Numbers 3

Numbers 3

Numbers 3:1 These stories tell the history of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Yahveh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

Numbers 3:2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Numbers 3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests.

Numbers 3:4 But Nadab and Abihu died at Yahveh’s face when they offered unauthorized fire to Yahveh’s face in the open country of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

Numbers 3:5 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 3:6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, so they may serve him.

Numbers 3:7 They will keep guard over him and over the whole assembly at the conference tent, as they serve at the tabernacle.

Numbers 3:8 They will guard all the furnishings of the conference tent, and keep guard over the sons of Israel as they serve at the tabernacle.

Numbers 3:9 And you will give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are totally given to him from among the sons of Israel.

Numbers 3:10 And you will appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will guard their priesthood. But if any unauthorized person comes near, he will be put to death.”

Numbers 3:11 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 3:12 “I (you will notice) have purchased the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the uterus among the people of Israel. The Levites will be mine,

Numbers 3:13 because all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of human and of animal. They will be mine: I am Yahveh.”

Numbers 3:14 And Yahveh spoke to Moses in the open country of Sinai, and this is what he said,

Numbers 3:15 “Muster the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you will muster.”

Numbers 3:16 So Moses mustered them according to the Yahveh’s word, as he was commanded.

Numbers 3:17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

Numbers 3:18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei.

Numbers 3:19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

Numbers 3:20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

Numbers 3:21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites.

Numbers 3:22 Their mustering according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 7,500.

Numbers 3:23 The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west,

Numbers 3:24 with Elyasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites.

Numbers 3:25 And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the conference tent involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the conference tent,

Numbers 3:26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords– all the service connected with these.

Numbers 3:27 From Kohath came the clan of the Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites.

Numbers 3:28 According to the mustering of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, responsible to keep guard over the sanctuary.

Numbers 3:29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,

Numbers 3:30 with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as general over the fathers’ house of the clans of the Kohathites.

Numbers 3:31 And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests serve, and the screen; all the service connected with these.

Numbers 3:32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be general over the generals of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

Numbers 3:33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari.

Numbers 3:34 Their mustering according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200.

Numbers 3:35 And the general from the fathers’ house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

Numbers 3:36 And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these;

Numbers 3:37 also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords.

Numbers 3:38 Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the conference tent toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any unauthorized person who came near was to be put to death.

Numbers 3:39 All those mustered among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron mustered at the command of Yahveh, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.

Numbers 3:40 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Muster all the firstborn males of the sons of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names.

Numbers 3:41 And you will take the Levites for me– I am Yahveh– instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the animals of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the animals of the sons of Israel.”

Numbers 3:42 So Moses mustered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, as Yahveh commanded him.

Numbers 3:43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as mustered were 22,273.

Numbers 3:44 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the animals of the Levites instead of their animals. The Levites will be mine: I am Yahveh.

Numbers 3:46 And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,

Numbers 3:47 you will take five shekels per head; you will take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that shekel being twenty gerahs),

Numbers 3:48 and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.”

Numbers 3:49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites.

Numbers 3:50 From the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money, 1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.

Numbers 3:51 And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of Yahveh, as Yahveh commanded Moses.

Numbers 3 quotes:

“The setting aside of the Levites for tabernacle service is meant to remind the Israelites of their being set aside by God in the exodus. As the Lord had required the lives of the Egyptians but not the Israelites, so legislation was set in place ever afterward to require the firstborn of Israel “for the Lord” (Exod. 13:1-2). However, since those freely dedicated for such service could be redeemed by payment (Lev. 27), those required for consecration were now individually “redeemed” (one for one) by the Levites (with an extra payment for the 273 left over; Num. 3:44-51).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 117.

“The Levites’ presence as God’s workers was a permanent visual aid to God’s people, signifying two great biblical ideas: surrender and substitution.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 36.

“Sacrifice of human first-born children, although it may have been practiced in the surrounding Canaanite culture, is never mentioned in the Old Testament as a practice of the Israelites. Instead, the Levites are a substitute for the first-born; they are dedicated to God.”

Deming Lynne M. Numbers and Deuteronomy. Graded Press 1988. p. 17.

“… the Lord separated the tribe of Levi and assigned them specific tasks (3:1-51). Most important were Aaron and his sons, since they were to be “the anointed priests” (3:3; see Exod. 28-29). All the Levites were significant, though, for they were specifically chosen from among the Israelites to serve God. They belonged to the Lord (3:11-13, 45), so they were a separated group within the holy nation. They were not better than the rest of the people. But they were held to higher standards than the others (see Lev. 21-22).”

House, Paul R. Leviticus/Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p. 58.

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, April 25, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, April 27, 2023

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 2

Numbers 2

Numbers 2:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said,

Numbers 2:2 “The sons of Israel will camp each by his own standard, with the flags of their fathers’ houses. They will camp around the conference tent[1] at a distance.

Numbers 2:3 Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise will be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the general from the people of Judah being Nachshon the son of Amminadab,

Numbers 2:4 his company as mustered being 74,600.

Numbers 2:5 Those to camp next to him will be the tribe of Issachar, the general from the sons of Issachar being Nethanel, the son of Tsuar,

Numbers 2:6 his company as mustered being 54,400.

Numbers 2:7 Tribe of Zebulun: and the general from the sons of Zebulun is Eliab, the son of Chelon,

Numbers 2:8 his company as mustered being 57,400.

Numbers 2:9 All those mustered of the camp on Judah’s side, by their companies, were 186,400. They will set out first on the march.

Numbers 2:10 “On the south side will be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the general from the sons of Reuben being Elitsur the son of Shedeur,

Numbers 2:11 his company as mustered being 46,500.

Numbers 2:12 And those to camp next to him will be the tribe of Simeon, the general from the sons of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Tsurishaddai,

Numbers 2:13 his company as mustered being 59,300.

Numbers 2:14 Then the tribe of Gad, the general from the sons of Gad being Elyasaph the son of Deuel,

Numbers 2:15 his company as listed being 45,650.

Numbers 2:16 All those mustered from the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They will set out second.

Numbers 2:17 “Then the conference tent will set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they will set out, each in position, standard by standard.

Numbers 2:18 “On the west side will be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the general from the sons of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud,

Numbers 2:19 his company as mustered being 40,500.

Numbers 2:20 And next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh, the general from the sons of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahtsur,

Numbers 2:21 his company as mustered being 32,200.

Numbers 2:22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the general from the sons of Benjamin being Abidan, the son of Gideoni,

Numbers 2:23 his company as mustered being 35,400.

Numbers 2:24 All those mustered of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They will set out third on the march.

Numbers 2:25 “On the north side will be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the general from the sons of Dan being Achiezer the son of Ammishaddai,

Numbers 2:26 his company as mustered being 62,700.

Numbers 2:27 And those to camp next to him will be the tribe of Asher, the general from the people of Asher being Pagiel, the son of Ochran,

Numbers 2:28 his company as mustered being 41,500.

Numbers 2:29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the general from the sons of Naphtali being Achira the son of Enan,

Numbers 2:30 his company as mustered being 53,400.

Numbers 2:31 All those mustered of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They will set out last, standard by standard.”

Numbers 2:32 These are the sons of Israel as mustered by their fathers’ houses. All those mustered in the camps by their companies were 603,550.

Numbers 2:33 But the Levites were not mustered among the sons of Israel, as Yahveh commanded Moses.

Numbers 2:34 This is what the sons of Israel did. In accordance with all that Yahveh commanded Moses, they followed this pattern of camping by their standards and set out, each one in his clan according to his father’s house.

[1] ‎ אֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֖ד = conference tent. Numbers 1:1; 2:2, 17; 3:7, 8, 25, 38; 4:3, 4, 15, 23, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 47; 6:10, 13, 18; 7:5, 89; 8:9, 15, 19, 22, 24, 26; 9:2, 3, 7, 13; 10:3, 10; 11:16; 12:4; 14:10; 15:3; 16:2, 18, 19, 42, 43, 50; 17:4; 18:4, 6, 21, 22, 23, 31; 19:4; 20:6; 25:6; 27:2; 28:2; 29:39; 31:54.

Numbers 2 quotes:

“It is not enough for the Lord to number the people. Now they must be ordered and arranged, both to order the camp in its resting and to arrange it for the day of march. The same Lord who delights in ordering days and nights (Gen. 1) now takes joy in the arrangement of God’s people, both to sit and to move.”

Boyce, Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. p. 114.

“The opening section of Numbers describes a radically different ideal. Here, God is supreme and his word honoured. Worship is a priority, life is structured and families matter. Here are people aware of their distinctive identity, strengthened by their corporate solidarity, rejoicing in their spiritual continuity and confident of their promised security. This portraiture of orderly, interdependent corporate life has much to say to fragmenting cultures in a new millennium. With our modern, individualistic preference for ‘believing without belonging’, it challenges today’s churches and units of Christian organizations to be models of loving, supportive, mutually enriching life and service.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 34.

“… the Lord told Moses how to arrange the tribes when they camped and when they marched (2:1-34). What is striking about both situations is that the symbols of God’s presence had the highest visibility. When Israel stopped, the sanctuary was to rest in the middle of the square encampment (2:2). When the people marched, persons carrying the ark were to lead three tribes, those bearing the tabernacle three tribes, and those conveying the tabernacle furnishings six tribes (2:17). God’s presence could never be forgotten or taken for granted. God’s presence meant He led both from a distance and close at hand.”

House, Paul R. Leviticus/Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p. 58.

How clear the sense of nation and tribe must have been! The people had no problem in defining their roots, since on a daily basis they saw all the tribal flags and family banners arranged in ever-widening arcs around the Tent of Meeting.

The design of the camp also clearly showed God’s intention for the nation! The camp faced inward toward the Tent of Meeting; it consciously gathered around the place where the glory of the Lord visibly showed its presence. Flowing outward from the Tent of Meeting was the strength and guidance that the Lord provided. Looking inward the camp was designed to focus the religious life of the people toward the Tent of Meeting. In other words the whole scene showed that their lives were to be focused on the Tent of Meeting and the gracious God who was present there.”

Kuske Paul W. Numbers. Northwestern Pub. House 1990. p. 30.

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 1

Numbers 1

Numbers 1:1 Yahveh[1] spoke to Moses in the open country[2] of Sinai, in the conference tent, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land[3] of Egypt, and this is what he said,

Numbers 1:2 “Take a head count of all the congregation[4] of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, by the number of names, every male, head by head.

Numbers 1:3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who can go to war, you and Aaron will list them, by their armies.”[5]

Numbers 1:4 And there will be with you a man, a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

Numbers 1:5 And these are the names of the men who will stand with you. From Reuben, Elitsur, the son of Shedeur;

Numbers 1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

Numbers 1:7 from Judah, Nachshon the son of Amminadab;

Numbers 1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;

Numbers 1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

Numbers 1:10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamliel the son of Pedahzur;

Numbers 1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

Numbers 1:12 from Dan, Achiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

Numbers 1:13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;

Numbers 1:14 from Gad, Elyasaph, the son of Deuel;

Numbers 1:15 from Naphtali, Achira the son of Enan.”

Numbers 1:16 These were the ones called out from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

Numbers 1:17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by their names,

Numbers 1:18 and on the first day of the second month, they collected.[6] the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by patriarchal families, according to the number of names from twenty years old and higher, head by head,

Numbers 1:19 just like the Yahveh had commanded Moses. So, he listed them in the open country of Sinai.

Numbers 1:20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:21 those mustered from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

Numbers 1:22 Of the sons of Simeon, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their patriarchal houses, those of them who were mustered, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:23 those mustered of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

Numbers 1:24 Of the sons of Gad, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:25 those mustered of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

Numbers 1:26 Of the sons of Judah, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:27 those mustered of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

Numbers 1:28 Of the sons of Issachar, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:29 those mustered of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

Numbers 1:30 Of the sons of Zebulun, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:31 those mustered of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

Numbers 1:32 Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:33 those mustered of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

Numbers 1:34 Of the sons of Manasseh, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:35 those mustered of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

Numbers 1:36 Of the sons of Benjamin, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:37 those mustered of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

Numbers 1:38 Of the sons of Dan, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:39 those mustered of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

Numbers 1:40 Of the sons of Asher, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:41 those mustered of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

Numbers 1:42 Of the sons of Naphtali, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:43 those mustered of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

Numbers 1:44 These are those who were mustered, whom Moses and Aaron mustered with the help of the generals of Israel, twelve men, each representing his father’s house.

Numbers 1:45 So all those mustered of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel–

Numbers 1:46 all those mustered were 603,550.

Numbers 1:47 But the Levites were not mustered along with them by their ancestral tribe.

Numbers 1:48 Because Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 1:49 “The tribe of Levi is the only exception you will not muster, and you will not take a head count of them among the sons of Israel.

Numbers 1:50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the reminder,[7] and over all its furniture, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furniture, and they will take care of it and camp around it.

Numbers 1:51 When the tabernacle is set out, the Levites will take it down, and when the tabernacle is pitched, the Levites will set it up. And if any outsider comes near, that person will be put to death.

Numbers 1:52 The sons of Israel will camp by their companies, each man in his camp and each man by his standard.

Numbers 1:53 But the Levites will camp around the tabernacle of the reminder so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. And the Levites will keep guard over the tabernacle of the reminder.”

Numbers 1:54 This is what the sons of Israel did; they did according to all that Yahveh had commanded Moses.

[1] יָהְוֶה = Yahveh. Numbers 1:1, 19, 48, 54; 2:1, 33, 34; 3:1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 14, 16, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 51; 4:1, 17, 21, 37, 41, 45, 49; 5:1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 25, 30; 6:1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26; 7:3, 4, 11; 8:1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23; 9:1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23; 10:1, 9, 10, 13, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36; 11:1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 33; 12:2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14; 13:1, 3; 14:3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 26, 28, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44; 15:1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41; 16:3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46; 17:1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13; 18:1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29; 19:1, 2, 13, 20; 20:3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 23, 27; 21:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 14, 16, 34; 22:8, 13, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 35; 23:3, 5, 8, 12, 16, 17, 21, 26; 24:1, 6, 11, 13; 25:3, 4, 10, 16; 26:1, 4, 9, 52, 61, 65; 27:3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23; 28:1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27; 29:2, 6, 8, 12, 13, 36, 39, 40; 30:1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 16; 31:1, 3, 7, 16, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 47, 50, 52, 54; 32:4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 29, 31, 32; 33:2, 4, 38, 50; 34:1, 13, 16, 29; 35:1, 9, 34; 36:2, 5, 6, 10, 13.

[2] מִדְבָּר = open country. Leviticus 16:2, 13, 14, 15.

[3] אֶרֶץ = land, ground. Numbers 1:1; 3:13; 8:17; 9:1, 14; 10:9, 30; 11:31; 13:2, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32; 14:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38; 15:2, 18, 19, 41; 16:13, 14, 32, 33, 34; 18:13, 20; 20:12, 17, 23, 24; 21:4, 22, 24, 26, 31, 34, 35; 22:5, 6, 11, 13; 26:4, 10, 19, 53, 55; 27:12; 32:1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 22, 29, 30, 32, 33; 33:1, 37, 38, 40, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55; 34:2, 12, 13, 17, 18, 29; 35:10, 14, 28, 32, 33, 34; 36:2.

[4] עֵדָה = congregation. Numbers 1:2, 16, 18, 53; 3:7; 4:34; 8:9, 20; 10:2, 3; 13:26; 14:1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 27, 35, 36; 15:24, 25, 26, 33, 35, 36; 16:2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46; 19:9; 20:1, 2, 8, 11, 22, 27, 29; 25:6, 7; 26:2, 9, 10; 27:2, 3, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22; 31:12, 13, 16, 26, 27, 43; 32:2, 4; 35:12, 24, 25.

[5] צָבָא = army, war, on duty. Numbers 1:3, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 45, 52; 2:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32; 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43; 8:24, 25; 10:14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28; 26:2; 31:3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 21, 32, 36, 48, 53; 32:27; 33:1.

[6] קָהַל = collect. Numbers 1:18; 8:9; 10:7; 16:3, 19, 42; 20:2, 8, 10.

[7] עֵדוּת= reminder. Numbers 1:50, 53; 4:5; 7:89; 9:15; 10:11; 17:4, 7, 8, 10; 18:2.

Numbers 1 quotes:

“Numbers is structured by the positioning of the two census records, in Numbers 1 and Numbers 26, respectively. On this basis, chaps. 1-25 are speaking of the Exodus generation, and chaps. 26-36 of the next generation (Milgrom 1989: xiii-xv).”

Levine, Baruch A. Numbers 1-20 : A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. First edition, Doubleday, 1993. p. 59.

“It would be a mistake, however, to hurry beyond these opening chapters in the hope of stumbling across something more interesting. Here are people in community, recalling their roots. All this may not be quite as far from the contemporary scene as it first appears. The fascination with family history and genealogy is fast becoming an obsession. Over 80,000 internet websites are devoted to it and, if the number of hits is anything to go by, the subject is second only to sex in popularity. People are interested in their past. These Israelite registers preserve the convictions and ideals of the world’s most significant people; here in narrative form is an exposition of their God-given theology of an ideal spiritual community.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 26.

“When we call the fourth book of the Old Testament “Numbers,” we are following the Septuagint. (The Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew into Greek and was made about 285 B.c.) The Septuagint translators wished to indicate that the book records several numberings of the children of Israel.”

Kuske Paul W. Numbers. Northwestern Pub. House 1990. p. 5.

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Leviticus 27:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, if anyone makes a special solemn pledge to Yahveh involving the valuation of throats,

Leviticus 27:3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old will be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

Leviticus 27:4 If the person is a female, the valuation will be thirty shekels.

Leviticus 27:5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation will be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Leviticus 27:6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation will be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation will be three shekels of silver.

Leviticus 27:7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male will be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Leviticus 27:8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he will be made to stand at the face of the priest, and the priest will value him; the priest will value him according to what the maker of the solemn pledge can afford.

Leviticus 27:9 “If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to Yahveh, all of it that he gives to Yahveh is sacred.

Leviticus 27:10 He will not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute will be sacred.

Leviticus 27:11 And if it is any contaminated animal that may not be offered as an offering to Yahveh, then he will stand the animal at the face of the priest,

Leviticus 27:12 and the priest will value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it will be.

Leviticus 27:13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he will add a fifth to the valuation.

Leviticus 27:14 “When a man dedicates his house as a sacred gift to Yahveh, the priest will value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it will stand.

Leviticus 27:15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he will add a fifth to the valuation price, and it will be his.

Leviticus 27:16 “If a man dedicates to Yahveh part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation will be in proportion to its seed. A homer of barley seed will be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

Leviticus 27:17 If he dedicates his field from the year of liberation, the valuation will stand,

Leviticus 27:18 but if he dedicates his field after the liberation, then the priest will figure out the price according to the years that remain until the year of liberation, and a deduction will be made from the valuation.

Leviticus 27:19 And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he will add a fifth to its valuation price, and it will remain his.

Leviticus 27:20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it will not be redeemed anymore.

Leviticus 27:21 But the field, when it is released in the liberation, will be a sacred gift to Yahveh, like a field that has been devoted. The priest will be in possession of it.

Leviticus 27:22 If he dedicates to Yahveh a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession,

Leviticus 27:23 then the priest will figure out the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of liberation, and the man will give the valuation on that day as a sacred gift to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:24 In the year of liberation the field will return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession.

Leviticus 27:25 Every valuation will be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs will make a shekel.

Leviticus 27:26 “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahveh, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahveh’s.

Leviticus 27:27 And if it is a contaminated animal, then he will buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it will be sold at the valuation.

Leviticus 27:28 “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to Yahveh, of anything that he has, whether human or animal, or of his inherited field, will be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from humanity, will be ransomed; he will surely be put to death.

Leviticus 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahveh’s; it is sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he will add a fifth to it.

Leviticus 27:32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, will be sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:33 One will not differentiate between good or bad, neither will he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute will be sacred; it will not be redeemed.”

Leviticus 27:34 These are the commandments that Yahveh commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27 quotes:

“Sometimes vows are made in the heat of the moment. When the crisis is over the vow may seem foolish and unnecessary and a person may be tempted to forget it. Part of the purpose of Leviticus 27 was to discourage such rash vows by fixing a very high price on freeing oneself from a vow and exacting stiff penalties on those who changed their minds. For instance, if a man substituted an animal different from the one promised, he forfeited both animals, or if he wished to redeem the property he had vowed he would have to pay the value of the land plus an extra twenty percent.”

Lenz, Mark J. Leviticus. Northwestern Pub. House, 1988. p. 236.

“Those of us who have been in the church life for a number of years may have become old, so we all need to have a new start. I would entreat all of us to drop all of our traditional knowledge and background from Christianity. We should just practice what the Bible teaches. To practice the biblical way, we have to begin every morning with the Lord to get ourselves revived anew (Lam. 3:22-23). We also need to devote ourselves to the Lord. In the recent winter training on Leviticus, we saw from Leviticus 27 that the Lord desires that we devote all that we are and have to Him. Devote is a stronger word than consecrate because it implies making a vow to the Lord. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, I vow to You to devote myself to You for Your biblical way.””

Lee, Witness. The Excelling Gift for the Building up of the Church. Living Stream Ministry, 1989. p. 58.

“Leviticus 27 draws attention to pledges or agreements between people. The first eight verses deal with a man pledging his services to work out a debt. Moses detailed the going rate by maintaining that any man between twenty and sixty years of age has a certain monetary value attached to his service”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 61.

LEVITICUS in Jeff’s library

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26:1 “You will not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you will not set up a sculptured stone in your land to bow down to it, because I am Yahveh your God.

Leviticus 26:2 You will keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am Yahveh.

Leviticus 26:3 “If you walk in my prescriptions and observe my commandments and do them,

Leviticus 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land will yield its increase, and the trees of the field will yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:5 Your threshing will last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will last to the time for planting. And you will eat your bread to the full and stay in your land securely.

Leviticus 26:6 I will give peace in the land, and you will lie down, and none will make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword will not go through your land.

Leviticus 26:7 You will chase your enemies, and they will fall at your face by the sword.

Leviticus 26:8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall at your face by the sword.

Leviticus 26:9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you.

Leviticus 26:10 You will eat old store long kept, and you will clear out the old at the face of the new.

Leviticus 26:11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my throat will not grow tired of you.

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be my people.

Leviticus 26:13 I am Yahveh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Leviticus 26:14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,

Leviticus 26:15 if you spurn my prescriptions, and if your throat grows tired of my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,

Leviticus 26:16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with terror, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the throat fade away. And you will plant your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Leviticus 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you will judge you, and you will run away when none pursues you.

Leviticus 26:18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again seven times for your failures,

Leviticus 26:19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.

Leviticus 26:20 And your strength will be finished in vain, because your land will not yield its increase, and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:22 And I will let loose the wild living things against you, which will bereave you of your children and eliminate your animals and make you few in number, so that your roads will be deserted.

Leviticus 26:23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Leviticus 26:26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and will dole out your bread again by weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.

Leviticus 26:27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.

Leviticus 26:30 And I will exterminate[1] your high places and eliminate your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my throat will grow tired of you.

Leviticus 26:31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pacifying aromas.

Leviticus 26:32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who end up staying in it will be appalled at it.

Leviticus 26:33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land will be a sinister desolation, and your cities will be a waste.

Leviticus 26:34 “Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:35 As long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were staying in it.

Leviticus 26:36 And as for those of you who remain, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight, and they will run away as one runs away from the sword, and they will fall when none pursues.

Leviticus 26:37 They will stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you will have no power to stand at your enemies’ face.

Leviticus 26:38 And you will be destroyed within the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up.

Leviticus 26:39 And those of you who remain will rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their violation, and also because of the violations of their fathers they will rot away like them.

Leviticus 26:40 “But if they confess their violation and the violations of their fathers in their act of betrayal against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies — if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their violation,

Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Leviticus 26:43 But the land will be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they will make amends for their violation, because they spurned my judgments and their throat grew tired of my prescriptions.

Leviticus 26:44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I grow tired of them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, because I am Yahveh their God.

Leviticus 26:45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Yahveh.”

Leviticus 26:46 These are the prescriptions and judgments and instructions that Yahveh made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.

[1] שׁמד= exterminate.

Leviticus 26 quotes:

“It is sometimes thought that the Old Testament reveals a God of law and punishment and anger, in contrast with the God of grace and forgiveness and love found in the New Testament. But such a contrast does not exist; God has not changed. The Old Testament is filled with examples of God’s grace and love. The Law of Moses was itself a gift of grace; God raised up priests and prophets to help the people follow the law so that they might thereby receive God’s blessings (Leviticus 26:3-13). Throughout history, God has desired to bring good to His people.”

Hale, Thomas, and Stephen Thorson. The Applied Old Testament Commentary. 1st ed, David C. Cook, 2007. p. 119.

“As far as content is concerned, Leviticus 26 especially is intended as a concluding point. In the ancient Orient, legal collections and contracts, though also private agreements documented in written form, usually concluded with imprecation formulae that were supposed to place the agreements under the sovereignty of the gods and prevent legal breaches. These kinds of contract curses follow the schema: “May the gods punish anyone who violates these agreements.”! In the present instance, a brief benediction is inserted that applies if the divine prescriptions are faithfully followed (cf. Deut. 28).”

Gerstenberger, Erhard S. Leviticus : A Commentary. 1st American ed, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. p. 399.

“Leviticus 26:1—13 promises Israel total success in the Promised Land if they obey God’s Word (see 26:3). The same kind, saving God who gave them dignity (26:13) will establish them in the land. What must they do? By now the answer is clear. They must believe in one God (26:1) and worship Him as they have been commanded (26:2). What will be the results? They will enjoy a fruitful land (26:3-5), peace (26:6-8), and, most importantly, a genuine and transforming relationship with the Lord (26:9-13). God’s past acts on their behalf should reassure them of His future kind intentions (26:13).”

House, Paul R. Leviticus/Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p. 52.

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, January 29, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 30, 2018

LEVITICUS in Jeff’s library

jeffersonvann

Numbers 3

Numbers 3

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Numbers 2

Numbers 2

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Numbers 1

Numbers 1

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Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27

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Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26

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