Chapter Eight

The arrangement of the lampstand. — The lighting of the tabernacle with lamps. — The dedication of the Levites. — The term of Levite service.

Numbers 8:4. This was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. The lampstand and the lamps are described in detail in Exod 25:31-37, Exod 37:17, and Exod 40:24-25.

Numbers 8:7. and to cleanse them, you shall do the following: sprinkle the water of purification on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor and wash their clothes, and so cleanse themselves. “With cleansing water” — according to some commentators, water from the basin that stood in the courtyard of the tabernacle; according to others, “cleansing water” with the ashes of a heifer sacrifice (Num 19:9). “They shall shave with a razor all their body hair and wash their clothes”; heightened external purity was to indicate to the chosen servants of the tabernacle the necessity for them to maintain exceptional moral purity: “and they shall be clean.”

Numbers 8:8. and they shall take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering. The sacrifices offered for the Levites were the same as those at the ordination of the high priest, that is, a sin offering and a burnt offering.

Numbers 8:9. and you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel. “The whole congregation of the sons of Israel,” because the Levites are presented as a gift to the Lord from the entire people, taking the place of its firstborn, who were consecrated to God by the very act of their birth.

Numbers 8:10. and you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. “And the sons of Israel shall lay their hands,” — probably through the leaders of the tribes and chosen men. The people laid their hands on the Levites as on an offering dedicated to them by the Lord.

Numbers 8:24. This is the law pertaining to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall begin to do duty in the work of the tent of meeting; In the book Num 4:3 the beginning age of Levite service is indicated as thirty years. In the book 1 Chr 23:3, and in the book 2 Chr 31:17 it is stated that David found it necessary to call to regular service at the tabernacle all the Levites, beginning with age twenty, which order was retained and continued in the future (Ezra 3:8). The discrepancy in the dates of the beginning age for Levite service at the tabernacle can be explained by the fact that until age thirty the Levites were attracted only as assistants to the older Levites; from age thirty onward, they became independent servants at the tabernacle.