Numbers 8:2
in Numbers 8“Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick.
KJV
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
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This verse in Numbers 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The actual lighting of the lamps (compare the marginal references) was to be done to set forth symbolically the special presence which God had now Num 7:89 actually established among His people.
This site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses
on Numbers 8:1-2
The order comes straight after 7:89, where Moses heard the voice from off the mercy seat, so speech out of the tent is followed by light inside it. Exodus 25:37 had already given the same direction for the lamps and Exodus 27:20-21 made the tending of them Aaron's own charge, evening and morning. What over against the candlestick means is read two ways, the lamps turned toward the front of the shaft they stand on or turned across the room to the table opposite, and the older commentators divide over it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When thou lightest the lamps - The priests lighted the middle lamp from the fire of the altar; and the rest one from another; signifying that all light and knowledge comes from Christ, who has the seven spirits of God, figured by the seven lamps of fire.
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They were to be set apart by a special ceremony, which, however, was much simpler than that appointed for the priests; neither washing nor anointing, nor investiture with official robes, was necessary. Their purification consisted, along with the offering of the requisite sacrifices (Le 1:4;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The seven lamps shall give light - The whole seven shall be lighted at one time, that seven may be ever burning.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּר֙ | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֔ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֑יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ | behaalotekha | when lifting up you | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנֵּרֹ֔ת | hanerot | the lamps | H5216 → | 49 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מוּל֙ | mul | [the] front of | H4136 → | 36 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה | hamenorah | the lampstand | H4501 → | 42 times |
| יָאִ֖ירוּ | yairu | they will give light | H215 → | |
| שִׁבְעַ֥ת | shivat | [the] seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| הַנֵּרֽוֹת׃ | hanerot | the lamps | H5216 → | 49 times |
דַּבֵּר֙speak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַהֲרֹ֔ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֑יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙when lifting up you
behaalotekhaH5927 →890 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנֵּרֹ֔תthe lamps
hanerotH5216 →49 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מוּל֙[the] front of
mulH4136 →36 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַמְּנוֹרָ֔הthe lampstand
hamenorahH4501 →42 times
יָאִ֖ירוּthey will give light
yairuH215 →
שִׁבְעַ֥ת[the] seven
shivatH7651 →394 times
הַנֵּרֽוֹת׃the lamps
hanerotH5216 →49 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 1:9The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.
it leads to
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- John 1:4
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- 1 John 2:8
Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
- Isaiah 49:6
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:4–7
But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
- John 12:46
Through
Exodus 40:25and set up the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.
it leads to
- Exodus 25:37
Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.
- Exodus 25:37
Through
Exodus 25:37Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.
it leads to
- Revelation 1:20
This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands…
- Revelation 1:20
Through
Leviticus 24:4He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.
it leads to
- Exodus 31:8
the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,
- Exodus 31:8
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.