Numbers 8:5

THE MESSAGE

God spoke to Moses: "Take the Levites from the midst of the People of Israel and purify them for doing God 's work. This is the way you will do it: Sprinkle water of absolution on them; have them shave their entire bodies; have them scrub their clothes. Then they will have purified themselves.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

King James Version
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Lexham English Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord said to Moses,

New English Translation
Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

Amplified Bible
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New American Standard Bible
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Contemporary English Version
The Lord said to Moses:

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai said to Moshe,

Darby Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord said to Moses,

English Standard Version
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord said to Moses,

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord spoke to Moses:

Literal Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the LORDE spake vnto Moses, and sayde:

American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to Moses,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses, saying:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord spak to Moises,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

World English Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New King James Version
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

New Living Translation
Then the Lord said to Moses,

New Life Bible
Then the Lord said to Moses,

New Revised Standard
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Revised Standard Version
And the LORD said to Moses,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Contextual Overview

⁵ God spoke to Moses: "Take the Levites from the midst of the People of Israel and purify them for doing God 's work. This is the way you will do it: Sprinkle water of absolution on them; have them shave their entire bodies; have them scrub their clothes. Then they will have purified themselves. ⁸"Have them take a young bull with its accompanying Grain-Offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for an Absolution-Offering. Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting and gather the entire community of Israel. Present the Levites before God as the People of Israel lay their hands on them. Aaron will present the Levites before God as a Wave-Offering from the People of Israel so that they will be ready to do God 's work. ¹²"Have the Levites place their hands on the heads of the bulls, selecting one for the Absolution-Offering and another for the Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to make atonement for the Levites. Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present them as a Wave-Offering to God . This is the procedure for setting apart the Levites from the rest of the People of Israel; the Levites are exclusively for my use. ¹⁵"After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a Wave-Offering to God , they can go to work in the Tent of Meeting. The Levites have been selected out of the People of Israel for my exclusive use; they function in place of every firstborn male born to an Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, animal or human, is set apart for my use. When I struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, I consecrated them for my holy uses. But now I take the Levites as stand-ins in place of every firstborn son in Israel, selected out of the People of Israel, and I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons to do all the work involved in the Tent of Meeting on behalf of all the People of Israel and to make atonement for them so that nothing bad will happen to them when they approach the Sanctuary." ²⁰Moses, Aaron, and the entire community of the People of Israel carried out these procedures with the Levites, just as God had commanded Moses. The Levites purified themselves and scrubbed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a Wave-Offering before God and made atonement for them to purify them. Only then did the Levites go to work at the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons supervised them following the directions God had given. ²³ God spoke to Moses: "These are your instructions regarding the Levites: At the age of twenty-five they will join the workforce in the Tent of Meeting; at the age of fifty they must retire from the work. They can assist their brothers in the tasks in the Tent of Meeting, but they are not permitted to do the actual work themselves. These are the ground rules for the work of the Levites."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Numbers 8:22 - as the Lord 1 Chronicles 6:48 - brethren

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... the same time the order about lighting the lamps was given; and this section is joined to the former, Aben Ezra thinks, to show that Aaron employed himself in lighting the lamps, but in the rest of the services the Levites helped him, and stood before him to do what he commanded them: they were ordered to be taken and given to Aaron before; and they were numbered, and their services appointed to each division of them; and now they are ordered to be ordained and consecrated to their office:

saying; as follows.

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.