Exodus 25 · Verse 17

Exodus 25:17

And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

Exodus 25:17, King James Version

Exodus 25:17 in other translations

BSB	And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
WEB	You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width.
ASV	And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
YLT	‘And thou hast made a mercy-seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth;
DARBY	And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
BBE	And you are to make a cover of the best gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
Webster	And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

What does Exodus 25:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

17. thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold--to serve as a lid, covering it exactly. It was "the propitiatory cover," as the term may be rendered, denoting that Christ, our great propitiation [1Jo 2:2; 4:10], has fully answered all the demands of the law, covers our transgressions, and comes between us and the curse of a violated law.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17 A mercy-seat - כפרת capporeth, from כפר caphar, to cover or overspread; because by an act of pardon sins are represented as being covered, so that they no longer appear in the eye of Divine justice to displease, irritate, and call for punishment; and the person of the offender is covered or protected from the stroke of the broken law. In the Greek version of the Septuagint the word ιλαστηριον, hilasterion, is used, which signifies a propitiatory, and is the name used by the apostle, Heb 9:5. This mercy-seat or propitiatory was made of pure gold; it was properly the lid or covering of that vessel so well known by the name of the ark and ark of the covenant. On and before this, the high priest was to sprinkle the blood of the expiatory sacrifices on the great day of atonement: and it was in this place that God promised to meet the people, (see Exo 25:22); for there he dwelt, and there was the symbol of the Divine presence. At each end of this propitiatory was a cherub, between whom this glory was manifested; hence in Scripture it is so often said that he dwelleth between the cherubim. As the word ιλαστηριον, propitiatory or mercy-seat, is applied to Christ, Rom 3:25, whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation (ιλαστηριον) through faith in his blood - for the remission of sins that are past; hence we learn that Christ was the true mercy-seat, the thing signified by the capporeth, to the ancient believers. And we learn farther that it was by his blood that an atonement was to be made for the sins of the world. And as God showed himself between the cherubim over this propitiatory or mercy-seat, so it is said, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; 2Cor 5:19, etc. See on Leviticus 7 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 25:10-22

The ark was a chest, overlaid with gold, in which the two tables of the law were to be kept. These tables are called the testimony; God in them testified his will. This law was a testimony to the Israelites, to direct them in their duty, and would be a testimony against them, if they transgressed. This ark was placed in the holy of holies; the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled, and the incense burned, before it…

Read the full comment on Exodus 25:10-22 →

Exodus 25:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעָשִׂ֥יתָve.'a.Si.taand you will makeH6213

כַפֹּ֖רֶתkha.Po.retan atonement coverH3727

זָהָ֣בza.HavgoldH2091

טָה֑וֹרta.HorpureH2889

אַמָּתַ֤יִם'a.ma.Ta.yim[will be] two cubitsH520

וָחֵ֙צִי֙va.Che.tziand a halfH2677

אָרְכָּ֔הּ'a.re.Kahlength itsH753

וְאַמָּ֥הve.'a.Mahand [will be] a cubitH520

וָחֵ֖צִיva.Che.tziand a halfH2677

רָחְבָּֽהּ\׃ra.che.Bahbreadth itsH7341

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 25:17

Hebrews 9:5
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Exodus 37:6
And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
Romans 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Exodus 40:20
And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
1 Chronicles 28:11
Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
Leviticus 16:12-15
And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Exodus 26:34
And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

mercy seat.
26:34; 37:6; 40:20; Le 16:12-15; 1Ch 28:11; Ro 3:25; Heb 4:16; 9:5
1Jo 2:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Exodus 25:16
And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
Exodus 25:17
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
Exodus 25:18
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

Read all of Exodus 25

Exodus 25:17 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y harás una cubierta de oro fino, cuya longitud será de dos codos y medio, y su anchura de codo y medio.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	– Et tu feras un propitiatoire d’or pur: sa longueur sera de deux coudées et demie, et sa largeur d’une coudée et demie.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und mache einen Deckel von reinem Golde: zwei und eine halbe Elle seine Länge, und eine und eine halbe Elle seine Breite.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Facies et propitiatorium de auro mundissimo: duos cubitos et dimidium tenebit longitudo ejus, et cubitum ac semissem latitudo.