Numbers 7
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
VII.

(1) On the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle.—Better, had finished the setting up of the tabernacle. The offerings of the princes occupied twelve days, the sacrifices being too numerous to be offered at the same time. It follows, therefore, that the expression “on the dayhere and in Numbers 7:10 must be understood, as in Genesis 2:4, as meaning “at the time.” The verse, however, may be read thus: “And it came to pass on the day . . . that he anointed it . . . ;” in which case the following verse would begin thus: “And the princes of Israel . . .” It should be observed, however, on the other hand, that Numbers 7:10 connects the time of the offerings with that of the anointing of the altar. In any case, the expression “on the day” needs to be interpreted in the wider sense, which it not unfrequently requires, inasmuch as the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year (Exodus 40:17), and the events recorded in this and the preceding chapters appear to have taken place on and after the first day of the second month of that year (Numbers 1:1). The account of the setting up of the Tabernacle and the altar, &c., is contained in Exodus 40:17-33, and the account of the anointing and consecration is contained in Leviticus 8:10-11. It appears from a comparison of Exodus 40:17 with Numbers 10:11 that fifty days intervened between the erection of the Tabernacle and the beginning of the march from Sinai.

(2) And were over them that were numbered.—The first mention of these princes is found in connection with the numbering of the tribes (Numbers 1:4).

(3) Six covered wagons.—In Isaiah 66:20 the word which is here rendered covered, and which is a noun, occurs in the plural, and is rendered in the Authorised Version litters. It occurs nowhere else in the same sense. It seems probable, however, that the Vulgate, which the Authorised Version follows, has the right signification: plaustra tecta.

(7) Two wagons and four oxen.—The Gershonites had charge of the hangings of the Tabernacle and court (Numbers 4:25-26), whilst the Merarites had charge of the boards, pillars, &c., which were of much greater weight (Numbers 4:31-32). The Kohathites were required to bear their burdens on poles upon their shoulders (Numbers 7:9), and therefore did not require any wagons.

(10) For dedicating of the altar.—Literally, the dedication of the altari.e., the gifts made at the dedication of the altar.

(12) And he that offered his offering the first day . . . —It should be observed that the order in which the offerings were made is not that of Numbers 1, but that observed in the encampments, as prescribed in Numbers 2.

(13) And his offering was one silver charger . . . —The offerings of the twelve princes, or rather of the tribes which the princes represented, was the same in each case. The repetition of the description of the offerings, which occupies the remaining portion of this chapter, may serve to denote the special regard which God has to the offerings of His people, as may be learned from the notice which our Lord took of the offerings which were made for the Temple service, and His commendation of that of the poor widow who cast her two mites into the treasury (Mark 12:41-44).

(89) And when Moses was gone . . . —Better, And when Moses wenti.e., as often as he went.

To speak with him—i.e., with God. Inasmuch as the tent of meeting took its name from the promise made to Moses (Exodus 25:22) that God would meet with him there, it was not necessary to supply the Divine name. The terms in which the promise is expressed seem to denote that it was in the Holy of Holies that God met with Moses.

The voice of one speaking unto him.—Better, the voice speaking unto him. (Comp. Revelation 1:12; Revelation 6:6.)

From off the mercy seat.—Or, from over the mercy seat.

The ark of testimony.—Better, the ark of the testimony—so called from the fact that the Testimony (i.e., the two tables of the Law) was put in it (Exodus 25:16).

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;
That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:
And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.
And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.
Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:
And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.
And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.
And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.
And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:
And his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer:
He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.
On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer:
His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.
On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:
His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh:
His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.
On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered:
His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold:
Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels.
All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.
And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.
And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

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