1And when Moses had put up the House completely, and had put oil on it and made it holy, with all the things in it, and had made the altar and all its vessels holy with oil; 2Then the chiefs of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, made offerings; these were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered. 3And they came with their offerings before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for every two of the chiefs, and for every one an ox. 4And the Lord said to Moses, 5Take the things from them, to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting; and give them to the Levites, to every man what is needed for his work. 6So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. 7Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon for their work; 8And four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari for their work, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. 9But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing; because they had the care of the holy place, taking it about on their backs. 10And the chiefs gave an offering for the altar on the day when the holy oil was put on it; they made their offering before the altar. 11And the Lord said to Moses, Let every chief on his day give his offering to make the altar holy. 12And he who made his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah: 13And his offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 14One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice for burning; 15One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 16One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 17And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. 18On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of Issachar, made his offering: 19He gave one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 20One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 21One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 22One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 23And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar. 24On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the children of Zebulun: 25His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 26One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 27One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 28One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 29And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon. 30On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, chief of the children of Reuben: 31His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 32One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 33One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 34One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 35And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur. 36On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the children of Simeon: 37His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 38One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 39One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 40One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 41And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai. 42On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, chief of the children of Gad: 43His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 44One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 45One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 46One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 47And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Reuel 48On the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the children of Ephraim: 49His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 50One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 51One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 52One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 53And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud. 54On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, chief of the children of Manasseh: 55His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 56One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 57One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 58One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 59And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur. 60On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, chief of the children of Benjamin: 61His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 62One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 63One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year for a burned offering; 64One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 65And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni. 66On the tenth day Ahiezer; the son of Ammishaddai, chief of the children of Dan: 67His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 68One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 69One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 70One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 71And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. 72On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ochran, chief of the children of Asher: 73His offering was one silver plate; a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 74One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 75One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 76One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 77And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ochran. 78On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, chief of the children of Naphtali: 79His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; 80One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; 81One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; 82One male of the goats for a sin-offering; 83And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan. 84These were the offerings given for the altar by the chiefs of Israel, when the holy oil was put on it: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve gold spoons; 85The weight of every silver plate was a hundred and thirty shekels, and of every basin seventy; the weight of all the silver of the vessels was two thousand and four hundred shekels, by the scale of the holy place; 86The weight of the twelve gold spoons of spice for burning was ten shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels; 87All the oxen, for the burned offering were twelve, the male sheep twelve, the he-lambs of the first year twelve, with their meal offering; and the males of the goats for sin-offering twelve; 88And all the oxen for the peace-offerings, twenty-four oxen, the male sheep sixty, and the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the first year sixty. This was given for the altar after the holy oil was put on it. 89And when Moses went into the Tent of meeting to have talk with him, then the Voice came to his ears from over the cover which was on the ark of witness, from between the two winged ones. And he had talk with him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle. (1-9) The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the altar. (10-89) 1-9 The offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle was not made till it was fully set up. Necessary observances must always take place of free-will offerings. The more any are advanced, the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. No sooner was the tabernacle set up, than provision is made for the removal of it. Even when but just settled in the world, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change. 10-89 The princes and great men were most forward in the service of God. Here is an example to those in authority, and of the highest rank; they ought to use their honour and power, their estate and interest, to promote religion and the service of God in the places where they live. Though it was a time of joy and rejoicing, yet still, in the midst of their sacrifices, we find a sin-offering. As, in our best services, we are conscious that there is sin, there should be repentance, even in our most joyful services. In all approaches to God we must by faith look to Christ as the Sin-offering. They brought their offerings each on a day. God's work should not be done confusedly, or in a hurry; take time, and we shall have done the sooner, or, at least, we shall have done the better. If services are to be done for twelve days together, we must not call it a task and a burden. All their offerings were the same; all the tribes of Israel had an equal share in the altar, and an equal interest in the sacrifices offered upon it. He who now spake to Moses, as the Shechinah or Divine Majesty, from between the Cherubim, was the Eternal Word, the second Person in the Trinity; for all God's communion with man is by his Son, by whom he made the world, and rules the church, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.