Numbers 16:39

39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith those who were burned had offered, and they were made broad plates for a covering of 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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Numbers 16:39 In-Context

37 "Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder, for they are hallowed.
38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them into broad plates for a covering of the altar; for they offered them before the LORD. Therefore they are hallowed, and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel."
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith those who were burned had offered, and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar
40 to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah and as his company, as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "Ye have killed the people of the LORD."
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.