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Thursday, August 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Brenton's Septuagint

Numbers 8:10

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Hand;   Levites;   Thompson Chain Reference - Hands;   Imposition of Hands;   Laying on of Hands;   Ministers;   Ordination;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Hands, the;   Levites, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Hand;   Levites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Laying on of hands;   Levite;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Building;   Laying on of Hands;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hand;   High Priest;   Jephthah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bull;   Laying on of Hands;   Ordination, Ordain;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Numbers, Book of;   Priests and Levites;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Ordination;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Hands, Laying on of;   Levites ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;   Hand;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Events of the Encampment;   Priesthood, the;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hand;   Hands;   Laying on of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hafṭarah;   Hand;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
You shall present the Levites before the LORD. The children of Yisra'el shall lay their hands on the Levites,
King James Version
And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord : and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
Lexham English Bible
And you will bring the Levites before Yahweh, and the Israelites will lay their hands on the Levites,
New Century Version
When you bring the Levites before the Lord , the Israelites should put their hands on them.
New English Translation
Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord , and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites;
Amplified Bible
and present the Levites before the LORD, and the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites.
New American Standard Bible
and present the Levites before the LORD; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt bring the Leuites also before the Lorde, and the children of Israel shall put their handes vpon the Leuites.
Legacy Standard Bible
and bring the Levites near before Yahweh; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.
Contemporary English Version
where the people will place their hands on them.
Complete Jewish Bible
You will present the L'vi'im before Adonai , the people of Isra'el will lay their hands on the L'vi'im,
Darby Translation
And thou shalt bring the Levites before Jehovah; and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites.
Easy-to-Read Version
Bring the Levites before the Lord . The Israelites will put their hands on them.
English Standard Version
When you bring the Levites before the Lord , the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,
George Lamsa Translation
Then you shall bring the Levites before the LORD; and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites;
Good News Translation
The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites,
Christian Standard Bible®
Then present the Levites before the Lord, and have the Israelites lay their hands on them.
Literal Translation
And you shall bring the Levites before Jehovah; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and brynge the Leuytes before the LORDE. And the children of Israel shall laye their handes vpon the Leuites.
American Standard Version
and thou shalt present the Levites before Jehovah. And the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites:
Bible in Basic English
And you are to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put their hands on them:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And bryng the Leuites before the Lorde, and the children of Israel shall put their handes vpon the Leuites.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt present the Levites before the LORD; and the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites.
King James Version (1611)
And thou shalt bring the Leuites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands vpon the Leuites.
English Revised Version
and thou shalt present the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites:
Berean Standard Bible
You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne the Leuytis ben bifor the Lord, the sones of Israel schulen sette her hondis on hem;
Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast brought near the Levites before Jehovah, and the sons of Israel have laid their hands on the Levites,
Update Bible Version
and you shall present the Levites before Yahweh. And the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites:
Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
World English Bible
You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,
New King James Version
So you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;
New Living Translation
When you present the Levites before the Lord , the people of Israel must lay their hands on them.
New Life Bible
Bring the Levites before the Lord and the people of Israel will lay their hands on the Levites.
New Revised Standard
When you bring the Levites before the Lord , the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and shalt bring the Levites near before Yahweh, - and the sons of Israel shall lean their hands upon the Levites;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them:
Revised Standard Version
When you present the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and present the Levites before the LORD; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.

Contextual Overview

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them. 7 And thus shalt thou perform their purification: thou shalt sprinkle them with water of purification, and a razor shall come upon the whole of their body, and they shall wash their garments, and shall be clean. 8 And they shall take one calf of the herd, and its meat-offering, fine flour mingled with oil: and thou shalt take a calf of a year old of the herd for a sin-offering. 9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel. 10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites. 11 And Aaron shall separate the Levites for a gift before the Lord from the children of Israel: and they shall be prepared to perform the works of the Lord. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the calves; and thou shalt offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them. 13 And thou shalt set the Levites before the Lord, and before Aaron, and before his sons; and thou shalt give them as a gift before the Lord. 14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they shall be mine.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 3:45, Leviticus 1:4, Acts 6:6, Acts 13:2, Acts 13:3, 1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Timothy 5:22

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:14 - and laid Numbers 8:16 - wholly given Acts 8:17 - laid

Cross-References

Genesis 7:4
For yet seven days having passed I bring rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out every offspring which I have made from the face of all the earth.
Genesis 7:10
And it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth.
Genesis 8:12
And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him again any more.
Psalms 40:1
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he attended to me, and hearkened to my supplication.
Isaiah 8:17
And one shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.
Isaiah 26:8
For the way of the Lord is judgement: we have hoped in thy name, and on the remembrance of thee,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord,.... From the door of the tabernacle, to the altar of burnt offering, where the Lord was in some sense present to accept the sacrifices offered to him:

and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites; as were used to be put upon sacrifices, for the Levites were themselves offered for an offering of the children of Israel, as is expressed in Numbers 8:11; by which rite they signified that they voluntarily parted with them, and gave them up to the Lord, and transferred their service to them, in which they were to serve in their room and stead; these, according to some Jewish writers, were the firstborn of Israel that laid their hands on the Levites, a type of the general assembly and church of the firstborn; or rather the princes and heads of the tribes, who represented the whole body. Some think by this rite is signified the consent of the people in the designation and appointment of the ministers of the word to their work and office; but what in the New Testament seems to answer to this is, the laying of the hands of the presbytery on ministers of the word, 1 Timothy 4:14.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Levites could only undertake their duties Numbers 3:0; Numbers 4:0 after the formal exchange of the Levites for the first-born Numbers 3:44-51.

The distinction between the “consecration” of the priests Leviticus 8:0 and the less solemn “purification” Numbers 8:21 of the Levites is marked. These rites of purification are similar to those incumbent on the priests of Egypt.

Numbers 8:7

Water of purifying - literally, “sin water:” i. e. water to cleanse from sin; no doubt taken from the laver of the sanctuary, which was used by the priests for purification before they went into the tabernacle to minister (compare Numbers 5:17; Exodus 30:18 ff).

The “sprinkling” of so large a body of men could have been only general, but tokens of individual purification are specified (compare also Leviticus 14:8).

Numbers 8:8

The two bullocks were “to make an atonement for the Levites,” and therefore are presented in their name. These offerings are similar to those prescribed in Leviticus 8:14 ff at the consecration of the priests, except that the burnt-offering was on that occasion a ram. The larger victim corresponds to the larger number of the Levites.

Numbers 8:10

The children of Israel - i. e. through the heads of their tribes, who Numbers 7:2 no doubt acted for their tribesmen. This act, the distinguishing feature of the ceremony, represented the transfer to the Levites of the sacred duties originally incumbent on the whole people.

Numbers 8:11

Offer ... offering - Compare the margin Aaron pointed to the Levites, and then waved his hands, indicating (compare Leviticus 7:30 note) that the offering was dedicated to God, and, again, by grant from Him, withdrawn for the use of the priests.

Numbers 8:19

Make an atonement for the children of Israel - i. e. by performing those services which were due from the children of Israel; the omission of which by the children of Israel would, but for the interposition of the Levites, have called down “wrath” from God, or Numbers 1:53 “plague.” The institution of the Levites was an extension of that mediatorial system which the people themselves, terrified at the direct manifestations to them of the divine presence, desired; see Deuteronomy 5:25. Further, it is suggested to us here as an act of mercy on the part of God; yet even the priests and Levites themselves were not always sufficiently heedful and reverent. Compare Numbers 17:10; Leviticus 10:1 ff; 2 Samuel 6:6 following.

Numbers 8:21

Were purified - Rather, purified themselves; as directed in Numbers 8:7.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 8:10. Shall put their hands upon the Levites — It has been argued from this that the congregation had a part in the appointment of their own ministers, and that this was done by the imposition of hands. However that may be, it appears that what was done on this occasion meant no more than that the people gave up this whole tribe to God in place of their firstborn; and that by this act they bound themselves to provide for them who, because of their sacred service, could follow no secular work. And surely it was right, that they who served the altar should live by the altar. The ministers of God perform offices for the people which the people cannot perform for themselves; and nothing can be more reasonable than that the people should give them the necessaries and comforts of life while they are thus employed in their behalf.


 
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