1And it was on the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, and he anointed it and made it and all its equipment and the altar and all its equipment holy. He anointed them and made them holy.
2And Israel’s chieftains, the heads of their fathers’ house brought forward—they were the tribes’ chieftains; they were the ones standing over those who were counted—
3and they brought their offering in front of YHWH: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for two chieftains and an ox for each one. And they brought them in front of the Tabernacle.
4And YHWH said to Moses, saying,
5“Take them from them, and they will be for doing the work of the Tent of Meeting. And you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his work.”
6And Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
7He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon according to their work.
8And he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari according to their work in the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.
9And he did not give to the sons of Kohath, because the service of the Holy is their responsibility. They would carry on the shoulder.
10And the chieftains brought forward the altar’s dedication offering on the day it was anointed, and the chieftains made their offering in front of the altar.
7:10. the altar’s dedication offering. What is the function of this lengthy, repetitive list of the donations that each tribe brings for the dedication? First, it establishes the importance of donations for maintaining the religious establishment. People tend to be cynical about the financial aspect of religious institutions, sometimes with good reason, sometimes mistakenly, and sometimes as a rationalization for declining to contribute. But the services that the institution provides require support from those in the community who can give it. The issue is not the need for donations, but that this need should not be abused. Second, this list conveys that all the people have a share in what goes on at the altar. No tribe is favored. No tribe gets special treatment for giving more than others. And no tribe fails to contribute. Support must come from every part of the community. If there are twelve tribes, then twelve need to contribute. (See the comment on 7:84.) Third, note that the tribe of Levi, which takes charge of the donations, does not itself make a donation. That may seem obvious, but it conveys that the donation of religious leaders is their lifework, and that monetary donations should not be expected of them. They may make such contributions if they choose, but that is an act of generosity beyond what is required.
11And YHWH said to Moses, “One chieftain on a day, one chieftain on the next day, they shall make their offering for the altar’s dedication offering.”
12And the one who made his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab for the tribe of Judah.
13And his offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
14one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
15one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
16one goat for a sin offering;
17and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.
18On the second day, Nethanel son of Zuar, chieftain of Issachar, brought forward.
19He made his offering: one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
20one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
21one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
22one goat for a sin offering;
23and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.
24On the third day, the chieftain of the children of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.
25His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
26one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
27one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
28one goat for a sin offering;
29and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
30On the fourth day, the chieftain of the children of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur.
31His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
32one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
33one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
34one goat for a sin offering;
35and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.
36On the fifth day, the chieftain of the children of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishadday.
37His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
38one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
39one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
40one goat for a sin offering;
41and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishadday.
42On the sixth day, the chieftain of the children of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
7:42. Deuel. The Greek (Septuagint) reads Reuel, as does the Hebrew (Masoretic Text) above (Num 2:14). The letters r (resh) and d (dalet) looked similar in ancient Hebrew script (and in the script down to our own times), and scribes occasionally confused them.
43His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
44one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
45one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
46one goat for a sin offering;
47and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.
48On the seventh day, the chieftain of the children of Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud.
49His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
50one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
51one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
52one goat for a sin offering;
53and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.
54On the eighth day, the chieftain of the children of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
55His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
56one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
57one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
58one goat for a sin offering;
59and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
60On the ninth day, the chieftain of the children of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.
61His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
62one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
63one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
64one goat for a sin offering;
65and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.
66On the tenth day, the chieftain of the children of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishadday.
67His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
68one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
69one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
70one goat for a sin offering;
71and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishadday.
72On the eleventh day, the chieftain of the children of Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran.
73His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
74one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
75one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
76one goat for a sin offering;
77and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.
78On the twelfth day, the chieftain of the children of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
79His offering was one silver dish, its weight in shekels a hundred thirty; one silver basin, seventy shekels by the shekel of the Holy; both of them were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
80one gold pan, ten shekels, full of incense;
81one bull of the cattle, one ram, one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering;
82one goat for a sin offering;
83and for a peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.
84This was the dedication offering of the altar from Israel’s chieftains on the day of its being anointed: Twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins, twelve gold pans,
7:84. from Israel’s chieftains. Why does the text have to repeat the detailed list of offerings from each of the twelve chieftains, when all their offerings are exactly, word for word, the same? It is notable that earlier the text gave detailed records of the number of persons in each tribe. Now we learn that, even though the tribes are all different sizes, their chieftains all bring the same offering. It would appear to establish that all the tribes, whether large or small in population, are equal.
85each dish being a hundred thirty of silver, and each basin seventy; all the silver of the items was two thousand four hundred by the shekel of the Holy.
86Twelve gold pans full of incense, the pans being ten each by the shekel of the Holy; all the gold of the pans was a hundred twenty.
87All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve lambs a year old and their grain offering and twelve goats for a sin offering.
88And all the oxen of the peace-offering sacrifice were twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty he-goats, sixty lambs a year old. This was the dedication offering of the altar after its being anointed.
89And when Moses came into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement dais that was on the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs, and He spoke to him.
