HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  72On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ochran, the leader of the Asherites: 73his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 74one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense; 75one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76one male goat for a sin offering; 77and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.

  78On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, the leader of the Naphtalites: 79his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 80one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense; 81one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82one male goat for a sin offering; 83and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.

  84This was the dedication offering for the altar, at the time when it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes, 85each silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels and each basin seventy, all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 86the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being one hundred twenty shekels; 87all the livestock for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their grain offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; 88and all the livestock for the sacrifice of well-being twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed.

  89When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD,a he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seatb that was on the ark of the covenantc from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him.

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  a Heb him

  b Or the cover

  c Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

  7.1–9 On the day. Even though set one month earlier than the beginning of the book of Numbers (v. 1; see Ex 40.17; cf. Num 1.1), this description of the gifts offered presumes the information presented just prior to this section: the wagons and oxen are given to transport the sanctuary items assigned to the Levites in chs. 3–4, except for the items the Kohathites were to carry on their shoulders. The Merarites are given twice as many oxen and wagons as the Gershonites, since transporting the supporting structure of the tabernacle is more burdensome than transporting its various cloth items; see 3.23, 25–26, 35–37.

  7.10 See vv. 1, 4–9.

  7.12–83 The leaders are those in 1.5–15; 2.3–31; 10.14–28, presented in the order of the list in 2.3–31. The dedication offerings are the same from each tribe.

  7.13 Shekel of the sanctuary. See note on 3.46–48.

  7.17 Oxen here does not indicate castrated bulls, but simply male bovines. Castrated animals would not have been considered suitable for sacrifice.

  7.84, 88 See vv. 1, 4–9.

  7.89 This short notice has no obvious connection with what precedes or follows, except that it concerns the sanctuary. The mercy seat with the two cherubim is the cover of the ark, and it is from above the mercy seat, between the cherubim, that the Lord promises to meet with Moses (Ex 25.17–22; 30.6, 36). In 1 Chr 28.2 the ark is called God’s “footstool” (see also Pss 99.5; 132.7), and the Lord is said to be enthroned upon the cherubim (1 Sam 4.4; 2 Sam 6.2; 2 Kings 19.15; 1 Chr 13.6; Pss 80.1; 99.1). Such a throne for a deity is also known from Canaanite iconography.

  NUMBERS 8

  The Seven Lamps

  1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand. 3Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 4Now this was how the lampstand was made, out of hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

  Consecration and Service of the Levites

  5The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them. 7Thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor and wash their clothes, and so cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a young bull and its grain offering of choice flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering. 9You shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of the Israelites. 10When you bring the Levites before the LORD, the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11and Aaron shall present the Levites before the LORD as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may do the service of the LORD. 12The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and he shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. 13Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you shall present them as an elevation offering to the LORD.

  14Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the other Israelites, and the Levites shall be mine. 15Thereafter the Levites may go in to do service at the tent of meeting, once you have cleansed them and presented them as an elevation offering. 16For they are unreservedly given to me from among the Israelites; I have taken them for myself, in place of all that open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites. 17For all the firstborn among the Israelites are mine, both human and animal. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18but I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the Israelites. 19Moreover, I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the service for the Israelites at the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, in order that there may be no plague among the Israelites for coming too close to the sanctuary.

  20Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the Israelites did with the Levites accordingly; the Israelites did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning them. 21The Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them as an elevation offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22Thereafter the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in attendance on Aaron and his sons. As the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did with them.

  23The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 24This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall begin to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting; 25and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26They may assist their brothers in the tent of meeting in carrying out their duties, but they shall perform no service. Thus you shall do with the Levites in assigning their duties.

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  8.1 The setting is presumably still that of Ex 40.17 (see Num 7.1–9).

  8.2–4 In front of. That the lamps should throw light forward (northward) toward the ark, the incense altar, and the table of the bread of the Presence was specified in the command to build the lampstand in Ex 25.31–40 (see v. 37), but not in the report of its construction in Ex 37.17–24. See also Ex 27.20–21; 30.7–8; Lev 24.4; 1 Sam 3.3. Pattern. See Ex 25.9, 40.

  8.5–26 The Levites (presumably those twenty-five and older; see vv. 24–26) are purified by cleansing and sacrifice so that they will be in an appropriate state to handle the sanctuary items (v. 15). Cf. the anointing and ordinati
on of the priests in Ex 29; Lev 8.

  8.6–7 From among the Israelites. See 1.48–54; 3.11–13. Cleanse, i.e., make ritually “clean.” Water of purification. See also 19.9, 17–19, 21; 31.23; the water for cleansing would seem to be the same as the water of purification (see also Ezek 36.25), but it is not the holy water for the priests mentioned in 5.17. In 8.7, purification (or “purification offering”) is the same Hebrew word generally translated “sin” (or “sin offering”). Have them…razor, lit. “make a razor pass over their entire body” (cf. 6.9). Then they are to wash their clothes and presumably themselves (see Lev 13.29–34; 14.8–9; Num 19.19). See also Lev 8; 11; 16; 17 for various rituals involving washing of clothes or persons.

  8.8 The first young bull is to be a burnt offering; see v. 12.

  8.9–11 Before the LORD, i.e., at the entrance to the tent (cf., e.g., Ex 29.11, 42; Num 16.16–18). The laying on of hands identifies the sacrificer with the sacrificial victim (Lev 1.4; see also Num 8.12). The Levites have become the sacrifice, i.e., they have been dedicated to the Lord and serve as Israel’s representatives in the sanctuary.

  8.12 The Levites offer a sin offering and a burnt offering to atone for any possible sin (Lev 1.4; 4.20); see v. 15.

  8.14 See vv. 6–7.

  8.16–18 See 3.11–13.

  8.19 As a gift to Aaron and his sons. See 3.5–9. Because the Levites stood between the Israelites and the sanctuary, the Israelites were less likely to trespass in dangerous proximity to the sanctuary; see 1.51–53; 2.17.

  8.23–26 On the age limits for levitical duty, cf. 4.3, 23, 30. Num 8 liberalizes the age limits, and other writings expand them even more (see 1 Chr 23.3, 24, 27; 2 Chr 31.17; Ezra 3.8). The differences are presumably due to variations over time in the numbers and duties of the Levites; an upper age limit is more appropriate for those doing heavy work such as transporting (Num 3–4); in v. 26 Levites over fifty could still assist in the tent of meeting. When the tabernacle was stationary within the temple (see 1 Kings 8.1–13), no such duties would fall to the Levites. Differences in lower age limits may be due to changing numbers of available Levite males (see Ezra 2.1–2, 40; Neh 7.6–7, 43).

  NUMBERS 9

  The Passover at Sinai

  1The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2Let the Israelites keep the passover at its appointed time. 3On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight,a you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its regulations you shall keep it. 4So Moses told the Israelites that they should keep the passover. 5They kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,b in the wilderness of Sinai. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did. 6Now there were certain people who were unclean through touching a corpse, so that they could not keep the passover on that day. They came before Moses and Aaron on that day, 7and said to him, “Although we are unclean through touching a corpse, why must we be kept from presenting the LORD’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 8Moses spoke to them, “Wait, so that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”

  9The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 10Speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone of you or your descendants who is unclean through touching a corpse, or is away on a journey, shall still keep the passover to the LORD. 11In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight,c they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it. 13But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet refrains from keeping the passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the LORD’s offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin. 14Any alien residing among you who wishes to keep the passover to the LORD shall do so according to the statute of the passover and according to its regulation; you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.

  The Cloud and the Fire

  15On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant;d and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. 16It was always so: the cloud covered it by daye and the appearance of fire by night. 17Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. 18At the command of the LORD the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. 19Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the LORD, and would not set out. 20Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they would set out. 21Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out. 23At the command of the LORD they would camp, and at the command of the LORD they would set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

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  a Heb between the two evenings

  b Heb between the two evenings

  c Heb between the two evenings

  d Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

  e Gk Syr Vg: Heb lacks by day

  9.1–5 The Passover is kept in the wilderness of Sinai. This second Passover is celebrated immediately before the people set out on a march, as was the first (Ex 12–13).

  9.1 One month before the date in 1.1; see 7.1–9.

  9.2–4 See Ex 12.1–27, 43–49.

  9.6 Unclean…corpse. See 19.11–20; also 5.2. Aaron seems to be an addition here; the rest of the narrative involves only Moses.

  9.10 Unclean…corpse. See 9.6. Being away on a journey was not part of the original question and seems to assume a settled life in Canaan (note the phrase or your descendants).

  9.11 Supplemental instructions adapt the older regulations to unaddressed circumstances (see also 2 Chr 30.1–3, 15).

  9.12 See Ex 12.10, 46; see also Ex 29.34; Lev 7.15; 22.29–30.

  9.13 Commentators are divided on whether the phrase cut off from the people means the guilty person is killed or his family line is cut off, but most agree the phrase implies punishment by divine rather than human agency. For a clearer case, see 15.30–31.

  9.14 The resident alien is not a native Israelite, but rather someone who has taken up permanent residence among the Israelites and finds protection in that community. Resident aliens, in contrast to foreigners passing through or living only temporarily in the Israelite community (Ex 12.43), were allowed to participate in the Passover as long as their males were circumcised (Ex 12.48–49), but they were not punished for not participating as native Israelites would be (Num 9.13).

  9.15–23 The setting of these verses is the march from the wilderness of Sinai, although the beginning of the march is not reported until 10.11.

  9.15–16 Day…was set up. On the date, see v. 1. The cloud…covenant. Among earlier mentions of the cloud, see Ex 13.21–22, where the cloud and the fire are described separately, the cloud by day and the fire by night; see other variations in Ex 16.10; 24.15–18; 33.9–10; 40.34–38; Lev 16.2. See also Ex 14.19, 24; Num 14.14; Deut 31.15; Neh 9.12, 19. The fire that is in the cloud in some descriptions has been associated with the “glory” of the Lord, and such descriptions have led commentators to describe this “glory” cloud as a kind of glowing aura, like the “radiance” of Mesopotamian gods (see, e.g., Ex 16.10; 24.16–18; als
o 40.34–35; Num 16.42; Ezek 1.28; 10.4).

  9.16 Cf. Pss 78.14; 105.39.

  9.17–23 See, e.g., Ex 40.36–37; Num 10.11–13.

  9.17 Settled down, lit. “tabernacled.” Presumably the cloud stopped at the point where the tabernacle was to be set up, determining, then, the position of the rest of the camp (ch. 2).

  NUMBERS 10

  The Silver Trumpets

  1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Make two silver trumpets; you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp. 3When both are blown, the whole congregation shall assemble before you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 4But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall assemble before you. 5When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side shall set out; 6when you blow a second alarm, the camps on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. 7But when the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. 8The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; this shall be a perpetual institution for you throughout your generations. 9When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the LORD your God and be saved from your enemies. 10Also on your days of rejoicing, at your appointed festivals, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over your sacrifices of well-being; they shall serve as a reminder on your behalf before the LORD your God: I am the LORD your God.