Numbers 7 - Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

7 On the day that Moses had fully completed setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it and all its furniture, and the altar and all its utensils, and had anointed and set them apart for holy use,

² The princes or leaders of Israel, heads of their fathers’ houses, made offerings. These were the leaders of the tribes and were over those who were numbered.

³ And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons and twelve oxen; a wagon for each two of the princes or leaders and an ox for each one; and they brought them before the tabernacle.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses,

⁵ Accept the things from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.

⁶ So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.

⁷ Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service;

⁸ And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the supervision of Ithamar son of Aaron, the [high] priest.

⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were assigned the care of the sanctuary and the holy things which had to be carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰ And the princes or leaders offered sacrifices for the dedication of the altar [of burnt offering] on the day that it was anointed; and they offered their sacrifice before the altar.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, They shall offer their offerings, each prince or leader on his day, for the dedication of the altar.

¹² He who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah.

¹³ And his offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

¹⁴ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

¹⁵ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

¹⁶ One male goat for a sin offering;

¹⁷ And ^[a]for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ The second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader [of the tribe] of Issachar, offered.

¹⁹ He gave for his offering one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

²⁰ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

²¹ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

²² One male goat for a sin offering;

²³ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴ The third day Eliab son of Helon, leader of the sons of Zebulun, offered.

²⁵ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

²⁶ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

²⁷ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

²⁸ One male goat for a sin offering;

²⁹ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰ The fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the sons of Reuben, offered.

³¹ His offering was one silver platter of the weight of 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

³² One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

³³ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

³⁴ One male goat for a sin offering;

³⁵ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶ The fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the sons of Simeon, offered.

³⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

³⁸ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

³⁹ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁰ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁴¹ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² The sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the sons of Gad, offered.

⁴³ His offering was one silver platter of the weight of 130 shekels, a silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁴⁴ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁴⁵ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁶ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁴⁷ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, [and] five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ The seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the sons of Ephraim, offered.

⁴⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁵⁰ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵¹ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵² One male goat for a sin offering;

⁵³ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, [and] five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ The eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh, offered.

⁵⁵ His offering was one silver platter of the weight of 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁵⁶ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵⁷ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵⁸ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁵⁹ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ The ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, prince or leader of the sons of Benjamin, offered.

⁶¹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁶² One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶³ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁶⁴ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁶⁵ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ The tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the sons of Dan, offered.

⁶⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁶⁸ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶⁹ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁰ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁷¹ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² The eleventh day Pagiel son of Ochran, leader of the sons of Asher, offered.

⁷³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁷⁴ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁷⁵ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁶ One male goat for a sin offering;

⁷⁷ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.

⁷⁸ The twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the sons of Naphtali, offered.

⁷⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was 130 shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;

⁸⁰ One golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁸¹ One young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁸² One male goat for a sin offering;

⁸³ And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was the dedication offering for the altar [of burnt offering] from the leaders of Israel on the day when it was anointed: twelve platters of silver, twelve silver basins, twelve golden bowls;

⁸⁵ Each platter of silver weighing 130 shekels, each basin seventy; all the silver vessels weighed 2,400 shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁸⁶ The twelve golden bowls full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the bowls being 120 shekels.

⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, together with their cereal offering; and the male goats for a sin offering twelve.

⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar [of burnt offering] after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim; and He spoke to [Moses].

Footnotes

1. Numbers 7:17 Verses 12 to 17 give the detailed description of one tribe leader’s offering. Then, instead of saying that the gifts of the other tribe leaders were exactly like this one and naming the leaders, the record goes on for seventy verses repeating what has already been said eleven more times! Why? These things “were written for our learning” (Rom. 15:4 kjv). Let us seek the answer. Other commentators give Matthew Henry credit for giving the correct view. He says that both in dictating that each tribal leader have a separate day for his gift and in giving the reports equal space, regardless of the contrast in the tribe’s strength and rank in the camp, God had a definite purpose: “that an equal honor might thereby be put on each several tribe... Thus it was intimated that all the tribes of Israel had an equal share in the altar and an equal share in the sacrifices that were offered upon it. Though one tribe was posted more honorably in the camp than another, yet they and their services were all alike acceptable to God... Rich and poor meet together before God... He was letting us know that what is given is lent to the Lord, and He carefully records it, with everyone’s name prefixed to his gift, because what is so given as a labor of love (Heb. 6:10 kjv) He will repay. Christ took particular notice of what was cast into the treasury (Mark 12:41)” (Matthew Henry, A Commentary).