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Texts -- Numbers 8:1-14 (NET)

Context
Lighting the Lamps
8:1 The Lord spoke to Moses : 8:2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up the lamps , the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand .’” 8:3 And Aaron did so ; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand , as the Lord commanded Moses . 8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: It was beaten work in gold ; from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work . According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses , so he made the lampstand .
The Separation of the Levites
8:5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses : 8:6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them. 8:7 And do this to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification on them; then have them shave all their body and wash their clothes , and so purify themselves. 8:8 Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil ; and you are to take a second young bull for a purification offering. 8:9 You are to bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire community of the Israelites . 8:10 Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord , and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites ; 8:11 and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites , that they may do the work of the Lord . 8:12 When the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls , offer the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord , to make atonement for the Levites . 8:13 You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons , and then offer them as a wave offering to the Lord . 8:14 And so you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites , and the Levites will be mine.

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Levites

    [nave] LEVITES The descendants of Levi. Set apart as ministers of religion, Num. 1:47-54; 3:6-16; 16:9; 26:57-62; Deut. 10:8; 1 Chr. 15:2. Substituted in the place of the firstborn, Num. 3:12, 41-45; 8:14, 16-18; 18:6. Religious ...

  • Priest

    [nave] PRIEST. Before Moses Melchizedek, Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6, 10, 11; 6:20; 7:1-21. Jethro, Ex. 2:16. Priests in Israel before the giving of the law, Ex. 19:22, 24. Called angel, Eccl. 5:6. Mosaic Ex. 28:1-4; 29:9, 44; Num....

  • EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 1

    [isbe] EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 1 - ek'-so-dus: I. IN GENERAL 1. Name 2. Contents in General 3. Connection with the Other Books of the Pentateuch 4. Significance of These Events for Israel 5. Connecting Links for Christianity II. STRUC...

  • BAPTISM (NON-IMMERSIONIST VIEW)

    [isbe] BAPTISM (NON-IMMERSIONIST VIEW) - || I. THE SCRIPTURAL NAMES FOR THE RITE II. PRE-CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 1. Baptism of Proselytes 2. Baptism of John 3. Baptism in the Pagan Mysteries III. CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 1. The administration o...

  • SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2

    [isbe] SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2 - V. The Mosaic Sacrificial System. 1. The Covenant Sacrifice: The fundamental function of Moses' work was to establish the covenant between Israel and God. This important transaction took ...

  • Hands

    [nave] HANDS Laying on of hands, Heb. 6:2; in consecration, Gen. 48:14; Ex. 29:10, 15, 19; Lev. 1:4; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:15, 24, 33; 16:21; in ordaining the Levites, Num. 8:10, 11; Joshua, Num. 27:18-23; Deut. 34:9; Timothy, 1 Tim. 4:14;...

  • Purification

    [nave] PURIFICATION, sanitary and symbolical. For women before marriage, Esth. 2:12; after childbirth, Lev. 12:6-8; Luke 2:22; after menstruation, Lev. 15:19-33; 2 Sam. 11:4. Of the Jews before the passover, John 11:55. For those ...

  • RAZOR

    [ebd] The Nazarites were forbidden to make use of the razor (Num. 6:5; Judg. 13:5). At their consecration the Levites were shaved all over with a razor (Num. 8:7; comp. Ps. 52:2; Ezek. 5:1).
    [smith] Besides other usages, the practice of shaving the head after the completion of a vow must have created among the Jews a necessity for the special trade of a barber. (Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 6:9,18; 8:7; Judges 13:5; Isaiah 7:...

  • Offerings

    [nave] OFFERINGS Offered at the door of the tabernacle, Lev. 1:3; 3:2; 17:4, 8, 9; of the temple, 2 Chr. 7:12; 1 Kin. 8:62; 12:27. All animal sacrifices must be eight days old or over, Lev. 22:27. Must be salted, Lev. 2:13; Ezek....

  • TALMUD

    [isbe] TALMUD - tal'-mud (talmudh): I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND VERBAL EXPLANATIONS II. IMPORTANCE OF THE TALMUD III. THE TRADITIONAL LAW UNTIL THE COMPOSITION OF THE MISHNA IV. DIVISION AND CONTENTS OF THE MISHNA (AND THE TALMUD) 1...

  • SHAFT

    [isbe] SHAFT - shaft: Isa 49:2 for chets, "an arrow"; also Ex 25:31; 37:17; Nu 8:4 the King James Version for a part of the candlestick of the tabernacle somewhat vaguely designated by the word yarekh, "thigh." The context in the f...

  • SPRINKLE; SPRINKLING

    [isbe] SPRINKLE; SPRINKLING - sprin'-k'-l, sprin'-kling (zaraq, nazah; rhantizein): The first word means "to toss" or "scatter abundantly," e.g. in handfuls, as dust on the head (Job 2:12) or blood from a bowl (Ex 9:8). The other H...

  • Metal Work of Gold

    [nave] METAL WORK OF GOLD Ex. 25:18, 31, 36; 37:7, 17, 22; 39:3; Num. 8:4; 1 Kin. 6:35; 10:16, 17; 2 Chr. 9:15, 15, 16; Isa. 41:7; Jer. 10:4, 9 See: Arts and Crafts

  • Sprinkling

    [nave] SPRINKLING Of blood, Lev. 14:7, 51; 16:14; Heb. 9:13, 19, 21; 11:28; 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2. See: Blood. Of water, Num. 8:7; Ezek. 36:25; Heb. 9:19; 10:22.

  • SET

    [isbe] SET - Few words in the English language have such a rich variety of meaning and are used in so rich a variety of idiomatic expression as the word "set." A glance at any of the great dictionaries will convince anyone of the t...

  • Lampstand

    [nave] LAMPSTAND Of the Tabernacle Made after divine pattern, Ex. 25:31-40; 37:17-24; Num. 8:4. Place of, Ex. 26:35; 40:24, 25; Heb. 9:2. Furniture of, Ex. 25:38; 37:23; Num. 4:9, 10. Burned every night, Ex. 27:20, 21. Trimmed...

  • TABERNACLE

    [smith] The tabernacle was the tent of Jehovah, called by the same name as the tents of the people in the midst of which it stood. It was also called the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation. The first ordinance given to ...

  • NUMBERS, BOOK OF

    [isbe] NUMBERS, BOOK OF - num'-berz: I. TITLE AND CONTENTS 1. Title 2. Contents II. LITERARY STRUCTURE 1. Alleged Grounds of Distribution 2. Objections to Same (1) Hypothesis Unproved (2) Written Record Not Impossible (3) No Book E...

  • CLEANSE

    [isbe] CLEANSE - klenz: "Make clean," "purify" being a frequent rendering of the original. It is found often (American Revised Version) instead of "purge," "purify" (the King James Version), renders nearly the same roots, and has t...

  • EXPIATION

    [isbe] EXPIATION - eks-pi-a'-shun: This word represents no Hebrew or Greek word not rendered also by "atonement." In Nu 8:7 it is employed in the Revised Version (British and American) to translate chaTath and in Dt 32:43, kipper. ...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • When the book opens the Israelites were in the second month of the second year after they departed from Egypt (1:1). In chapters 7-10 we read things that happened in the nation before that. These things happened when Moses fi...
  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • Note the recurrance of a key word in the Pentateuch in verse l: toledot."For the first time after the formative events of the Exodus deliverance and the revelation on Mount Sinai, the people of Israel are organized into a hol...
  • The presentation this chapter records took place at the time the Israelites dedicated the tabernacle (vv. 1-2; cf. Lev. 8:10)."The purpose of this section of narrative is to show that as the people had been generous in giving...
  • The lighting of the lamps in the tabernacle symbolized the consecration of the Levites who were to represent the whole nation as lights to the world (vv. 1-4; cf. Isa. 42:6). The high priest was in charge of the lampstand (cf...
  • The consecration of the priests had taken place earlier (cf. Lev. 8). Then the people only looked on (Lev. 8:3-4). On the present occasion God set apart to His service the whole tribe of Levi that He had taken in place of the...
  • "As the laws increase and the constraints grow, the people seem less willing or less capable of following them. At this point in the narrative we see that the whole order of the priesthood is thrown open to direct confrontati...
  • This list clearly defines the priests and Levites' line of descent. Only the descendants of Aaron, the priests, could serve in the temple by offering sacrifices on the incense altar (v. 49; cf. Num. 3:5-38). Nehemiah correctl...
  • The writer began with a three-fold admonition, which is all one sentence in the Greek text. The long sentence intensifies the writer's appeal.306"In view of all that has been accomplished for us by Christ, he says, let us con...
  • Peter proceeded to clarify the nature of the church and in doing so explained the duty of Christians in the world.2:9 All the figures of the church that Peter chose here originally referred to Israel. However with Israel's re...
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