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Numbers 7:3

in Numbers 7

They brought as their offering before the LORD six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two leaders—and presented them before the tabernacle.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and they brought their oblation before Jehovah, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they presented them before the tabernacle.

KJV

And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.

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This verse in Numbers 7

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Covered wagons - Some prefer to render “litter Isa 66:20 wagons:” i. e. litters which were not on wheels, but borne by two oxen, one in front and one behind. Such conveyances would probably be more convenient than wheeled wagons in the rough country to be traversed.

This site's exposition

on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle

on Numbers 7:1-3

The chapter is dated to the day the tabernacle was fully set up, anointed and sanctified, which Exodus 40:17 puts on the first day of the first month of the second year. The princes bring transport before they bring anything else, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, so the first gift to the sanctuary is the means of moving it. Nothing in the tabernacle instructions had asked for wagons.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered waggons These waggons were dedicated for the conveyance of the tabernacle: for its pillars and many other parts of it could not be carried on men's shoulders; and therefore they are said to have been covered, lest the things which were deposited in them should be exposed to the rain.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And they brought their offering before the Lord,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Though God's wisdom had ordained all the essentials of the tabernacle, yet it seems these accidental conveniences were left to be provided by their own discretion, which was to set in order that which was wanting ( Tit. i. 5 ), and these wagons were not refused, though no pattern of them was shown to Moses in the mount.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Six covered wagons - שש עגלת צב shesh egloth tsab, six tilted wagons, the Septuagint translate ἑξ ἁμαξας λαμπηνικας, with which the Coptic agrees; but what lampenic chariots were, no person pretends to know. Covered or tilted is probably the meaning of the original. The wagons were given for the more convenient exporting of the heavier parts of the tabernacle, which could not be conveniently carried on men’s shoulders.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיָּבִ֨יאוּand they brought

    vaiyaviuH935 →2568 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • קָרְבָּנָ֜םoffering their

    karebanamH7133 →82 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • שֵׁשׁ־six

    shesh-H8337 →216 times

  • עֶגְלֹ֥תcarts of

    ʾeglotH5699 →25 times

  • צָב֙covering

    tzavH6632 →

  • וּשְׁנֵ֣יand two [plus]

    usheneiH8147 →768 times

  • עָשָׂ֣רten

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • בָּקָ֔רox[en]

    bakarH1241 →183 times

  • עֲגָלָ֛הa cart

    ʾagalahH5699 →25 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שְׁנֵ֥יtwo of

    sheneiH8147 →768 times

  • הַנְּשִׂאִ֖יםthe leaders

    hanesiimH5387 →134 times

  • וְשׁ֣וֹרand an ox

    veshorH7794 →79 times

  • לְאֶחָ֑דfor one

    leechadH259 →971 times

  • וַיַּקְרִ֥יבוּand they brought near

    vaiyakrivuH7126 →280 times

  • אוֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמִּשְׁכָּֽן׃the tabernacle

    hamishkanH4908 →139 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 7 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 7 →