(KJV) Numbers 81

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⥃The Lampstand [ Exodus 25:31–40 † Exodus 37:17–24 ]

[1] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,2 [2] Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.3 [3] And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses. [4] And this work4 of the candlestick [was of] beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, [was] beaten work5: according unto the pattern6 which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

⥃Cleansing the Levites

[5] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [6] Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them7. [7] And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle8 water9 of purifying upon them, and let them shave10 all their flesh, and let them wash their11 clothes, and [so] make themselves clean. [8] Then let them take a young12 bullock with his meat13 offering, [even] fine flour mingled with oil, and another14 young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. [9] And thou shalt bring15 the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole16 assembly of the children of Israel together: [10] And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:17 [11] And Aaron shall offer18 the Levites before the Lord [for] an offering19 of the children of Israel, that they may execute20 the service of the Lord. [12] And the Levites21 shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one22 [for] a sin offering, and the other [for] a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement23 for the Levites. [13] And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them24 [for] an offering unto the Lord. [14] Thus shalt thou separate25 the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites26 shall be mine. [15] And after that shall the Levites go in27 to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer28 them [for] an offering. [16] For they [are] wholly given29 unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such30 as open every womb, [even instead of] the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. [17] For all the31 firstborn of the children of Israel [are] mine, [both] man and beast: on the day32 that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified33 them for myself. [18] And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. [19] And I have given34 the Levites [as] a gift35 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 there36 be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. [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. [21] And the Levites were purified37, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered38 them [as] an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made39 an atonement for them to cleanse them. [22] And after that40 went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord41 had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

⥃Retirement for Levites

[23] [¶]And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [24] This [is it] that [belongeth] unto the Levites: from twenty42 and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon43 the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:444546 [25] And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service [thereof47], and shall serve no more: [26] But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep48 the charge, and shall49 do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

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  1. Num 8:1, How the lamps are to be lighted; Num 8:5, The consecration of the Levites; Num 8:23, The age and time of their service. ↩

  2. When this was spoken, says Bp. Patrick, is not certain. If Moses went into the tabernacle immediately after the princes had offered (Num 7:89), it may be thought he then spake these things unto him; but both this and what follows, concerning the Levites, seem rather to have been delivered after the order for giving them to the priests, and appointing their several charges (Num 3:1 and Num 4:1). But some other things intervening, which depended upon what had been ordered respecting their camp, and that of the Israelites, Moses omits this until he had stated them, and some other matters which he had received from God. (See note on Num 7:11.) ↩

  3. Exod 25:37, Exod 37:18-19, Exod 37:23, Exod 40:25; Lev 24:1-2; Ps 119:105, Ps 119:130; Isa 8:20; Matt 5:14; John 1:9; 2Pet 1:19; Rev 1:12, Rev 1:20, Rev 2:1, Rev 4:5 ↩

  4. Exod 25:31-39, Exod 37:17-24 ↩

  5. Exod 25:18, Exod 37:7, Exod 37:17, Exod 37:22 ↩

  6. Exod 25:9, Exod 25:40; 1Chr 28:11-19; Heb 8:5, Heb 9:23 ↩

  7. Exod 19:15; 2Cor 7:1; Jas 4:8 ↩

  8. Lev 8:6, Lev 14:7; Isa 52:15; Ezek 36:25; Heb 9:10 ↩

  9. Num 19:9-10, Num 19:13, Num 19:17-19; Ps 51:7; Heb 9:13 ↩

  10. Heb. let them cause a razor to pass over, etc. Lev 14:8-9 ↩

  11. Num 19:7-8, Num 19:10, Num 19:19, Num 31:20; Gen 35:2; Exod 19:10; Lev 15:6, Lev 15:10-11, Lev 15:27, Lev 16:28; Ps 51:2; Jer 4:14; Matt 23:25-26; Jas 4:8; 1Pet 3:21; Rev 7:14 ↩

  12. Exod 29:1, Exod 29:3; Lev 1:3, Lev 8:2 ↩

  13. Num 15:8-9; Lev 2:1 ↩

  14. Lev 4:3, Lev 4:14, Lev 16:3; Isa 53:10; Rom 8:3; 2Cor 5:21 ↩

  15. Exod 29:4-37, Exod 40:12 ↩

  16. The words, kol âdath, which are rendered "the whole assembly," often signify all the elders, or principal persons in the several tribes (Num 15:4; Num 25:7; Num 35:12). And they cannot well have any other sense here; for it would be impossible for all the children of Israel to put their hands on the Levites, as stated in the next verse. Lev 8:3 ↩

  17. Num 3:45; Lev 1:4; Acts 6:6, Acts 13:2-3; 1Tim 4:14, 1Tim 5:22 ↩

  18. Heb. wave ↩

  19. Heb. wave-offering, Not that they were actually waved, but they were presented to God, as the God of heaven, and the Lord of the whole earth, as the wave offerings were; and in calling them wave-offerings, it was intimated to them that they must move to and fro with readiness in the business of their profession. Num 6:20; Exod 29:24; Lev 7:30, Lev 8:27, Lev 8:29 ↩

  20. Heb. they may be to execute, etc. Num 1:49-53, Num 3:5-43 ↩

  21. Exod 29:10; Lev 1:4, Lev 8:14, Lev 16:21 ↩

  22. Num 8:8, Num 6:14, Num 6:16; Lev 5:7, Lev 5:9-10, Lev 8:14, Lev 8:18, Lev 9:7, Lev 14:19-20, Lev 14:22; Heb 10:4-10 ↩

  23. Lev 1:4, Lev 4:20, Lev 4:35, Lev 8:34, Lev 16:6, Lev 16:11, Lev 16:16-19; Heb 9:22 ↩

  24. Wehainaphta othom tenoophath, literally, as in Num 8:11, "and thou shalt wave them for a wave-offering;" manifestly in allusion to the ancient sacrificial rite of waving the sacrifices before the Lord; and it is probable, that some significant action, analogous to the waving of the sacrifice, was employed on this occasion; for the Levites were considered as an offering to the Lord, to whose service they were wholly dedicated. To this the apostle Paul manifestly alludes, when, in writing to the Romans, he says (Rom 12:1), "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Num 8:11, Num 8:21, Num 18:6; Rom 12:1, Rom 15:16 ↩

  25. Num 6:2; Deut 10:8; Rom 1:1; Gal 1:15; Heb 7:26 ↩

  26. Num 8:17, Num 3:45, Num 16:9-10, Num 18:6; Mal 3:17 ↩

  27. Num 8:11, Num 3:23-37, Num 4:3-32; 1Chr 23:1-32, 25:1-26:32 ↩

  28. Num 8:11, Num 8:13, Num 3:12 ↩

  29. Nethunim, nethunim, "given, given." The word being repeated, "because," says Bp. Patrick, "the children of Israel had devoted them to him, by laying their hands upon them (Num 8:10), and Aaron had waved them as a wave-offering to the Lord" (Num 8:11). ↩

  30. Houbigant, on the authority of the Samaritan, reads, "instead of every first-born of the children of Israel, who openeth the womb." Num 3:12, Num 3:45 ↩

  31. Num 3:13; Exod 13:2, Exod 13:12-15; Luke 2:23 ↩

  32. Exod 12:29; Ps 78:51, Ps 105:36, Ps 135:8; Heb 11:28 ↩

  33. Exod 13:14-15, Exod 29:44; Lev 27:14-15, Lev 27:26; Ezek 20:12; John 10:36, John 17:19; Heb 10:29; Jas 1:18 ↩

  34. Num 3:6-9, Num 18:2-6; 1Chr 23:28-32; Ezek 44:11-14 ↩

  35. Heb. given ↩

  36. Num 1:53, Num 16:46, Num 18:5; 1Sam 6:19; 2Chr 26:16-20 ↩

  37. Num 8:7, Num 19:12, Num 19:19 ↩

  38. Num 8:11-13, Num 8:15, Num 3:12 ↩

  39. Num 8:12 ↩

  40. Num 8:15; 2Chr 30:15-17, 2Chr 30:27, 2Chr 31:2, 2Chr 35:8-15 ↩

  41. Num 8:5-26 ↩

  42. In Num 4:3, the Levites are appointed to the service of the tabernacle at the age of 30 years; and in 1Chr 23:24, they are ordered to commence their work at 20 years of age. In order to reconcile this apparent discrepancy, it is to be observed: ↩

  43. Heb. war the warfare of, etc. 1Cor 9:7; 2Cor 10:4; 1Tim 1:18, 1Tim 6:12; 2Tim 2:3-5 ↩

    1. At the time of which Moses speaks in Num 4:3, the Levitical service was exceedingly severe, and consequently required full grown, robust men, to perform it; the age of 30 was therefore appointed as the period for commencing this service, the weightier part of which was probably there intended.

    ↩

    1. In this place God seems to speak of the service in a general way. Hence the age of 25 is fixed.

    ↩

    1. In David's time, and afterwards, in the fixed tabernacle and temple, the laboriousness of the service no longer existed, and hence 20 years was the age appointed. Num 4:3, Num 4:23; 1Chr 23:3, 1Chr 23:24-27, 1Chr 28:12-13

    ↩

  47. Heb. return from the warfare of the service, Num 4:23; 2Tim 4:7; The Levites, above fifty years of age, might superintend and assist their junior brethren in the ordinary offices, and give them and the people counsel and instruction; but they were exempted from carrying the tabernacle and from other laborious services. It is remarkable, that no law was made concerning the age at which the priests should begin to officiate, and though various blemishes disqualified them for the service of the sanctuary, yet they continued their ministrations till death, if capable. On the other hand, nothing is said concerning any bodily defects or blemishes disqualifying the Levites; but the time of their service is expressly settled. Their work was far more laborious than that of the priests; it is therefore likely that the priests would not begin very early to officiate; and the wisdom and experience of age would increase, rather than diminish, their fitness for the sacred duties of their office. ↩

  48. Num 1:53, Num 3:32, Num 18:4, Num 31:30; 1Chr 23:32, 1Chr 26:20-29; Ezek 44:8, Ezek 44:11 ↩

  49. 1Tim 4:15 ↩