate to humans from there.
But in the English translations from 1560 on, this “kaporet” is translated as “mercy seat”.
In later Christian doctrine, including Hebrews, this passage is read as prefiguring the sacrifice of Christ. But I think this translation has problems.
“Mercy seat”, translated from the Greek, suggests that YHWH is always in judgement and that his main dwelling, requires us to supplicate Him for “mercy” in order to connect with Him. I would argue that these meanings are not necessarily in the original, though “kippur” may also relate to “atonement”, ie Yom Kippur.
The instructions in the Hebrew could be read as God communicating via a “lid” on the ark, the width of the ark and made of gold, or that he could be communicating via a device related to atonement.
It is interesting to me that in Hebrew, these instructions may be much more technical than the creation of a “mercy seat” – — the goal in any event is to create a way for YHWH to speak directly to humans. In the Hebrew, too, the goal on God’s part of creating the Ark of the Covenant is certainly to have more intimacy with humans.
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