Numbers 7:14

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

World English Bible · Public Domain

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מְלֵאָ֥ה

mâlêʼ

H4392

“full”

Adjective, Adjective, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 58× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 23:9

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H4390

TWOT: 1195a

full, fulness, that which fills - fully (adverb)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מְלֵאָ֥ה full H4392 occurs in 57 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 nouns
3 adjectives

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 9 words from the Hebrew and 9 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 6 Hebrew tokens and 6 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 7:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 30:7–8 Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
Exodus 30:34–38 Yahweh said to Moses, "Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight;
Exodus 35:8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
Exodus 37:16 He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold.
Numbers 4:7 On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.
1 Kings 7:50 and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, of gold.
2 Kings 25:14–15 The pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, took they away.
2 Chronicles 4:22 and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, were of gold.

2 Chronicles 24:14 When they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, of which were made vessels for the house of Yahweh, even vessels with which to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 7:14 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כַּ֥ף אַחַ֛ת עֲשָׂרָ֥ה זָהָ֖ב מְלֵאָ֥ה קְטֹֽרֶת

one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 7:14 Septuagint · lemma form

θυΐσκη εἷς δέκα χρυσοῦς πλήρης θυμίαμα

One golden censer of ten shekels full of incense.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

בָּזִיכָא חֲדָא מַתְקַל עֲשַׂר סִלְעִין הִיא דִדְהַב מַלְיָא קְטוֹרֶת בּוּסְמַיָא

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

בָּזִיכָא חֲדָא מַתְקְלָא עֲשַר סִלְעִין דִכְסַף וְהִיא הֲוַת דִדְהַב טָב קָרִיב יָתָהּ מַלְיָא קְטוֹרֶת בּוּסְמָנִין טָבִין מִן אַפְרָשׁוּתָא

one pan (censer) weighing ten silver shekels, but it was itself of good gold; and he brought it full of good sweet incense of the separation;

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 7:14 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 14. One spoon] כף caph, a censer, on which they put the incense. See Ex 25:29.

It is worthy of remark that the different tribes are represented here as bringing their offerings precisely in the same order in which they encamped about the tabernacle. See Nu 2:1-31 and Nu 10:13-27.

1. JUDAH ... the chief

2. ISSACHAR . . .

3. ZEBULUN . . .

Nahshon,

Nethaneel,

Eliab,

Nu 7:12

Nu 7:18

Nu 7:24

East

4. REUBEN . . .

5. SIMEON . . .

6. GAD . . .

Elizur,

Shelumiel,

Eliasaph,

Nu 7:30

Nu 7:36

Nu 7:42

South

7. EPHRAIM . . .

8. MANASSEH . . .

9. BENJAMIN . . .

Elishama,

Gamaliel,

Abidan,

Nu 7:48

Nu 7:54

Nu 7:60

West

10. DAN . . .

11. ASHER . . .

12. NAPHTALI . . .

Ahiezer,

Pagiel,

Ahira,

Nu 7:66

Nu 7:72

Nu 7:78

North

It is worthy of remark also, that every tribe offers the same kind of offering, and in the same quantity, to show, that as every tribe was equally indebted to God for its support, so each should testify an equal sense of obligation. Besides, the vessels were all sacrificial vessels, and the animals were all clean animals, such as were proper for sacrifices; and therefore every thing was intended to point out that the people were to be a holy people, fully dedicated to God, and that God was to dwell among them; hence there were fine flour and oil, for a meat-offering, Nu 7:13. A bullock, a ram, and a lamb, for a burnt-offering, Nu 7:15-16. Five oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five lambs, for a peace-offering, Nu 7:17. Thus, as the priests, altars, &c., were anointed, and the tabernacle dedicated, so the people, by this offering, became consecrated to God. Therefore every act here was a religious act.

"Thus," says Mr. Ainsworth, "by sacrifices of all sorts, figuring the death of Christ, and the benefits that were to be received thereby, they reconciled and made themselves and theirs acceptable to God, and were made partakers of his grace, to remission of sins, and sanctification through faith, and in the work of the Holy Ghost, in the communion and feeling whereof they rejoiced before God."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Gill's Exposition

One spoon of ten shekels of gold, &c. Its weight was according to the shekels, its matter of gold; it weighed four ounces, one drachm, and nine grains, and was worth about seven pounds and ten shillings of our money:

full of incense; this looks as if this spoon was designed for the golden altar of incense, which might be at this time also dedicated; but Jarchi understands it as for the altar of burnt offering, and observes, we never find incense belonging to a private person, nor to the outward altar (the altar of burnt offering), but this only, and which was temporary.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Mortar. Hebrew caph, which the Vulgate commonly renders phiala, "a cup," (Menochius) may signify a spoon for incense, as it generally accompanies the censer, 3 Kings vii. 20. It means literally "the palm of the hand." The high priest took his hands full of incense on the day of expiation, Leviticus xvi. 12. But on other occasions, a spoon was probably used to throw incense on the altar, or on the coals which were burning in the censers. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Ten shekels of gold, and therefore belonging to the altar of incense.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

14. One spoon… of gold, full of incense — Since incense symbolizes prayer, there is here strikingly typified the duty of accompanying our gifts to the Lord with earnest supplication. He cannot receive a prayerless offering such as the worldling sometimes brings to God’s altar.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

One spoon, or small cup, with a handle. Hebrew, kaph, as in Exo_25:29. Septuagint, yuiskh . Of ten shekels of gold weighing about as much as eleven and a half sovrans, but the value of the precious metals was much greater then. Full of incense. Both for a present incense offering, and as intimating the use of the cups.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

עשרה זהב — Understand this as the Targum does: there was in it (it contained) the weight of ten shekels of the Sanctuary.

מלאה קטרת FULL OF FRANKINCENSE — We do not find frankincense prescribed as an offering for an individual, nor to have been offered on the outer altar except this one alone; this offering of frankincense by the princes was therefore an הוראת שעה, a temporary measure (Menachot 50b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mâlêʼ (“full”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “full” (mâlêʼ) shape what this verse is saying?
Genesis 23:9 shares the word «full» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Adam Clarke's Commentary and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 6 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.