Bible Strands
Numbers 7:85
Each silver platter weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the silver articles was two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the standardized weights of the silver platters and bowls brought by the twelve tribal leaders following the altar's anointing. This inventory concludes the dedication gifts before the text shifts to the gold dishes.
The words — The Hebrew terms קְעָרָה (qe‘arah) and מִזְרָק (mizraq) denote the specific silver platter and bowl measured in the ritual account. Their weights are calculated using the sanctuary shekel to establish a uniform standard for all twelve identical sets.
The thread — This focus on precise sacred measurements and massive precious metal contributions appears in 1 Chronicles 22:14 and 1 Chronicles 29:4. These later passages track similar preparations of gold and silver for the temple structure.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that consecrated service demands exact accounting rather than approximate devotion. It asks for fidelity to established standards when handling materials set apart for worship.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 22:14 Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also provided timber and stone, and you may add to them.
- 1 Chronicles 29:4 three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,
- 1 Chronicles 29:7 Toward the service of God’s house they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.
- Ezra 8:25 and I weighed out to them the contribution of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites there had offered for the house of our God.