And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue ,.... The altar of incense, which was overlaid with gold, and therefore called a golden one, to which the allusion is in Revelation 8:3 , and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins ; after the cloth of blue was spread upon it: and shall put to the staves thereof ; into the rings, both made to bear and carry it, upon occasion, from place to place. read more
And they shall take all the instruments of ministry , wherewith they minister in the sanctuary ,.... The garments in which the priests, ministered in the sanctuary, which were laid up in proper places, and which they only wore when in service: and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins ; all wrapped up in one bundle: and shall put them on a bar ; the same sort of carriage on which the candlestick and its vessels were borne; see Gill on ... read more
And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon. Having cleared the holy of holies, and the holy place, they were to come forth from thence into the court of the tabernacle, where stood the altar of burnt offering, which is here meant, and on which sacrifices being daily burnt, there were always ashes to be removed; and which at this time was highly necessary to be done, when the tabernacle was taken down, and all belonging to it to be carried away; and... read more
And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof ,.... Upon the altar covered with a blue cloth; on that were to be put everything belonging to the altar: wherewith they minister about it ; the priests, when they offered sacrifice on it: even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basins , all the vessels of the altar ; of which see Exodus 27:3 , and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins : to prevent the rains falling upon them, which... read more
And when Aaron and his sons had made an end of covering the sanctuary ,.... Not the holy place, nor the most holy place, for these were not covered by them; but "the holy things" in them, as the Septuagint version, the ark, shewbread table, &c.; and all "the vessels of the sanctuary"; all appertaining to those holy things, which are before mentioned. Jarchi interprets the "sanctuary", or the "holiness", of the ark and altar: and all the vessels of the sanctuary ; of the candlestick... read more
And to the office of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest , pertaineth the oil for the light ,.... The following things, to bear them, according to some Jewish writers; but rather it was to give the oil for the light, that is, the vessels, and so the vessels of the oil to the sons of the Kohathites; agreeably to which are the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words,"and that which was delivered to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, the oil for the light,... read more
From thirty years old - In Numbers 8:24 , the Levites are ordered to enter on the service of the tabernacle at the age of twenty-five years; and in 1 Chronicles 23:24 , they were ordered to commence that work at twenty years of age. How can these different times be reconciled? At the time of which Moses speaks here, the Levitical service was exceedingly severe, and consequently required men full grown, strong, and stout, to perform it; the age therefore of thirty years was appointed as... read more
Verse 1 1.And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron This census had a different object from the former one, which we have just been considering, viz., that an equal distribution of the charges should be made in proportion to the number of the individuals. First, as regarded age, a distinction must be observed between this tribe and the others; for we have already seen that all the Israelites above twenty years of age were numbered, because they were then fit to bear arms. But it was not... read more
Verse 4 4.This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath. He assigns their various offices to the Levites: firstly, lest their promiscuous sedulity should beget confusion; secondly, lest ambition should stimulate certain of them, (203) from whence disputes and contentions might arise. We know how confusedly men work unless a certain rule is prescribed to them, lest they should run about in an aimless hurry; and whilst each individual desires to anticipate others, an unworthy emulation ensues,... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 4:10
And they shall put it, and all the vessels thereof, within a covering of badgers' skins ,.... Which here also was the outermost covering; the ark and the shewbread table had three coverings, but the candlestick only two, they being more sacred than that, especially the ark: and shall put it upon a bar ; the word "mot" perhaps signifies a kind of mat or mattress, on which the candlestick and its vessels, bundled together in the covering of the badgers' skins, were laid and carried... read more