🔢WEB · Numbers 7:86
What does Numbers 7:86 mean?
"the twelve golden ladles, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred twenty shekels;"
— Numbers 7:86 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
This was the dedication of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden ladles;
each silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary;
the twelve golden ladles, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred twenty shekels;
all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, and their meal offering; and the male goats for a sin offering twelve;
and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after it was anointed.
When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him.
Explanation
Numbers 7:86 comes at the tail end of a long, detailed inventory describing the gifts brought by the twelve tribal leaders of Israel at the dedication of the tabernacle. This particular verse tallies up the golden ladles, or spoons, that were used to hold incense: twelve of them, one from each tribal leader, each weighing ten shekels according to the standard sanctuary weight, adding up to a total of one hundred twenty shekels of gold. It is essentially a summary line closing out a repetitive list that has, chapter by chapter, recorded the exact same offering brought by each of the twelve leaders individually.
The book of Numbers was written to record Israel's journey from Sinai toward the Promised Land, and chapter 7 specifically describes events shortly after Moses finished setting up the tabernacle. Once the tabernacle was consecrated, the leaders of each tribe came forward, one by one, to present offerings for its service — wagons, oxen, silver plates, silver bowls, gold ladles filled with incense, and animals for sacrifice. Moses, as the leader commissioned by God, recorded each gift with careful precision, tribe by tribe, so that no leader's contribution was overlooked or blended anonymously into the whole. Verse 86 is part of the final summary that adds up all twelve identical incense ladles into one grand total, closing out the detailed record before moving to the summary of the whole offering in the following verses.
Theologically, the meticulous repetition and precise accounting reflect a few important truths. First,
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.