The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

Numbers 7

¹ 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,

— and sanctified them; the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all appertaining; this finishing of the whole was at the end of the seven days of consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:35.

² that the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes and were over those who were numbered, offered. — offered not sacrifices but gifts; they brought their presents to the Lord for the service of his sanctuary, and set them before him, as follows;

³ 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 they brought them before the tabernacle; the Targum of Jonathan says, Moses would not receive them, and therefore they brought them before the tabernacle; and so, Moses received them not at their hands, until it was declared to him by the mouth of the Lord what he should do, as follows;

⁴ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁵ “Take it from 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.” — to every man according to his service; whether lighter or heavier, for such difference there was in the three divisions of the Levites; and according as their work was, they had more or fewer wagons and oxen given them;

⁶ And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.

⁷ Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service; — unto the sons of Gershon; the eldest son of Levi;

⁸ and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. — to the sons of Merari; all the remaining wagons and oxen, which were double the number given to the Gershonites;

⁹ 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. — because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders;

— as the ark with the mercy seat, and cherubim, the shewbread table, the candlestick, and the two altars; though in later times we find the ark was sometimes not only carried by the priests, but upon a cart;

¹⁰ And the princes offered for the dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. — and the princes offered for dedicating of the altar; for setting it apart to sacred use and service, even the altar of burnt offering;

¹¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, “They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.” — each prince in his day; thus the dedication continued no less than twelve days, which made it very solemn, and gave to every tribe an opportunity, by its representative, to express their devotion and reverence to God, and to receive tokens of gracious acceptance from him;

¹² And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. — the first day was Nahshon; of the tribe of Judah; taking the lead, Judah having had the precedence assigned to it, the prince or head of that tribe was the first admitted to offer as its representative;

— one of a series of JUDAH FIRST (1) Movement of the Camp, Numbers 2:3; (2) Judah’s First to present Offering, Numbers 7:12; (3) Judah first to cross the Jordan River, Jewish Malbim writing

¹³ And his offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

¹⁴ one spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense;

¹⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

¹⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

¹⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, offered. — on the second day Nethaneel, prince of Issachar, did offer; this tribe being stationed on the right side of Judah.

¹⁹ He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

²⁰ one spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense;

²¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

²² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

²³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, offered. — Judah, then Issachar, then Zebulun, which was on the left side; and so on in orderly succession, every tribe making the same kind of offering and in the same amount, to show that, as each was under equal obligation, each rendered an equal tribute;

— the name Helon or Elon is Dutch, from hence there in Pretoria arose Elon Musk of Dutch ancestry.

²⁵ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

²⁶ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

²⁷ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

²⁸ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

²⁹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five 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, prince of the children of Reuben, offered. — despite being the firstborn, Reuben was placed fourth here;

³¹ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

³² one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

³³ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

³⁴ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

³⁵ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five 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, prince of the children of Simeon, offered. — the fifth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

³⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

³⁸ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

³⁹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁰ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁴¹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered. — the sixth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁴³ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and a silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁴⁴ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁴⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁴⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered. — the seventh, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁴⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁵⁰ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁵² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁵³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh. — the eight, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁵⁵ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁵⁶ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵⁷ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁵⁸ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁵⁹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five 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, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered. — the ninth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁶¹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁶² one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶³ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁶⁴ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁶⁵ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five 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, prince of the children of Dan, offered. — the tenth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁶⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁶⁸ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶⁹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁰ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁷¹ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered. — the eleventh, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁷³ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁷⁴ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁷⁵ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁶ one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁷⁷ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered. — the twelfth, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, and all the princes brought the same gifts.

⁷⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering;

⁸⁰ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁸¹ one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering;

⁸² one kid of the goats for a sin offering;

⁸³ and for a sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five hegoats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ 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,

⁸⁵ each charger of silver weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy. All the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁸⁶ The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels.

⁸⁷ 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.

⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the hegoats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ And when Moses had gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of One speaking unto him from the mercy seat that was upon the ark of Testimony, from between the two cherubims; and He spoke unto him.

— and when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation, to speak with God; to consult him on some affair or another, or to learn whether he had anything else to communicate to him, to be delivered to the children of Israel;

— or whether he had any directions and instructions to give him about the presents and gifts of the princes, since this seems to be immediately after their offerings;

— then Moses heard the voice of one speaking unto him; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, the voice of the Spirit; or rather the voice of the Shekinah, hence the Father, in or as the Shekinah spoke as the Spirit; hence they are the same Being, and the Spirit doesn’t exit as a separate being;

— from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; upon the ark in which the law was, called the testimony, was the mercy seat; over that were placed two cherubim shadowing it, and between these was the seat of the Majestic Father, where the Temple Jesus refered to as “my Father’s house,” (John 2:16);

— not only are the twelve tribes to bring burnt offerings and sacrfices, the nations afar off, are also required to do so: and this confirmation is from Isaiah 56:

⁶ Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant,

⁷ even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar, for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people,” Isaiah 56:6-7

Numbers 8

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him: ‘When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.’” — Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him; it being his work to light the lamps, though; it was not just incumbent on an high priest alone to do this, for it also belonged to the sons of Aaron;

— the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick; the Targum of Jonathan says, “at the same time of thy lighting the lamps over against the candlestick, there shall be seven lamps giving light: three on the west side and three on the east side, and the seventh in the middle:”

³ And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses. — and Aaron did so, he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick; as God had said so in the most holy place, as appears by the voice speaking from off the mercy seat;

⁴ And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold; unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work. According unto the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the candlestick. — according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses; when on Mount Sinai with him;

⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁶ “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. — and cleanse them; with water, by sprinkling the water of purification on them, and by washing their bodies and clothes with water;

⁷ And thus shalt thou do unto them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. — and let them shave all their flesh; the hair of their bodies, in all parts thereof; even the beard; yet not the corners of it; but the whole hair of the body, everywhere, was to be shaved off;

⁸ Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. — after this purification the Levites were to bring two young bullocks, one with the corresponding meat-offering for a burnt-sacrifice, the other for a sin-offering;

⁹ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together. — and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together; the heads of the tribes, and elders of the people; where the whole congregation is said to be assembled at the consecration of the Levites;

¹⁰ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. — put their hands; whereby they signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the firstborn, in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites;

¹¹ And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. — the ceremony of waving consisted in his conducting the Levites solemnly up to the altar, and then back again;

¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for the Levites. — to make an atonement for the Levites; who could not be admitted to service until their sins were expiated;

— as no man is worthy to be employed in the work of God, but such for whom reconciliation for their sins is made by the blood, by which they are purged from dead works to serve the living God.

¹³ And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. — and thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons; after atonement was made for them; then they were presented to Aaron and his sons, to whom they were given to he their ministers, and assistants to them.

¹⁴ Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. — 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 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt cleanse them and offer them for an offering. — to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: to assist the priests at the altar of burnt offering, to take down the tabernacle and bear the vessels of it, and set it up, as occasion required;

¹⁶ For they are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel, instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto Me. — instead of such as open, every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto me;

¹⁷ For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast. On the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.

¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. — and I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. Gave up his right in the firstborn, and instead of them took the Levites for his use and service;

¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.”

— that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh to the sanctuary; by approaching nearer than they should, touching what they ought not, intruding themselves into service they were not called to, or doing it amiss, not being instructed in it, or inured to it as the Levites were.

²⁰ And Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites; so did the children of Israel unto them. — so did the children of Israel unto them: which, as Jarchi notes, is said to the praise of them that did it, and of what was done by them;

— everything was done that was ordered, and in the manner in which it was prescribed; Moses sprinkled, or ordered to be sprinkled, the water of purification on them, and set them before the tabernacle, and before the Lord; the children of Israel laid their hands on them, and Aaron waved them, offered the sacrifices for them.

²¹ And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. — and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them; by offering the sacrifices for them, Numbers 8:12.

²² And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them. — and after that went the Levites in; into the court of the tabernacle, being at the door when the above rites and ceremonies of their consecration were performed;

²³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ “This is what applies unto the Levites: From twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. — from twenty and five years old and upward, they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; in Numbers 4:3; the time for the Levites entering on the work of the tabernacle is fixed to thirty years and upward;

— at twenty five years old the Levite goes in to learn the rites of service, and he learns five years, and where he was employed in lighter service, such as opening and shutting the doors of the sanctuary; and at thirty years of age a Levite entered into the service of bearing and carrying burdens;

²⁵ And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more, — and shall serve no more; by bearing and carrying the vessels of the sanctuary upon their shoulders; and all the toilsome duties of the service, and shall only give advice and direction;

²⁶ but shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites concerning their charge.”

— to keep the charge; a clear distinction is here made between the service which involved heavy manual labour in carrying the furniture of the Tabernacle and in slaughtering the victims, and the charge or oversight of the furniture and the vessels of the Sanctuary.

~ by Japheth on February 19, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses