Chapter 9:2 The first, etc. Doddridge, Macknight, and Stuart, connect "the first" with "tabernacle," but improperly. The rendering ought to be no doubt as in our version, or as follows, "For a tabernacle was made; the first, in which were the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread, which is called holy." We find in verse 3, that "the Holy of holies" is also called a tabernacle, which was as it were the second tabernacle, or the second part of it, see verse 7. The word "holy," followed by "of holies," is an adjective agreeing in gender with tabernacle; and "of holies" seem to mean holy things; so that it might be rendered, "The holy tabernacle of holy things." The accents are of no authority. The word "holy" in the plural with an article, as in verse 8 and 12, designates the Holy of holies; or it may refer to both places, the sanctuary and the Holy of holies, for the people were excluded from both; and no access, strictly speaking, applied to them only.