Numbers 7:89

Numbers 7:89

And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.

a. ASV: And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto him.

b. YLT: And in the going in of Moses unto the tent of meeting to speak with Him -- he doth even hear the voice speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat which is upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubs; and He speaketh unto him.

c. Amplified Bible Classic: And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim; and He spoke to [Moses].

d. Septuagint: When Moses went into the tabernacle of witness to speak to God, then he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him from off the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark of the testimony, between the two cherubs; and he spoke to him.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: When Moses arrived at the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him from atop the Cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two Cherubim, and He spoke to him.

1. “And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him…”

a. [And when] Moses [Strong: 4872 Môsheh, mo-sheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.]

b. was gone [Strong: 935 bôwʼ, bo; a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):—abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, ×certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, ×doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.]

c. into [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

d. [the] tabernacle [Strong: 168 ʼôhel, o'-hel; from H166; a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance):—covering, (dwelling) (place), home, tabernacle, tent.]

e. [of the] congregation [Strong: 4150 môwʻêd, mo-ade'; or מֹעֵד môʻêd; or (feminine) מוֹעָדָה môwʻâdâh; (2 Chronicles 8:13), from H3259; properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):—appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).]

f. [to] speak [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

g. with him [Strong: 854 'eth ayth probably from 579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:--against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

2. “...then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat…”

a. [then he] heard [Strong: 8085  shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]

b. [the] voice [Strong: 6963 qôwl, kole; or קֹל qôl; from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound:—+ aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, +hold peace, (pro-) claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder(-ing), voice, + yell.]

c. [of one] speaking [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

d. unto [him] [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

e. from off [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

f. [the] mercy seat [Strong: 3727 kappôreth, kap-po'-reth; from H3722; a lid (used only of the cover of the sacred Ark):—mercy seat.]

3. “...that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims…”

a. that [was] [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

b. upon [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

c. [the] ark [Strong: 727 ʼârôwn, aw-rone'; or אָרֹן ʼârôn; from H717 (in the sense of gathering); a box:—ark, chest, coffin.]

d. [of] testimony [Strong: 5715 ʻêdûwth, ay-dooth'; feminine of H5707; testimony:—testimony, witness.]

e. from between [Strong: 996 beyn bane (sometimes in the plural masculine or feminine); properly, the constructive form of an otherwise unused noun from 995; a distinction; but used only as a prep, between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...or:--among, asunder, at, between (-twixt...and), + from (the widest), X in, out of, whether (it be...or), within.]

f. [the] two [8147 shᵉnayim, shen-ah'-yim; dual of H8145; feminine שְׁתַּיִם shᵉttayim; two; also (as ordinal) twofold:—both, couple, double, second, twain, twelfth, twelve, twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.]

g. cherubims [Strong: 3742  kᵉrûwb, ker-oob'; of uncertain derivation; a cherub or imaginary figure:—cherub, (plural) cherubims.]

4. “...and he spake unto him.”

a. [and he] spake [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

b. to [him] [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

1). God spoke to Moses from between the two cherubims which Numbers says was the mercy seat. In any picture of the Ark of the Covenant that I have seen there is nothing between the two cherubims. Perhaps this is why the inspired writer of Hebrews writes this:

a). Hebrews 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

2). David H. Stearn, Jewish New Testament Commentary, The lid of the Ark was known as the “mercy seat” (Hebrew kapporet), meaning the physical place where Adonai met the cohen hagadol on Yom-Kippur (Leviticus 16:2) and from which, his mercy, he forgave the sins of the people of Israel. The Greek word for “mercy seat” is used in the New Testament at only one other place, Romans 3:23, where it is rendered, “kapparah” (“covering, atonement”): “God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin”. Thus the Tabernacle’s mercy seat prefigured the eternal mercy seat, Yeshua.

3). In the New Covenant God dwells within believers (Romans 8:9-11), we are the Ark, and God speaks to us from our recreated spirits (Romans 8:16; John 10:27, 28). Glory to God.