וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶסְפָה־לִּ֞י שִׁבְעִ֣ים אִישׁ֮ מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָדַ֔עְתָּ כִּי־הֵ֛ם זִקְנֵ֥י הָעָ֖ם וְשֹׁטְרָ֑יו וְלָקַחְתָּ֤ אֹתָם֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד וְהִֽתְיַצְּב֥וּ שָׁ֖ם עִמָּֽךְ׃
Yang Mahakekal berfirman kepada Musa: “Kumpulkanlah bagi-Ku tujuh puluh orang dari antara para tua-tua Israel, yang kauketahui sebagai tua-tua bangsa itu dan para pengatur mereka. Bawalah mereka ke Kemah Pertemuan, dan biarlah mereka berdiri di sana bersamamu.
On the Prayers and Curses Uttered by Noah when he Became Sober
[19] Thus too it is Moses’ way to give the name of “elder” to those counsellors of the God-beloved, whose apportioned number was that of seven times ten. For we find “gather to me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom thou thyself knowest that these are elders” (Numb. 11:16).
On the Birth of Abel and the Sacrifices Offered by him and by his Brother Cain
[77] And therefore in another place we find, “thou shalt rise up away from the head of the hoary and thou shalt honour the head of the elder” (Lev. 19:32). He suggests a vast contrast between the two words. For by “hoary” is meant time which has no activity, from whose presence we must hurry to depart and shun the illusion which deceives the multitude, that time is capable of effecting anything. By “elder” is meant he that is worthy of honour and privilege and high place, and to approve such was the task entrusted to Moses, the friend of God. For “whom thou knowest,” it runs, “these are the elders” (Numb. 11:16), meaning that he would welcome no mere innovation, but his wont is to love the truths that come from older days and are worthy of the highest reverence.
On Flight and Finding
[186] He also proclaims the ten-fold seven, telling in this passage of seventy palm-trees by the springs, and in another of the Divine Spirit of prophecy bestowed on only seventy elders (Num. 11:16), and again of seventy calves offered as victims at the Feast of Tabernacles arranged in divisions following a regular series: for they are not all sacrificed at once, but on different days, beginning with thirteen bull-calves (Num. 29:13 ff.); for in this way, the number being diminished by one every day up to the seventh, the aggregate of seventy would be made up.