Numbers 7:84

84 This was the dedication-gift of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, from the princes of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve cups of gold:

Numbers 7:84 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 7:84

This [was] the dedication of the altar by the princes
These the presents they made, and the offerings they offered when the altar first began to be made use of, after it had been anointed and sanctified for sacred service:

in the day when it was anointed:
this shows that it was not the precise and exact day of the setting up of the tabernacle, and the anointing of the altar, that the above presents and offerings were brought, since they were twelve successive days in bringing; but that the sense is, that about that time, or quickly after it was anointed, the princes dedicated it in the manner before described:

twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold;
according to the number of the princes, and the tribes they were princes of; a noble instance both of devotion and piety, and of liberality and generosity; and is a standing example on record to all princes and great personages in all successive ages, to promote religion and godliness, by their own personal conduct and behaviour, and to encourage and support it by their generous benefactions and donations: the sum total of what they contributed is in this and the following verses given.

Numbers 7:84 In-Context

82 one buck of the goats for a sin-offering;

83 and for a sacrifice of peace-offering, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five yearling lambs. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was the dedication-gift of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, from the princes of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve cups of gold:

85 each silver dish of a hundred and thirty [shekels], and each bowl seventy: all the silver of the vessels was two thousand four hundred [shekels] according to the shekel of the sanctuary;

86 twelve golden cups full of incense, each cup of ten [shekels], according to the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the cups, a hundred and twenty [shekels].