Reference: Shewbread
Easton
Ex 25:30 (R.V. marg., "presence bread"); 1Ch 9:32 (marg., "bread of ordering"); Nu 4:7: called "hallowed bread" (R.V., "holy bread") in 1Sa 21:1-6.
This bread consisted of twelve loaves made of the finest flour. They were flat and thin, and were placed in two rows of six each on a table in the holy place before the Lord. They were renewed every Sabbath (Le 24:5-9), and those that were removed to give place to the new ones were to be eaten by the priests only in the holy place (see 1Sa 21:3-6; comp. Mt 12:3-4).
The number of the loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and also the entire spiritual Israel, "the true Israel;" and the placing of them on the table symbolized the entire consecration of Israel to the Lord, and their acceptance of God as their God. The table for the bread was made of acacia wood, 3 feet long, 18 inches broad, and 2 feet 3 inches high. It was plated with pure gold. Two staves, plated with gold, passed through golden rings, were used for carrying it.
Illustration: Table of Shewbread
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"You must take choice wheat flour and bake twelve loaves; there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in each loaf, and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. read more. You must put pure frankincense on each row, and it will become a memorial portion for the bread, a gift to the Lord. Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."
"On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?" David replied to Ahimelech the priest, "The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, 'Don't let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.' I have told my soldiers to wait at a certain place. read more. Now what do you have at your disposal? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found."
Now what do you have at your disposal? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found." The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women."
The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women." David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!"
David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!" So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
Some of the Kohathites, their relatives, were in charge of preparing the bread that is displayed each Sabbath.
He said to them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry -- how he entered the house of God and they ate the sacred bread, which was against the law for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?
Fausets
Bread of the faces or "presence" of God (Ex 25:30). "Bread of ordering" (1Ch 9:32). "The continual bread" (Nu 4:7). "Hallowed bread" (1Sa 21:4-6; Mt 12:4; Heb 9:2 "the shewbread," Greek "bread of setting forth".) The table was of acacia or "shittim wood," two cubits long, one broad, one and a half high, overlaid with pure gold, with a golden crown to the border round about, to hinder any bread falling off (but see below); Ex 25:23-30. The border was to be "of a handbreadth"; so in the sculpture on Titus' Arch the slave's hand that holds the table is just the breadth of the border. "The pure table" (Le 24:6), both because of its unalloyed gold and because of the "pure offering" on it (Mal 1:11). The table stood in the holy place on the N. side (Ex 26:35). The 12 cakes of unleavened bread, arranged in two piles, with a golden cup of frankincense on each (Josephus Ant. 3:10, section 7), were renewed every sabbath, and the stale loaves given to the priests.
They represented the 12 tribes before Jehovah perpetually, (see Re 21:12) in token that He was always graciously accepting His people and their good works, for whom atonement had been made by the victims on the altar outside. They were the national meat offering (Le 24:5-9). Each cake contained two tenths of an ephah, about six pounds and a quarter, of fine flour. The frankincense as a memorial was probably cast upon the altar fire as "an offering made by fire unto the Lord," when the bread was removed from the table on the Sabbath. Ahimelech stretched the law in giving the stale loaves to David's men, as free from ceremonial defilement (1Sa 21:4-6; Mt 12:4), for they should have been eaten by the priests, in the holy place (Le 24:5-9). Bahr thinks the loaves symbolized the Holy One in His sanctuary as the Bread of life to His people (Joh 6:35,47-51; Mt 4:4; De 8:3).
But the loaves were taken from Israel, not presented by God to them; and one loaf would suit his view rather than twelve (1Co 10:17). Still, on their presenting themselves before Him in the bread symbol, He feeds them represented by their priests. As they are a bread offering to Him, so He gives Himself as the bread to feed them. In 2Ch 4:8,19, ten tables are mentioned "whereon the shewbread was set," i.e., Solomon made a number of tables, and one great golden one on which they set the loaves. In the parallel passage, 1Ki 7:48, "the table of gold" alone is mentioned, as in 2Ch 29:18. "Ten" is the number also of the candlesticks. The tables were probably made of cedarwood overlaid with gold (see Josephus Ant. 8:3, section 7). As it is omitted in the list of articles restored from Babylon (Ezr 1:9-11), it was doubtless remade by Zerubbabel. Antiochus Epiphanes carried away the table of the second temple (2Ma 1:22). Anew one was made at the restoration of the temple by Judas Maccabeus (1Ma 4:49).
Afterward Ptolemy Philadelphus presented a splendid table (Josephus Ant. 12:2, section 8-9). In the Arch of Titus, the sculptor in defiance of perspective exhibits the two ends. Speaker's Commentary (Ex 25:23-30) for "crown of gold" translated "moulding of gold"; for "border," "a framing" which reached from leg to leg, to make the table firm, as well as to adorn it with a second moulding of gold; two fragments of such a framing appear half way clown the legs in the Titus' Arch sculpture. "Over against the framing" the rings were "upon the four extremities (KJV "corners") that were at the four (clawlike) feet," answering to each corner of it. The staves were never taken out of the golden rings by which the ark was to be borne; so translated Nu 4:5-6, "put the staves thereof in order," not "put in," they would need merely adjustment after motion (Ex 25:14-15).
The "dishes" or bowls were probably the measures for the meal used in the loaves. For "spoons" translated "cups" filled with frankincense, represented on Titus' Arch. For "covers" and "bowls" and "to cover withal" translated "flagons and chalices, to pour out withal." These were for the drink offering which accompanied every meat offering, for the shewbread was a true meat offering. In Nu 4:7 the Hebrew means "the shew table" or "table of the faces" or presence, namely, of God manifested. Similar is the phrase "the Angel of His presence" (Isa 63:9; Ex 33:14-15; 23:20; De 4:37, "in His sight".) The "face" stands for the Person. "The bread of the face" on the table in the sanctuary symbolizes that man is admitted to God's holy table and presence, seeing and being nourished by God in the person of Christ, the Bread of life.
The priests, Israel's representatives, alone ate this sacramental pledge in the Old Testament. The whole church as "priests unto God" offer themselves before God and are fed at the Lord's table with the sacramental symbol of Christ's body, our true food (Ps 23:5; Lu 22:30; 1Co 11:26). The continued renewal every Sabbath testified to the design of that holy day to renew men afresh to self dedication as in God's immediate presence; as Israel by the candlestick appeared as a people of enlightenment, and by the incense altar as a people of prayer. The frankincense always on the shewbread, and consumed when the bread was to be eaten, symbolized that prayer must ever accompany self dedication, and that the fame of love must kindle prayer when we are about to hold communion with and to be nourished by Him.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.
and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it.
"You are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches.
"You are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. You are to overlay it with pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it.
You are to overlay it with pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it. You are to make a surrounding frame for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame.
You are to make a surrounding frame for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame. You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach the rings at the four corners where its four legs are.
You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach the rings at the four corners where its four legs are. The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table.
The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.
You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them. You are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold.
You are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold. You are to set the Bread of the Presence on the table before me continually.
You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side.
And the Lord said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." And Moses said to him, "If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here.
"You must take choice wheat flour and bake twelve loaves; there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in each loaf,
"You must take choice wheat flour and bake twelve loaves; there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in each loaf, and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord.
and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord.
and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. You must put pure frankincense on each row, and it will become a memorial portion for the bread, a gift to the Lord.
You must put pure frankincense on each row, and it will become a memorial portion for the bread, a gift to the Lord. Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant.
Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."
It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."
When it is time for the camp to journey, Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they must put over it a covering of fine leather and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue, and then they must insert its poles. read more. "On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
"On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
Moreover, because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power
So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord's mouth.
The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women."
The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women." David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!"
David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!" So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
Solomon also made all these items for the Lord's temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence,
Some of the Kohathites, their relatives, were in charge of preparing the bread that is displayed each Sabbath.
He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made one hundred gold bowls.
Solomon also made these items for God's temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence was kept,
They went to King Hezekiah and said: "We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment.
The inventory of these items was as follows: 30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins, 29 silver utensils, 30 gold bowls, 410 other silver bowls, and 1,000 other vessels. read more. All these gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all along when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full.
Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.
For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations," says the Lord who rules over all.
But he answered, "It is written, 'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
how he entered the house of God and they ate the sacred bread, which was against the law for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?
how he entered the house of God and they ate the sacred bread, which was against the law for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?
that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.
I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. read more. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread.
For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the holy place.
It has a massive, high wall with twelve gates, with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel are written on the gates.
Hastings
In one of the oldest historical documents preserved in the OT we find, in a passage telling of David's flight from Saul, the first mention of an offering in the shape of 'holy bread,' which was presented to Jahweh in the sanctuary at Nob (1Sa 21:1-6). Here this holy bread is also termed 'the bread of the presence' (1Sa 21:6), i.e. of Jahweh, which appears in English Version as 'shewbread'
See Verses Found in Dictionary
You are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold.
"You must take choice wheat flour and bake twelve loaves; there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in each loaf, and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. read more. You must put pure frankincense on each row, and it will become a memorial portion for the bread, a gift to the Lord. Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant.
Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant.
Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."
It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."
"On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
"On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?" David replied to Ahimelech the priest, "The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, 'Don't let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.' I have told my soldiers to wait at a certain place. read more. Now what do you have at your disposal? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found." The priest replied to David, "I don't have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers have abstained from sexual relations with women." David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!" So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.
The inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold, as well as the cedar altar.
Solomon also made all these items for the Lord's temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence,
Some of the Kohathites, their relatives, were in charge of preparing the bread that is displayed each Sabbath.
Some of the Kohathites, their relatives, were in charge of preparing the bread that is displayed each Sabbath.
They also took care of the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.
Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.
The altar was of wood, 5? feet high, with its length 3? feet; its corners, its length, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that is before the Lord."
Smith
Shew-bread,
etc. literally "bread of the face" or "faces." Shew-bread was unleavened bread placed upon a table which stood in the sanctuary together with the seven-branched candlestick and the altar of incense. See
for description of this table. Every Sabbath twelve newly baked loaves, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, were put on it in two rows, six in each, and sprinkled with incense, where they remained till the following Sabbath. Then they were replaced by twelve new ones, the incense was burned, and they were eaten by the priests in the holy place, out of which they might not be removed, The title "bread of the face" seems to indicate that bread through which God is seen, that is, with the participation of which the seeing of God is bound up, or through the participation of which man attains the sight of God whence it follows that we have not to think of bread merely as such as the means of nourishing the bodily life, but as spiritual food as a means of appropriating and retaining that life which consists In seeing the face of God.