†¢Tabernacle. †¢Temple.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, ALIM LEYE
vet, (lit.: “bread of the presence”). They were twelve loaves, placed in the Tabernacle in two rows of six on the golden table of the holy place, where they were constantly before the Lord. They were renewed every Saturday. The priests ate, in the holy place, the loaves taken from the table (Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9; 1 Sam. 21:6; Mt. 12:4). In Hebrew, these twelve loaves were designated by the following expressions: perpetual bread, showbread (Num. 4:7); continual placement (2 Chr. 2:4). Josephus asserts that these were unleavened breads (Ant. 3:6, 6). Each loaf contained two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, the kind used for guests of note and for the king’s table (Gen. 18:6; 1 Kings 4:22). This fine flour figured in various offerings (Lev. 2:1; 5:11, etc.). The twelve loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel (Lev. 24:7; cf. Ex. 28:10-12; 24:4; 28:21). This bread symbolized the uninterrupted communion of the people with Jehovah, the author of the goods that the Israelites enjoyed and that they used for his service. They also represented Christ, the bread of life, sufficient for all his people. The Kohathites were in charge of preparing these breads every Saturday (1 Chron. 9:32). The table, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, had a gold molding all around it, and also four gold rings, one at each corner. Two bars passed through them for their transport. This table measured two cubits in length, one in width, and one and a half in height (Ex. 25:23-29; for its transportation, cf. Num. 4:7, 8). The table was in the holy place, on the north side, to the right of the Tabernacle entrance (Ex. 40:22). Solomon’s Temple had ten tables set aside for showbread. It appears that only one table was used at a time, just as only one lampstand was lit at a time (1 Chr. 28:16; 2 Chr. 4:8, 19; 13:11; Ant. 8:3, 7). This is the reason that 1 Kings 7:48 and 2 Chron. 29:18 only mention one table. Antiochus Epiphanes seized this table from Zerubbabel’s Temple, but Judas Maccabee replaced it with a new table (1 Macc. 1:22; 4:49). Titus had her brought to Rome (Wars 7:5, 5); she was depicted as part of the spoils of war on the Triumphal Arch of Titus.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Twelve loaves of bread that were placed on a table in the Holy compartment of the tabernacle (and later the temple) and that were replaced every Saturday by fresh ones. (Ex 35:13; 39:36; 1Ki 7:48; 2Ch 13:11; Ne 10:32, 33) The literal translation of the Hebrew name for showbread is “face bread.” The word for “face” sometimes means “presence” (2Ki 13:23), so the showbread was in front of Jehovah’s face as a constant offering before Him.—Ex 25:30, note. Showbread is also called “layered bread” (2Ch 2:4), “presentation loaves” (Mk 2:26), and simply “the loaves.” (Heb 9:2)
The Qohatites were responsible for baking the showbread “Saturday to Saturday” as well as transporting it when the tabernacle was moved. (Nu 4:7; 1Ch 9:32) Each of the twelve ring loaves was made from two omeres (2/10 of an ephah; equivalent to 4.4 l) of fine flour, and according to Josephus they were unleavened (Jewish Antiquities, book III, chap. VI, sec. 6.) On Saturday the loaves were removed from the showbread table, which was on the N. side of the Holy (Ex 26:35), and replaced with twelve other fresh loaves. They were placed in two piles of six loaves or layers each, and pure frankincense was placed on each pile. Jewish tradition says that frankincense was put in golden pots, not directly on cakes. It is said that when the showbread was removed on Saturday, the frankincense was burned on the altar. (Le 24:5-8.)
Because the loaves had been for a week before Jehovah, they were something most holy and had to be eaten by the Aaronic priests in a holy place, surely somewhere in the precincts of the sanctuary. (Le 24:9) The Bible records only one occasion when people other than Aaron’s lineage ate the replaced loaves. When David was fleeing from Saul, he asked the high priest Ahimelech for bread for him and his men. Since Ahimelech had no “common bread,” he gave David showbread that had been replaced. Now the high priest, who believed that David was on a mission from the king, did this only after David assured him that both he and his men were ceremonially clean. (1Sa 21:1-6) Jesus Christ referred to this incident when the Pharisees complained that his disciples had plucked heads of grain on the Sabbath. (Mt 12:3-7; Lu 6:1-4)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
Heb. leḥem happānı̂m, lit. “face bread”, ie bread placed before the face or presence of God (Ex. 25.30; 35.13; 39.36, etc.) or leḥem hamma ˓areḵeṯ, lit. “bread of the ordinance” (1 Chr. 9.32, etc.). After Moses received divine instructions regarding how he was to make the table, plates, spoons, covers, and bowls for the holy place of the tabernacle, he was commanded to place the “showbread” on the table . This provision was never to be ignored (Ex. 25.30). The showbread consisted of twelve baked cakes, prepared with fine flour, each containing two tenths of an ephah (* Weights and Measures). They were placed in two rows, of six cakes each (ma˓areḵeṯ, Lev. 24.6). On each row (lit. “the row”, Lv. 24.7) of cakes pure incense was placed “for memory” (le˓azkārâ, °vm; °vrv2 “as perfume”), which was offered as a fire offering to the Lord (Lev. 24.7). The duty of the priest, each Sabbath, was to place fresh or hot bread on the table (1 Sam. 21.6). The old loaves then remained at the disposal of Aaron and his children, who ate them in the holy place, because they were “very holy things” (Lev. 24.5-9). These are the loaves that David asked Ahimelec for himself and his companions (1 S. 21.1–6; cf. Mt. 12.4; Mr. 2.26; Lc. 6.4).
The table where the showbread was placed was in the holy place, on the N side of the tabernacle opposite the candlestick (Ex. 26.35). The table was of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, with a gold cornice around it. It had a ring on each corner for the poles with which it was carried (Ex. 25.23–28). According to the original commandment, he never stopped being in the right place for the worship of God (2 Chr. 4.19; 13.11). The sons of Coat were in charge of the showbread (1 Cr. 9.32).
The passages referred to do not, in themselves, offer any indication of the significance of the showbread, but it is possible to infer from all these details that God is the provider and sustainer of man, and that man lives constantly in the presence of God. This truth imposes on man the obligation to offer his life to God (Rom. 12.1).
R. de Vaux, Institutions of the Old Testament, 1985, pp. 536ff.
DF
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary