Numbers 7

1 And when Moses had put up the House completely, and had put oil on it and made it holy, with all the things in it, and had made the altar and all its vessels holy with oil;
2 Then the chiefs of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, made offerings; these were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered.
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.

Numbers 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle. (1-9) The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the altar. (10-89)

Verses 1-9 The offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle was not made till it was fully set up. Necessary observances must always take place of free-will offerings. The more any are advanced, the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. No sooner was the tabernacle set up, than provision is made for the removal of it. Even when but just settled in the world, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change.

Verses 10-89 The princes and great men were most forward in the service of God. Here is an example to those in authority, and of the highest rank; they ought to use their honour and power, their estate and interest, to promote religion and the service of God in the places where they live. Though it was a time of joy and rejoicing, yet still, in the midst of their sacrifices, we find a sin-offering. As, in our best services, we are conscious that there is sin, there should be repentance, even in our most joyful services. In all approaches to God we must by faith look to Christ as the Sin-offering. They brought their offerings each on a day. God's work should not be done confusedly, or in a hurry; take time, and we shall have done the sooner, or, at least, we shall have done the better. If services are to be done for twelve days together, we must not call it a task and a burden. All their offerings were the same; all the tribes of Israel had an equal share in the altar, and an equal interest in the sacrifices offered upon it. He who now spake to Moses, as the Shechinah or Divine Majesty, from between the Cherubim, was the Eternal Word, the second Person in the Trinity; for all God's communion with man is by his Son, by whom he made the world, and rules the church, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 7

This chapter gives an account of the presents brought, by the princes of the twelve tribes at the setting up of the tabernacle, for the use of it, Nu 7:1-9; and at the dedication of the altar, and the service of that, Nu 7:10,11; first of the prince of the tribe of Judah, Nu 7:12-17; then of the prince of Issachar, Nu 7:18-23; of the prince of Zebulun, Nu 7:24-29; of the prince of Reuben, Nu 7:30-35; of the prince of Simeon, Nu 7:36-41; of the prince of Gad, Nu 7:42-47; of the prince of Ephraim, Nu 7:48-53; of the prince of Manasseh, Nu 7:54-59; of the prince of Benjamin, Nu 7:60-65; of the prince of Dan, Nu 7:66-71; of the prince of Asher, Nu 7:72-77; of the prince of Naphtali, Nu 7:78-83; the sum of all which follows, Nu 7:84-88; and the chapter is concluded with a token of God's approbation and acceptance of the whole, Nu 7:89.

Numbers 7 Commentaries

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