Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons; each silver platter [weighing] a hundred and thirty [shekels], and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand and four hundred [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary; the twelve golden spoons, full of incense, [weighing] ten [shekels] apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons a hundred and twenty [shekels]; all the oxen for the burnt-offering twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the he-lambs a year old twelve, and their meal-offering; and the males of the goats for a sin-offering twelve; and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace-offerings twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed." — Numbers 7:84-88 (ASV)
The aggregate worth, by weight, of all the offerings was about 438 British pounds. But the real worth of such a sum, when measured by the prices of clothing and food at that time, must have been vastly greater.