“And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake.
- KJV And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.
- BSB You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
- NASB “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.
- NLT “You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts of flour for each loaf.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Twelve cakes of fine flour were to be baked and set before the LORD. They represented all twelve tribes of Israel.
Overview
The bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves, one for each tribe, made of fine flour in generous measure. Placed continually before God, they pictured the whole nation held in fellowship and remembrance before him. This communion bread anticipates Christ, the bread of life, who unites his people in himself (John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 25:30You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.
- Exod 40:23He set the bread in order on it before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- 1 Sam 21:4–5The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
- 1 Kgs 18:31Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
- Acts 26:7which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
- Jas 1:1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
- Matt 12:4how he entered into God’s house, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 24:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.