Numbers 16:39

39 So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar,

Numbers 16:39 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:39

And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers
The metal of which these censers were made is particularly observed, to show that they were fit for the use they were ordered to be put unto, namely, for a covering of the altar of burnt offering, which was covered with brass, that being very suitable, since fire was continually burning on it; and by this it appears that these censers were different from those of Aaron and his sons, for theirs were silver ones; the high priest on the day of atonement indeed made use of golden one, but at all other times he used a silver one ^F2; and so did the common priests every day, morning and night, when they offered incense ^F3,

wherewith they that were burnt had offered;
the two hundred fifty men burnt with fire from the Lord, having offered incense to him with the brazen censers:

and they were made broad [plates for] a covering of the altar;
not by Eleazar, but by workmen skilled in the art of drawing or beating any kind of metal into thin plates, by the direction and order of Eleazar.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 4.
F3 Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 5.

Numbers 16:39 In-Context

37 "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the incense pans out of the fire. Have him scatter the coals a long distance away. But the incense pans are still holy.

38 Take the pans of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the Israelites."

39 So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar,

40 as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only descendants of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his followers.

41 The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed the Lord's people."