INumeri 8:7

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

7 Wenjenje ke ukubahlambulula; bafefe ngamanzi esono, bahambise isitshetshe sokunquthula enyameni yabo yonke, bahlambe iingubo zabo, bahlambuluke.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Sprinkle: Leviticus 8:6, Leviticus 14:7, Isaiah 52:15, Ezekiel 36:25, Hebrews 9:10

water: Numbers 19:9, Numbers 19:10, Numbers 19:13, Numbers 19:17-19, Psalms 51:7, Hebrews 9:13

let them shave: Heb. let them cause a razor to pass over, etc. Leviticus 14:8, Leviticus 14:9

wash their: Numbers 19:7, Numbers 19:8, Numbers 19:10, Numbers 19:19, Numbers 31:20, Genesis 35:2, Exodus 19:10, Leviticus 15:6, Leviticus 15:10, Leviticus 15:11, Leviticus 15:27, Leviticus 16:28, Psalms 51:2, Jeremiah 4:14, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:26, James 4:8, 1 Peter 3:21, Revelation 7:14

Reciprocal: Numbers 8:21 - were purified Numbers 31:23 - it shall be purified Hebrews 10:22 - sprinkled

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thus shall thou do unto them, to cleanse them,.... Or order Aaron to do unto them; the cleansing of the Levites was the work of Aaron, either by himself or by his order; in which he was a type of Christ, who is the refiner and purifier of the sons of Levi, Malachi 3:3;

sprinkle water of purifying upon them; or "water of sin" n; water which purifies from sin, in a ceremonial sense; and this was water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, which was the purification of persons deified by the dead, as Jarchi observes; and though the law concerning the red heifer, and of making the water of purification, is not made mention of till afterwards, Numbers 19:1: yet it was very probably given before; and the Jews say o, it was on the second of Nisan, or the first month, which was the day after the tabernacle was erected, that Eleazar the priest burnt the red heifer and sprinkled all Israel; this only "sanctified to the purifying of the flesh", Hebrews 9:13, in a ceremonial sense, but was typical of the blood of Christ, which "purges the conscience from dead works"; that so men may be fitted and qualified, as the Levites were, "to serve the living God", Hebrews 9:14;

and let them shave all their flesh; the hair of their bodies, in all parts thereof; even the beard, as Aben Ezra notes, some say; yet not the corners of it; but the whole hair of the body, everywhere, was to be shaved off; to denote the most perfect purity, and a removal of all superfluity of haughtiness and excrescences of the flesh from them: so the Egyptian priests used to shave their whole body every third day, lest there should be anything filthy in those that served the gods p: this cleansing of the Levites was after the same manner as lepers were cleansed: and Jarchi observes, from one of their writers, that because the Levites gave an atonement for the firstborn, who committed idolatry, which is called the sacrifices of the dead, and the leper is called a dead man, they were obliged to shaving as the lepers; but Ben Gersom gives a better reason for the shaving of them; that it was to put them in mind that they should forsake material (or corporeal) things, and employ themselves in the service of God; see Acts 6:2 2 Timothy 2:4;

and let them wash their clothes; and much more their bodies, as Chaskuni, after the manner of those who were polluted by touching a dead body; typical of the saints having their bodies washed with pure water, and their garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, Hebrews 10:22;

and [so] make themselves clean; the Targum of Jonathan adds, in forty seahs of water; and according to the sense of that paraphrase, both the bodies and clothes of the Levites were dipped in water.

n מי חטאת "aquas peccati", Montanus; "aquam peccati", Piscator, Drusius; "the sin water", Ainsworth. o Seder Olam Rabba, c. 7. p. 22. p Herodot. Enterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Levites could only undertake their duties Numbers 3:0; Numbers 4:0 after the formal exchange of the Levites for the first-born Numbers 3:44-51.

The distinction between the “consecration” of the priests Leviticus 8:0 and the less solemn “purification” Numbers 8:21 of the Levites is marked. These rites of purification are similar to those incumbent on the priests of Egypt.

Numbers 8:7

Water of purifying - literally, “sin water:” i. e. water to cleanse from sin; no doubt taken from the laver of the sanctuary, which was used by the priests for purification before they went into the tabernacle to minister (compare Numbers 5:17; Exodus 30:18 ff).

The “sprinkling” of so large a body of men could have been only general, but tokens of individual purification are specified (compare also Leviticus 14:8).

Numbers 8:8

The two bullocks were “to make an atonement for the Levites,” and therefore are presented in their name. These offerings are similar to those prescribed in Leviticus 8:14 ff at the consecration of the priests, except that the burnt-offering was on that occasion a ram. The larger victim corresponds to the larger number of the Levites.

Numbers 8:10

The children of Israel - i. e. through the heads of their tribes, who Numbers 7:2 no doubt acted for their tribesmen. This act, the distinguishing feature of the ceremony, represented the transfer to the Levites of the sacred duties originally incumbent on the whole people.

Numbers 8:11

Offer ... offering - Compare the margin Aaron pointed to the Levites, and then waved his hands, indicating (compare Leviticus 7:30 note) that the offering was dedicated to God, and, again, by grant from Him, withdrawn for the use of the priests.

Numbers 8:19

Make an atonement for the children of Israel - i. e. by performing those services which were due from the children of Israel; the omission of which by the children of Israel would, but for the interposition of the Levites, have called down “wrath” from God, or Numbers 1:53 “plague.” The institution of the Levites was an extension of that mediatorial system which the people themselves, terrified at the direct manifestations to them of the divine presence, desired; see Deuteronomy 5:25. Further, it is suggested to us here as an act of mercy on the part of God; yet even the priests and Levites themselves were not always sufficiently heedful and reverent. Compare Numbers 17:10; Leviticus 10:1 ff; 2 Samuel 6:6 following.

Numbers 8:21

Were purified - Rather, purified themselves; as directed in Numbers 8:7.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 8:7. Sprinkle water of purifying — מי חטאת mey chattath, water of sin, or water of the sin-offering. As this purifying water was made by the ashes of the red heifer, cedar-wood, hyssop, and scarlet; and the heifer herself was sacrificed, and her blood sprinkled seven times before the tabernacle, Numbers 19:3-6; she may be considered as a proper sacrifice for sin, and consequently the water thus prepared be termed the water of the sin-offering. As the ashes were kept ready at hand for purifying from all legal pollutions, the preparation might be considered as a concentration of the essential properties of the sin-offering, and might be resorted to at all times with comparatively little expense or trouble, and no loss of time. As there were so many things by which legal pollution might be contracted, it was necessary to have always at hand, in all their dwellings, a mode of purifying at once convenient and inexpensive.

As the water by which the Levites were here purified must have been the water prepared from the ashes of the red heifer, this ordinance was undoubtedly instituted before this time, though not described till Numbers 19:1-10 of this book; but that chapter might be in connection with any of the preceding ordinances, as well as where it is now found.

We see from Hebrews 9:13-14, that these ashes mingled with water, and sprinkled on the unclean, and which sanctified to the purification of the flesh, were intended to typify the blood of Christ, which purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God, Hebrews 9:15; for as without this sprinkling with the water of the sin-offering the Levites were not fit to serve God in the wilderness, so without this sprinkling of the blood of Christ no conscience can be purged from dead works to serve the living God. See the notes on Numbers 19:1-10.