11 and Aaron hath waved the Levites -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, from the sons of Israel, and they have been -- for doing the service of Jehovah.
his own hands do bring in the fire-offerings of Jehovah, the fat beside the breast, it he doth bring in with the breast, to wave it -- a wave-offering before Jehovah.
`And thou hast set the whole on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and hast waved them -- a wave-offering before Jehovah;
and Moses taketh the breast, and waveth it -- a wave-offering before Jehovah; of the ram of the consecrations it hath been to Moses for a portion, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
`Only, the tribe of Levi thou dost not number, and their sum thou dost not take up in the midst of the sons of Israel; and thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it hath; they bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and round about the tabernacle they encamp. `And in the journeying of the tabernacle, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.' And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts; and the Levites encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony; and there is no wrath on the company of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him, and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle; and they have kept all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle; and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel. `And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine; for Mine `is' every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I `am' Jehovah.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, `Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.' And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded. And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And these `are' the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath, by their families, `are' Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families `are' Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers. Of Gershon `is' the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite. Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones `are' seven thousand and five hundred. The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward. And the prince of a father's house for the Gershonite `is' Eliasaph son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting `is' the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which `is' by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service. And of Kohath `is' the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite. In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, `are' eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward. And the prince of a father's house for the families of the Kohathite `is' Elizaphan son of Uzziel. And their charge `is' the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service. And `to' the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, `is' the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary. Of Merari `is' the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these `are' the families of Merari. And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, `are' six thousand and two hundred. And the prince of a father's house for the families of Merari `is' Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward. And the oversight -- the charge of the sons of Merari -- `is' the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, `are' Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death. All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also -- by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, `are' two and twenty thousand. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names; and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I `am' Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.' And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel. And all the first-born -- male -- by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 8
Commentary on Numbers 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
Nu 8:1-4. How the Lamps Are to Be Lighted.
1. the Lord spake unto Moses—The order of this chapter suggests the idea that the following instructions were given to Moses while he was within the tabernacle of the congregation, after the princes had completed their offering. But from the tenor of the instructions, it is more likely that they were given immediately after the Levites had been given to the priests (see on Nu 3:1-4:49), and that the record of these instructions had been postponed till the narrative of other transactions in the camp had been made [Patrick].
2. Speak unto Aaron, &c.—The candlestick, which was made of one solid, massive piece of pure gold, with six lamps supported on as many branches, a seventh in the center surmounting the shaft itself (Ex 25:31; 37:17), and completed according to the pattern shown in the mount, was now to be lighted, when the other things in the sanctuary began to be applied to religious service. It was Aaron's personal duty, as the servant of God, to light His house, which, being without windows, required the aid of lights (2Pe 1:19). And the course he was ordered to follow was first to light the middle lamp from the altar-fire, and then the other lamps from each other—a course symbolical of all the light of heavenly truth being derived from Christ, and diffused by His ministers throughout the world (Re 4:5).
the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick—The candlestick stood close to the boards of the sanctuary, on the south side, in full view of the table of showbread on the north (Ex 26:35), having one set of its lamps turned towards the east, and another towards the west; so that all parts of the tabernacle were thus lighted up.
Nu 8:5-22. The Consecration of the Levites.
6, 7. Take the Levites … and cleanse them—This passage describes the consecration of the Levites. Although the tribe was to be devoted to the divine service, their hereditary descent alone was not a sufficient qualification for entering on the duties of the sacred office. They were to be set apart by a special ceremony, which, however, was much simpler than that appointed for the priests; neither washing nor anointing, nor investiture with official robes, was necessary. Their purification consisted, along with the offering of the requisite sacrifices (Le 1:4; 3:2; 4:4), in being sprinkled by water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer (Nu 19:9), and shaved all over, and their clothes washed—a combination of symbolical acts which was intended to remind them of the mortification of carnal and worldly desires, and the maintenance of that purity in heart and life which became the servants of God.
9, 10. thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together, &c.—As it was plainly impossible that the whole multitude of the Israelites could do this, a select portion of them must be meant. This party, who laid their hands upon the Levites, are supposed by some to have been the first-born, who by that act, transferred their peculiar privilege of acting as God's ministers to the Levitical tribe; and by others, to have been the princes, who thus blessed them. It appears, from this passage, that the imposition of hands was a ceremony used in consecrating persons to holy offices in the ancient, as, from the example of our Lord and His apostles, it has been perpetuated in the Christian Church.
11-13. And Aaron shall offer the Levites—Hebrew, "as a wave offering"; and it has been thought probable that the high priest, in bringing the Levites one by one to the altar, directed them to make some simple movements of their persons, analogous to what was done at the presentation of the wave offerings before the Lord. Thus were they first devoted as an offering to God, and by Him surrendered to the priests to be employed in His service. The consecration ceremonial was repeated in the case of every Levite who was taken (as was done at a later period) to assist the priests in the tabernacle and temple. (See on 2Ch 29:34).
14. and the Levites shall be mine—that is, exempt from all military duty or secular work—free from all pecuniary imposition and wholly devoted to the custody and service of the sanctuary.
15. after that, shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation—into the court, to assist the priests; and at removal into the tabernacle—that is, into the door of it—to receive the covered furniture.
19. to make an atonement for the children of Israel, &c.—to aid the priests in that expiatory work; or, as the words may be rendered, "to make redemption for" the Levites being exchanged or substituted for the first-born for this important end, that there might be a sanctified body of men appointed to guard the sanctuary, and the people not allowed to approach or presumptuously meddle with holy things, which would expose them to the angry judgments of Heaven.
24. from twenty and five years old, &c.—(Compare Nu 4:3). They entered on their work in their twenty-fifth year, as pupils and probationers, under the superintendence and direction of their senior brethren; and at thirty they were admitted to the full discharge of their official functions.
25. from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, &c.—that is, on the laborious and exhausting parts of their work.
26. But shall minister with their brethren—in the performance of easier and higher duties, instructing and directing the young, or superintending important trusts. "They also serve who only wait" [Milton].