(8) He made the laver of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

He made the basin of bronze, its pedestal of bronze,

with the mirrors of the women’s working-force that was doing-the-work at the entrance of the Tent of Appointment. Fox

He made the laver of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women who performed tasks [women who performed tasks Precise nuance of Heb. ṣoveʼot ʼasher ṣaveʼu uncertain.]

at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. [JPS 2023]

He made the copper Laver and its copper base out of the mirrors of the legions of women who congregated in the Courtyard, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to donate their mirrors. [Kehot Chumash]

(8) He made the basin out of copper and its base out of copper, from the mirrors of the women who had gathered [come to pray] at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

(29) Thus the Israelites, all the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that GOD, through Moses, had commanded to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to GOD.

(17) The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water.

במראת הצבאת OF THE MIRRORS OF THE WOMEN CROWDING — The Israelitish women possessed mirrors of copper into which they used to look when they adorned themselves. Even these did they not hesitate to bring as a contribution towards the Tabernacle. Now Moses was about to reject them since they were made to pander to their vanity, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Accept them; these are dearer to Me than all the other contributions, because through them the women reared those huge hosts in Egypt!” For when their husbands were tired through the crushing labour they used to bring them food and drink and induced them to eat. Then they would take the mirrors, and each gazed at herself in her mirror together with her husband, saying endearingly to him, “See, I am handsomer than you!” Thus they awakened their husbands’ affection and subsequently became the mothers of many children, at it is said, (Song 8:5) “I awakened thy love under the apple-tree”, (referring to the fields where the men worked). This is what it refers to when it states, מראות הצבאת “the mirrors of the women who reared the hosts (צבאות)” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9).

And it was for this reason that the laver was made of them (the mirrors) — because it served the purpose of promoting peace between man and wife viz., by giving of its waters to be drunk by a woman whose husband had shown himself jealous of her and who nevertheless had associated with another (cf. Numbers ch. V) thus affording her an opportunity to prove her innocence (cf. Sotah 15b). You may know that the מראות mentioned in the text were really mirrors (and that the word does not mean visions, or appearance, etc.), for it is said, (v. 29) “And the copper of the wave-offering was seventy talents etc. … and therewith he made [the sockets etc.]” — the laver, however, and its base are not mentioned there amongst the articles made from that copper; hence you may learn that the copper of which the laver was made was not a part of the copper of the weave-offering, which is the only copper mentioned as having been contributed by the people. Thus did R. Tanchuma 2:11:9 explain the term מראת הצבאת. And so does Onkelos also render it: במחזית נשיא, and this first word is the Targum translation of מראות, in the sense of mireors in old French, for we find that for the word (Isaiah 3:23) “And the גליונים”, which are mirrors, we have in the Targum the same word מחזיתא.

(22) Now Eli was very old. When he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,

“From the mirrors of the women who assembled” (במראות הצובאות):

The copper used for mirrors was a purer and more highly polished form of copper, remaining copper but refined and burnished. Therefore it was chosen to make the laver from it. (So explains **Isaac Abarbanel.)

“The women who assembled” (הצבאות אשר צבאו):

Perhaps the meaning is similar to the phrase “to serve in the service” (יבא לצבא צבא), referring to performing work in the Tent of Meeting. Likewise: “Is not man consigned to service upon the earth?” (Job 7:1) — meaning a fixed time to perform labor for a day, two days, or whatever period it may be.

Thus, some of the women established for themselves a regular practice of going to the entrance of the Tent of Moses (which was called the Tent of Meeting, as above in Exodus 33:7). There everyone would bring their contributions (see above Exodus 36:3).

There they performed work connected with the sacred donations — for example, spinning the goat hair or doing other kinds of labor.

These women donated their mirrors.

Similarly, the women who “assembled” in the days of the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:22) would bring offerings and remain there for a day or two, staying before the Lord — as it is said of Doeg the Edomite (1 Samuel 21:8).

Section Thirteen: The Laver and Its Base (38:8)

..... Here, however, only the matter of the construction is mentioned. What relates to its use is omitted—even the word “for washing” is not included.

There is, however, one new element here: the specification of the material from which the laver and its base were made:

“from the mirrors of the women who assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.”

This detail is obscure, and many explanations have been proposed—some homiletical interpretations by the rabbinic interpreters, and some hypotheses by modern scholars.

According to the plain meaning of Scripture, it seems that the intention is to indicate that the laver and its base were not made from the material of the Lord’s offering (terumat YHWH) designated for service in the sanctuary. This is because they themselves were not used directly for the sacred service, but only for preparing the priests for the service (see above, Exodus 30:17).

What is stated explicitly here corresponds to what the text later implies (verses 29–31), when it lists all the objects made from the bronze of the elevation offering, and neither the laver nor its base appear in that list.

The mirrors that the women brought were therefore a unique category, not included among the sacred contribution.

Perhaps an ancient poetic tradition told that the women, moved by generosity of heart, came in great numbers to present before Moses the objects most precious to them—such as their mirrors. They would stand there in a long line, literally assembling in ranks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before the tent of Moses, which at that time served as the Tent of Meeting and was known by that name (see above on Exodus 33:7–11).

The Torah itself did not incorporate this detail fully into its narrative, but only hinted at it incidentally. Yet since the matter was already known to the audience through poetic tradition, the hint would have been easily understood.

The formulation in 1 Samuel 2:22—

“who lay with the women who assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting”—

depends either on our verse or on the ancient source upon which our verse also depends.