Numbers 4:7

4:7 “On the table of the presence ¹  they must spread a blue ²  cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.

Numbers 4:1

The Service of the Kohathites

4:1 ³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 9:1

Passover Regulations

9:1 ⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out ⁵  of the land of Egypt:

Numbers 23:29

23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ⁶  altar a bull and a ram.

Numbers 2:4

2:4 Those numbered in his division ⁷  are 74,600.

Nehemiah 10:33

10:33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.

Matthew 12:3-5

12:3 He ⁸  said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry – 12:4 how he entered the house of God and they ate ⁹  the sacred bread, ¹⁰  which was against the law ¹¹  for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? ¹²  12:5 Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?

¹ sn The Hebrew actually has the “table of faces,” and this has been traditionally rendered “table of shewbread.”

² tn The Greek has “violet” instead of blue. This is also the case in vv. 8, 10, and 14.

³ sn The chapter has four main parts to it: Kohathites (1-20), Gershonites (21-28), Merarites (29-33) and the census of the Levites (34-49).

⁴ sn The chapter has just the two sections, the observance of the Passover (vv. 1-14) and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness (vv. 15-23). It must be remembered that the material in vv. 7-9 is chronologically earlier than vv. 1-6, as the notices in the text will make clear. The two main discussions here are the last major issues to be reiterated before dealing with the commencement of the journey.

⁵ tn The temporal clause is formed with the infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’, “to go out; to leave”). This verse indicates that a full year had passed since the exodus and the original Passover; now a second ruling on the Passover is included at the beginning of the second year. This would have occurred immediately after the consecration of the tabernacle, in the month before the census at Sinai.

⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

⁷ tc The expression “and his divisions and those numbered of them” is somewhat tautological. The words are synonyms used for statistical purposes, and so neither should be simply deleted.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tc The Greek verb ἔφαγεν (efagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses (Ì⁷⁰ C D L W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy co) in place of ἔφαγον (efagon, “they ate”), the wording found in א B pc. ἔφαγεν is most likely motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke (both of which have the singular).

¹⁰ tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

¹¹ sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.

¹² sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.