stood the table for the bread of presence (Exod 25:23-30), located on the north side, depicting the sustaining power and presence of God
The rending of such a curtain could suggest cessation of the function of the lampstand: i.e., darkness within the tabernacle similar to the darkness in the Matthean passion narrative. Yet the relative obscurity of this curtain (mentioned only four times, and only twice called KaxaTrÉxaapa)
would make it difficult to presume Matthew’s readers would have thought of this curtain (as opposed to others) in the velum scissum text. Moreover, as we will see in Chapter 5, it is difficult to associate the cessation of any of these functions with the death of Jesus, the focal point of the Matthean passion narrative with which the evangelist links the velum scissum.
KaTajréraafJCC U3: The Veil Between the Holy Place and the Holy o f Holies. Where the functionality of what the LXX translates KaxaiTExaapa becomes most apparent is in reference to the inner H O IS veil. The term represents the only K axanxxaopa found in what R. E. Hendrix has shown to be the literary core of the function of the tabernacle within Israelite cultic worship.’^' Though n o n s appears only twice in this section (Exod 27:21; 30:6, both translated
KaxaTTExaopa), its exclu sive presence in tabernacle cultic function texts merits careful exam ination o f both its im plicit and explicit functions within the tabernacle.
Implicit Fiiiiclions of the Veil.
Implicit functions of the veil are best considered in six (overlapping) categories. These include lexicographical and etymological features of the term the veil’s location in the tabernacle, the materials from which it is made, the colors of those materials, the workmanship
with which it is made, and the presence of cherubim on it. Though other curtains in the tabernacle/temple possess features similar to these, the H D IS is the only curtain, and thus the only KaxaTTExaopa, to possess all of these distinctive features.’"’ It has been rightly recognized as the most important curtain in the OT.
With respect to lexicographical and etymological characteristics, the “inner veil” appears as 26 times in the MT,’"’ and riD“lS never refers to anything but the “inner veil.”’"'* O f its
G. L. Carr and N . J. Oppervvail, “Presence, Bread o f the,” ISBE 3:955-56.
Exod 27:20-33:7. Cf. R. E. Hendrix, “A Literary Structural O verview o f Exod 25-40 ,” A U SS 30 (1992): 123-38; S. Bar-Efrat, “Som e Observations on the Analysis o f Structure in Biblical Narrative,” VT 130 (1980): 170.
The n n n S vell was identical to both other curtains called KaxaTreraapa with respect to materials and colors. It greatly differed, however, with respect to the workmanship involved in its creation, the presence o f cherubim on it, and thus sim ilarly and m ost significantly, its function in the cultic worship o f Israel.
R. E, Gane (“Re-opening Katapetasma [‘V eil’] in Hebrews 6:19,” AU SS 38 [2000]: 7, n. 7) suggests that the "[DÛ at Num 3:31 “must be the inner veil here because it w as assigned to the care o f the Kohathites, follow ing
26 occurrences in the MT, 25 refer to the inner veil of the tabernacle and one (2 Chron 3:14) to the inner veil of Solomon’s temple.’"’ It is also called the HIDM n!D“l5 “veil of the covenant” (Lev 24:3) for its role in concealing the ark of the covenant, and 0 1 pH H O IS, “the veil of the holy [place]” (Lev 4:6); the latter can also mean “holy veil.”’"® Milgrom and Gane look to the Akkadian origin for their understanding of its function.’"’ They argue, “Der Vorhang diente als Schranke, urn Eingang una Sicht zu verhindern, und markierte zugleich den Ort, in/auf dem Gott thronte.”’"" n O lS may derive from the Sumerian bdra or the Akkadian parakku or the verb paraku}^'^ which can mean simply “to spread open” but most commonly means to “lay something across” something else, perhaps in a prohibitive manner.’®® Abbott argues that the Hebrew term denotes something that “separates the king from people;” its radical meaning is “breaking,” and it may indicate an abrupt “breaking o ff’ or even “crush.”’®’ As limited as etymological analyses are, here they seem to be congruent with explicit functions of the veil and thus will be revisited below.
assignm ent o f the other two screens to the Gershonites (vv. 25-26).” He also notes that the term H D IB falls within the category o f the more general term "]DD.
^ So also J. Milgrom and R. Gane, “H D IS ,” T W A T6:755; Sarna, Exodus, 170-71; Cassuto, Exodus, 361.
M ilgrom and Gane, TWAT 6:755. B. A. Levine {The JP S Torah Com mentary: Leviticus [Philadelphia: JPS, 1989], 21, n. 11) notes the lack o f a curtain mentioned in 1 Kgs 6:31 (where doors are m entioned), whereas in 2 Chron 3:14 there are both a curtain and a door.
Sarna {Exodus, 170-71) acknow ledges this but says that it refers to the holy place in front o f the veil. H e further com m ents, “In later Hebrew the term parokh et w as transferred to the ornamented curtain covering the Ark that contains the Torah scrolls in the synagogue.” Cf. Jenson, G ra ded Holiness, 92. Jenson {G ra ded H oliness, 49) says that the distinction between holy objects and holy persons is that “the holiness o f objects is permanent, and they can never again enter the profane sphere.”
M ilgrom and Gane, TWAT, 6:756. Légasse (“Les voiles,” 582) says that the curtain at the entrance o f the holy o f holies always is designated fem inine substantive paroket, suggesting a kinship with the Phoenician with the word prkm .
M ilgrom and Gane, TWAT, 6:756; so also A. H. M cN eile, Exodus (3d ed.; London: M ethuen & Co., 1931), 172;
cf. J. M ilgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (A BC 3; N ew York: Doubleday, 1991), 234. !
2®^ TWAT 6:755. For a summary o f the debate regarding the etym ology o f this word, cf. R. E. Averbeck, “flD D S ,” | i N IDOTTE 3:688. Milgrom {Leviticus 1-16, 234) notes its relation to the Akkadian verb pardku, which means “go ;|
across, block, bar” and which can describe a curtain. Cf. also Cassuto, Exodus, 359. !
Cf. W. von Soden, ed., Akkadisches H andworterbuch (3 vols.; Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1972), 2:828-29. Cf. | the use o f D I S in Tg. Neof. on Gen 1:2; 9:14; 13:3, 10; 31:25; 33:19; Exod 12:42; 25:20; 37:9; Lev 11:26; 26:20; j Deut 32:11.
M. Haran argues that its location within the tabernacle suggests the superiority of the veil