3 And they came with their offerings before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for every two of the chiefs, and for every one an ox.
4 And the Lord said to Moses,
5 Take the things from them, to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting; and give them to the Levites, to every man what is needed for his work.
6 So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
7 Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon for their work;
8 And four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari for their work, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing; because they had the care of the holy place, taking it about on their backs.
10 And the chiefs gave an offering for the altar on the day when the holy oil was put on it; they made their offering before the altar.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, Let every chief on his day give his offering to make the altar holy.
12 And he who made his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:
13 And his offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
14 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice for burning;
15 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
16 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
17 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
18 On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of Issachar, made his offering:
19 He gave one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
20 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
21 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
22 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
23 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
24 On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the children of Zebulun:
25 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
26 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
27 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
28 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
29 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon.
30 On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, chief of the children of Reuben:
31 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
32 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
33 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
34 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
35 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
36 On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the children of Simeon:
37 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
38 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
39 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
40 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
41 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
42 On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, chief of the children of Gad:
43 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
44 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
45 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
46 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
47 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Reuel
48 On the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the children of Ephraim:
49 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
50 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
51 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
52 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
53 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
54 On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, chief of the children of Manasseh:
55 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
56 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
57 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
58 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
59 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.
60 On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, chief of the children of Benjamin:
61 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
62 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
63 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year for a burned offering;
64 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
65 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni.
66 On the tenth day Ahiezer; the son of Ammishaddai, chief of the children of Dan:
67 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
68 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
69 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
70 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
71 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.
72 On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ochran, chief of the children of Asher:
73 His offering was one silver plate; a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
74 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
75 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
76 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
77 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ochran.
78 On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, chief of the children of Naphtali:
79 His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;
80 One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;
81 One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;
82 One male of the goats for a sin-offering;
83 And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan.
84 These were the offerings given for the altar by the chiefs of Israel, when the holy oil was put on it: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve gold spoons;
85 The weight of every silver plate was a hundred and thirty shekels, and of every basin seventy; the weight of all the silver of the vessels was two thousand and four hundred shekels, by the scale of the holy place;
86 The weight of the twelve gold spoons of spice for burning was ten shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels;
87 All the oxen, for the burned offering were twelve, the male sheep twelve, the he-lambs of the first year twelve, with their meal offering; and the males of the goats for sin-offering twelve;
88 And all the oxen for the peace-offerings, twenty-four oxen, the male sheep sixty, and the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the first year sixty. This was given for the altar after the holy oil was put on it.
89 And when Moses went into the Tent of meeting to have talk with him, then the Voice came to his ears from over the cover which was on the ark of witness, from between the two winged ones. And he had talk with him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 7
Commentary on Numbers 7 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Presentation of Dedicatory Gifts by the Princes of the Tribes. - Numbers 7:1. This presentation took place at the time ( יום ) when Moses, after having completed the erection of the tabernacle, anointed and sanctified the dwelling and the altar, together with their furniture (Leviticus 8:10-11). Chronologically considered, this ought to have been noticed after Leviticus 8:10. But in order to avoid interrupting the connection of the Sinaitic laws, it is introduced for the first time at this point, and placed at the head of the events which immediately preceded the departure of the people from Sinai, because these gifts consisted in part of materials that were indispensably necessary for the transport of the tabernacle during the march through the desert. Moreover, there was only an interval of at the most forty days between the anointing of the tabernacle, which commenced after the first day of the first month (cf. Exodus 40:16 and Leviticus 8:10), and lasted eight days, and the departure from Sinai, on the twentieth day of the second month (Numbers 10:11), and from this we have to deduct six days for the Passover, which took place before their departure (Numbers 9:1.); and it was within this period that the laws and ordinances from Lev 11 to Num 6 had to be published, and the dedicatory offerings to be presented. Now, as the presentation itself was distributed, according to Numbers 7:11., over twelve or thirteen days, we may very well assume that it did not entirely precede the publication of the laws referred to, but was carried on in part contemporaneously with it. The presentation of the dedicatory gifts of one tribe-prince might possibly occupy only a few hours of the day appointed for the purpose; and the rest of the day, therefore, might very conveniently be made use of by Moses for publishing the laws. In this case the short space of a month and a few days would be amply sufficient for everything that took place.
The presentation of six waggons and twelve oxen for the carriage of the materials of the tabernacle is mentioned first, and was no doubt the first thing that took place. The princes of Israel, viz., the heads of the tribe-houses (fathers' houses), or princes of the tribes (see Numbers 1:4.), “ those who stood over those that were numbered, ” i.e., who were their leaders or rulers, offered as their sacrificial gift six covered waggons and twelve oxen, one ox for each prince, and a waggon for every two. צב עגלת , ἁμάξας λαμπηνίκας (lxx), i.e., according to Euseb. Emis., two-wheeled vehicles, though the Greek scholiasts explain λαμπήνη as signifying ἅμαξα περιφανής , βασιλικὴ and ῥέδιον περιφανὲς ὁ ἐστὶν ἅρμα σκεπαστόν (cf. Schleussner, Lex. in lxx s.v. ), and Aquila , ἅμαξαι σκεπασταί , i.e., plaustra tecta ( Vulg . and Rabb .). The meaning “litters,” which Gesenius and De Wette support, can neither be defended etymologically, nor based upon צבּים in Isaiah 66:20.
At the command of God, Moses received them to apply them to the purposes of the tabernacle, and handed them over to the Levites, “ to every one according to the measure of his service, ” i.e., to the different classes of Levites, according to the requirements of their respective duties.
He gave two waggons and four oxen to the Gershonites, and four waggons and eight oxen to the Merarites, as the former had less weight to carry, in the coverings and curtains of the dwelling and the hangings of the court, than the latter, who had to take charge of the beams and pillars ( Numbers 4:24., Numbers 4:31.). “ Under the hand of Ithamar ” (Numbers 7:8); as in Numbers 4:28, Numbers 4:33. The Kohathites received no waggon, because it was their place to attend to “the sanctuary” (the holy), i.e., the holy things, which had to be conveyed upon their shoulders, and were provided with poles for the purpose ( Numbers 4:4.).
Presentation of dedicatory gifts for the altar . - Numbers 7:10. Every prince offered “ the dedication of the altar, ” i.e., what served for the dedication of the altar, equivalent to his sacrificial gift for the consecration of the altar, “ on the day, ” i.e., at the time, “ that they anointed it .” “ Day: ” as in Genesis 2:4. Moses was directed by God to receive the gifts from the princes on separate days, one after another; so that the presentation extended over twelve days. The reason for this regulation was not to make a greater display, as Knobel supposes, or to avoid cutting short the important ceremony of consecration, but was involved in the very nature of the gifts presented. Each prince, for example, offered, (1) a silver dish ( kearah , Exodus 25:29) of 130 sacred shekels weight, i.e., about 4 1/2 lbs.; (2) a silver bowl ( mizrak , a sacrificial bowl, not a sacrificial can, or wine-can, as in Exodus 27:3) of 70 shekels weight, both filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meat-offering; (3) a golden spoon ( caph , as in Exodus 25:29) filled with incense for an incense-offering; (4) a bullock, a ram, and a sheep of a year old for a burnt-offering; (5) a shaggy goat for a sin-offering; (5) two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five sheep of a year old for a peace-offering. Out of these gifts the fine flour, the incense, and the sacrificial animals were intended for sacrificing upon the altar, and that not as a provision for a lengthened period, but for immediate use in the way prescribed. This could not have been carried out if more than one prince had presented his gifts, and brought them to be sacrificed on any one day. For the limited space in the court of the tabernacle would not have allowed of 252 animals being received, slaughtered, and prepared for sacrificing all at once, or on the same day; and it would have been also impossible to burn 36 whole animals (oxen, rams, and sheep), and the fat portions of 216 animals, upon the altar.
All the princes brought the same gifts. The order in which the twelve princes, whose names have already been given at Numbers 1:5-15, made their presentation, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp (ch. 2), the tribe-prince of Judah taking the lead, and the prince of Naphtali coming last. In the statements as to the weight of the silver kearoth and the golden cappoth , the word shekel is invariably omitted, as in Genesis 20:16, etc. - In Numbers 7:84-86, the dedication gifts are summed up, and the total weight given, viz., twelve silver dishes and twelve silver bowls, weighing together 2400 shekels, and twelve golden spoons, weighing 120 shekels in all. On the sacred shekel, see at Exodus 30:13; and on the probable value of the shekel of gold, at Exodus 38:24-25. The sacrificial animals are added together in the same way in Numbers 7:87, Numbers 7:88.
Whilst the tribe-princes had thus given to the altar the consecration of a sanctuary of their God, through their sacrificial gifts, Jehovah acknowledged it as His sanctuary, by causing Moses, when he went into the tabernacle to speak to Him, and to present his own entreaties and those of the people, to hear the voice of Him that spake to him from between the two cherubim upon the ark of the covenant. The suffix in אתּו points back to the name Jehovah , which, though not expressly mentioned before, is contained implicite in ohel moëd , “ the tent of meeting .” For the holy tent became an ohel moëd first of all, from the fact that it was there that Jehovah appeared to Moses, or met with him ( נועד , Exodus 25:22). מדּבּר , part . Hithpael , to hold conversation. On the fact itself, see the explanation in Exodus 25:20, Exodus 25:22. “This voice from the inmost sanctuary of Moses, the representative of Israel, was Jehovah's reply to the joyfulness and readiness with which the princes of Israel responded to Him, and made the tent, so far as they were concerned, a place of holy meeting”' ( Baumg .). This was the reason for connecting the remark in Numbers 7:89 with the account of the dedicatory gifts.