And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them;

And it came to pass in the day that Moses had finished the tabernacle, and set it up, and had anointed and sanctified it with all its vessels, the altar likewise and all the vessels thereof,

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had completed the setting up of the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and hallowed it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar and all its utensils, and had anointed them, and hallowed them,

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all its instruments, both the altar and all its vessels, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;

And it cometh to pass on the day of Moses' finishing setting up the tabernacle, that he anointeth it, and sanctifieth it, and all its vessels, and the altar, and all its vessels, and he anointeth them, and sanctifieth them,

And when Moses had put up the House completely, and had put oil on it and made it holy, with all the things in it, and had made the altar and all its vessels holy with oil;

Now it happened in the day when Moses completed the tabernacle, and he set it up, and he anointed and sanctified it with all of its vessels, and similarly the altar and all of its vessels,

Et fuit quo die finivit Moses erigere tabernaculum, unxit illud et sanctificavit, omniaque utensilia ejus, altare quoque et omnia utensilia ejus, ex quo unxit ca et sanctificavit.

And it came to pass on the day that Moses This was the second contribution of the people, after the completion of the Tabernacle; for although mention is only made of the princes, it is probable that each of them presented what the whole tribe had subscribed, since there was no private person at that time wealthy enough to give so much gold and silver of his own. Let it be understood, then, that they brought in the name, and at the desire of all, what they had received from the members of their respective tribes. Before, however, I proceed any further, it must be remarked that the sacrifices were not killed, before the sanctuary was anointed. Moses himself is said to have anointed it, as he had his brother Aaron; for the exposition of some, that what properly applies to Aaron is attributed to his brother, does not appear to be sound. We have said elsewhere that God thus freely used the visible signs, in order that He might by no means bind the grace of the Spirit to particular persons. When Moses, therefore, who was not anointed himself, anointed both the sanctuary and the priest, it was manifestly shewn that the efficacy of consecration did not emanate from himself, inasmuch as He could not give of his own that which he did not possess. Consequently the entire virtue and utility of signs depend on the command of God. We have elsewhere seen why it was necessary to consecrate the tabernacle, the altar, and all the vessels by a sacred anointing. Here let us only observe, that the connection of the two words anointing and sanctifying is not superfluous: that we may understand that the symbol of the oil was not vain and inefficacious, but that true spiritual sanctity was annexed to it; for God institutes nothing in vain, but, by filling what He typifies with the secret influence of the Spirit, He effectually proves Himself to be true. It is said that the princes were set "over them that were numbered," i.e., after the people were numbered, and separated into their several divisions, these were chosen as the chiefs of the tribes. The exposition which some give, that they assisted when the people were numbered, in my opinion, is far-fetched.

On the day that - i. e. "at the time that," compare Genesis 2:4. The presentation of the gifts in fact occupied twelve days, as the sequel shows.
The enactments set forth in the chapters from Leviticus. 10 to Numbers. 6 inclusive, were doubtless promulgated at various times between the consecration of the tabernacle and the departure from Sinai, but are for convenience set out connectedly. The contents of the present chapter are accordingly placed after them. The order pursued throughout is justly noted as one which would naturally suggest itself to a narrator who was contemporary with the events.

On the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle - The transactions mentioned in this chapter took place on the second day of the second month of the second year after their departure from Egypt; and the proper place of this account is immediately after the tenth chapter of Leviticus.

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle,.... Not on the very exact day on which it was first reared up, for that was on the first day of the first month of the second year from the coming up of Israel out of Egypt, Exodus 40:17; whereas the following offerings of the princes were not offered, and many other things previous to them, recorded in the preceding chapters, were not done, until after the first day of the second month of that year, Numbers 1:1; though the Jews say (e) the first of Nisan, or of the first month, was the first for various things, and the first on which the princes offered; but no one particular day can be intended, because the princes were twelve days successively offering their offerings; wherefore "the day" here only denotes the time about which it was when this service was performed; when the tabernacle was not only set up, but "fully" set up, when everything relating to it was in its proper place and order; when not only it was put together, and all the vessels and instruments of it in their due place, but also when the people of Israel, for whose sake it was erected, that the Lord God might dwell among them, were numbered, and their camps formed and pitched around the tabernacle; and the Levites were taken and numbered also, who were to serve at it, and their place and service were appointed unto them about it; for then, and not till then, was the service of it completed, and its proper place and situation fixed and settled:
and had anointed it; with the holy oil Moses was directed to make and anoint it with, Exodus 30:23,
and sanctified it: set it apart for holy use and service, to be an habitation for God, and the place of his worship:
and all the instruments thereof; the ark, table, candlestick, &c.
both the altars, and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them,
and sanctified them; the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all appertaining: thereunto; according to Ben Gersom, this finishing of the whole was at the end of the seven days of consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:35.
(e) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 7. p. 21. Baal Hatturim in loc.

The offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle was not made till it was fully set up. Necessary observances must always take place of free-will offerings. The more any are advanced, the greater opportunity they have of serving God and their generation. No sooner was the tabernacle set up, than provision is made for the removal of it. Even when but just settled in the world, we must be preparing for changes and removes, especially for the great change.

THE PRINCES' OFFERINGS. (Numbers. 7:1-89)
the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle--Those who take the word "day" as literally pointing to the exact date of the completion of the tabernacle, are under a necessity of considering the sacred narrative as disjointed, and this portion of the history from the seventh to the eleventh chapters as out of its place--the chronology requiring that it should have immediately followed the fortieth chapter of Exodus, which relates that the tabernacle was reared on the first day of the first month of the second year [Exodus 40:17]. But that the term "day" is used in a loose and indeterminate sense, as synonymous with time, is evident from the fact that not one day but several days were occupied with the transactions about to be described. So that this chapter stands in its proper place in the order of the history; after the tabernacle and its instruments (the altar and its vessels) had been anointed (Leviticus 8:10), the Levites separated to the sacred service--the numbering of the people, and the disposal of the tribes about the tabernacle, in a certain order, which was observed by the princes in the presentation of their offerings. This would fix the period of the imposing ceremonial described in this chapter about a month after the completion of the tabernacle.

Presentation of Dedicatory Gifts by the Princes of the Tribes. - Numbers 7:1. This presentation took place at the time (יום) when Moses, after having completed the erection of the tabernacle, anointed and sanctified the dwelling and the altar, together with their furniture (Leviticus 8:10-11). Chronologically considered, this ought to have been noticed after Leviticus 8:10. But in order to avoid interrupting the connection of the Sinaitic laws, it is introduced for the first time at this point, and placed at the head of the events which immediately preceded the departure of the people from Sinai, because these gifts consisted in part of materials that were indispensably necessary for the transport of the tabernacle during the march through the desert. Moreover, there was only an interval of at the most forty days between the anointing of the tabernacle, which commenced after the first day of the first month (cf. Exodus 40:16 and Leviticus 8:10), and lasted eight days, and the departure from Sinai, on the twentieth day of the second month (Numbers 10:11), and from this we have to deduct six days for the Passover, which took place before their departure (Numbers 9:1.); and it was within this period that the laws and ordinances from Leviticus 11 to Numbers 6 had to be published, and the dedicatory offerings to be presented. Now, as the presentation itself was distributed, according to Numbers 7:11., over twelve or thirteen days, we may very well assume that it did not entirely precede the publication of the laws referred to, but was carried on in part contemporaneously with it. The presentation of the dedicatory gifts of one tribe-prince might possibly occupy only a few hours of the day appointed for the purpose; and the rest of the day, therefore, might very conveniently be made use of by Moses for publishing the laws. In this case the short space of a month and a few days would be amply sufficient for everything that took place.

On the day - It seems day is for time, and on the day, for about the time. For all the princes did not offer these things upon one and the same day, but on several days, as here it follows. And so this chapter comes in its proper place, and those things were done in the second month of the second year after the tabernacle and altar, and all other instruments thereof were anointed, as is here expressed; and after the Levites were separated to the service of the tabernacle, and appointed to their several works, which was done about a month after the tabernacle was erected, and after the numbering of the people, Numbers. 1:2-49, when the princes here employed in the offerings were first constituted; and after the disposal of the tribes about the tabernacle, the order of which is here observed in the time of their offerings.