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Numbers 8:11 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

11 and Aaron hath waved the Levites -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, from the sons of Israel, and they have been -- for doing the service of Jehovah.

Cross Reference

Leviticus 7:30 YLT

his own hands do bring in the fire-offerings of Jehovah, the fat beside the breast, it he doth bring in with the breast, to wave it -- a wave-offering before Jehovah.

Exodus 29:24 YLT

`And thou hast set the whole on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and hast waved them -- a wave-offering before Jehovah;

Leviticus 8:27 YLT

and putteth the whole on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and waveth them -- a wave-offering before Jehovah.

Leviticus 8:29 YLT

and Moses taketh the breast, and waveth it -- a wave-offering before Jehovah; of the ram of the consecrations it hath been to Moses for a portion, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

Numbers 1:49-53 YLT

`Only, the tribe of Levi thou dost not number, and their sum thou dost not take up in the midst of the sons of Israel; and thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it hath; they bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and round about the tabernacle they encamp. `And in the journeying of the tabernacle, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.' And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts; and the Levites encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony; and there is no wrath on the company of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.

Numbers 3:5-43 YLT

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him, and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle; and they have kept all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle; and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel. `And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine; for Mine `is' every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I `am' Jehovah.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, `Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.' And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded. And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And these `are' the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath, by their families, `are' Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families `are' Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers. Of Gershon `is' the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite. Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones `are' seven thousand and five hundred. The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward. And the prince of a father's house for the Gershonite `is' Eliasaph son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting `is' the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which `is' by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service. And of Kohath `is' the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite. In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, `are' eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward. And the prince of a father's house for the families of the Kohathite `is' Elizaphan son of Uzziel. And their charge `is' the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service. And `to' the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, `is' the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary. Of Merari `is' the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these `are' the families of Merari. And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, `are' six thousand and two hundred. And the prince of a father's house for the families of Merari `is' Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward. And the oversight -- the charge of the sons of Merari -- `is' the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, `are' Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death. All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also -- by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, `are' two and twenty thousand. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names; and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I `am' Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.' And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel. And all the first-born -- male -- by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three.

Numbers 6:20 YLT

and the priest hath waved them, a wave-offering before Jehovah; it `is' holy to the priest, besides the breast of the wave-offering, and besides the leg of the heave-offering; and afterwards doth the Nazarite drink wine.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 8

Commentary on Numbers 8 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-4

Consecration of the Levites. - The command of God to consecrate the Levites for their service, is introduced in Numbers 8:1-4 by directions issued to Aaron with regard to the lighting of the candlestick in the dwelling of the tabernacle. Aaron was to place the seven lamps upon the candlestick in such a manner that they would shine פּניו אל־מוּל . These directions are not a mere repetition, but also a more precise definition, of the general instructions given in Exodus 25:37, when the candlestick was made, to place the seven lamps upon the candlestick in such a manner that each should give light over against its front, i.e., should throw its light upon the side opposite to the front of the candlestick. In itself, therefore, there is nothing at all striking in the renewal and explanation of those directions, which committed the task of lighting the lamps to Aaron; for this had not been done before, as Exodus 27:21 merely assigns the daily preparation of the candlestick to Aaron and his sons; and their being placed in the connection in which we find them may be explained from the signification of the seven lamps in relation to the dwelling of God, viz., as indicating that Israel was thereby to be represented perpetually before the Lord as a people causing its light to shine in the darkness of this world. And when Aaron is commanded to attend to the lighting of the candlestick, so that it may light up the dwelling, in these special instructions the entire fulfilment of his service in the dwelling is enforced upon him as a duty. In this respect the instructions themselves, coupled with the statement of the fact that Aaron had fulfilled them, stand quite appropriately between the account of what the tribe-princes had done for the consecration of the altar service as representatives of the congregation, and the account of the solemn inauguration of the Levites in their service in the sanctuary. The repetition on this occasion (Exodus 27:4) of an allusion to the artistic character of the candlestick, which had been made according to the pattern seen by Moses in the mount (Exodus 25:31.), is quite in keeping with the antiquated style of narrative adopted in these books.


Verses 5-7

Consecration of the Levites for their service in the sanctuary. - The choice of the Levites for service in the sanctuary, in the place of the first-born of the people generally, has been already noticed in Numbers 3:5., and the duties binding upon them in Numbers 4:4. But before entering upon their duties they were to be consecrated to the work, and then formally handed over to the priests. This consecration is commanded in Numbers 8:7., and is not called קדּשׁ , like the consecration of the priests (Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 8:11), but טהר to cleanse . It consisted in sprinkling them with sin-water, shaving off the whole of the hair from their bodies, and washing their clothes, accompanied by a sacrificial ceremony, by which they were presented symbolically to the Lord as a sacrifice for His service. The first part of this ceremony had reference to outward purification, and represented cleansing from the defilement of sin; hence the performance of it is called התחטּא (to cleanse from sin) in Numbers 8:21. “ Sprinkle sin-water upon them .” The words are addressed to Moses, who had to officiate at the inauguration of the Levites, as he had already done at that of the priests. “ Water of sin ” is water having reference to sin, designed to remove it, just as the sacrifice offered for the expiation of sin is called חטּאת (sin) in Leviticus 4:14, etc.; whilst the “water of uncleanness” in Numbers 19:9, Numbers 19:13, signifies water by which uncleanness was removed or wiped away. The nature of this purifying water is not explained, and cannot be determined with any certainty. We find directions for preparing sprinkling water in a peculiar manner, for the purpose of cleansing persons who were cured of leprosy, in Leviticus 14:5., 50ff.; and also for cleansing both persons and houses that had been defiled by a corpse, in Numbers 19:9. Neither of these, however, was applicable to the cleansing of the Levites, as they were both of them composed of significant ingredients, which stood in the closest relation to the special cleansing to be effected by them, and had evidently no adaptation to the purification of the Levites. At the same time, the expression “sin-water” precludes our understanding it to mean simply clean water. So that nothing remains but to regard it as referring to the water in the laver of the sanctuary, which was provided for the purpose of cleansing the priests for the performance of their duties ( Exodus 30:18.), and might therefore be regarded by virtue of this as cleansing from sin, and be called “sin-water” in consequence. “ And they shall cause the razor to pass over their whole body, ” i.e., shave off all the hair upon their body, “ and wash their clothes, and so cleanse themselves .” תּער העביר is to be distinguished from גּלּח . The latter signifies to make balk or shave the hair entirely off, which was required of the leper when he was cleansed (Leviticus 14:8-9); the former signifies merely cutting the hair, which was part of the regular mode of adorning the body. The Levites also were not required to bathe their bodies, as lepers were (Leviticus 13:8-9), and also the priests at their consecration (Leviticus 8:6), because they were not affected with any special uncleanness, and their duties did not require them to touch the most holy instruments of worship. The washing of the clothes, on the other hand, was a thing generally required as a preparation for acts of worship ( Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10), and was omitted in the case of the consecration of the priests, simply because they received a holy official dress. הטּהרוּ for הטּהרוּ , as in 2 Chronicles 30:18.


Verse 8

After this purification the Levites were to bring two young bullocks, one with the corresponding meat-offering for a burnt-sacrifice, the other for a sin-offering.


Verse 9

Moses was then to cause them to draw near before the tabernacle, i.e., to enter the court, and to gather together the whole congregation of Israel, viz., in the persons of their heads and representatives.


Verse 10

After this the Levites were to come before Jehovah, i.e., in front of the altar; and the children of Israel, i.e., the tribe-princes in the name of the Israelites, were to lay their hands upon them, not merely “as a sign that they released them from the possession of the nation, and assigned them and handed them over to Jehovah” ( Knobel ), but in order that by this symbolical act they might transfer to the Levites the obligation resting upon the whole nation to serve the Lord in the persons of its first-born sons, and might present them to the Lord as representatives of the first-born of Israel, to serve Him as living sacrifices.


Verse 11

This transfer was to be completed by Aaron's waving the Levites as a wave-offering before Jehovah on behalf of the children of Israel, i.e., by his offering them symbolically to the Lord as a sacrifice presented on the part of the Israelites. The ceremony of waving consisted no doubt in his conducting the Levites solemnly up to the altar, and then back again. On the signification of the verb, see at Leviticus 7:30. The design of the waving is given in Numbers 8:11, viz., “ that they might be to perform the service of Jehovah ” (Numbers 8:24-26 compared with Num 4:4-33).


Verses 12-19

The Levites were then to close this transfer of themselves to the Lord with a sin-offering and burnt-offering, in which they laid their hands upon the sacrificial animals. By this imposition of hands they made the sacrificial animals their representatives, in which they presented their own bodies to the Lord as a living sacrifice well-pleasing to Him. The signification of the dedication of the Levites, as here enjoined, is still further explained in Numbers 8:13-19. The meaning of Numbers 8:13. is this: According to the command already given (in Numbers 8:6-12), thou shalt place the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and wave them as a wave-offering before the Lord, and so separate them from the midst of the children of Israel, that they may be Mine. They shall then come to serve the tabernacle. So shalt thou cleanse them and wave them. The same reason is assigned for this in Numbers 8:16, Numbers 8:17, as in Numbers 3:11-13 ( כּל בּכור for כּל־בּכור , cf. Numbers 3:13); and in Numbers 8:18 and Numbers 8:19, what was commanded in Numbers 3:6-9 is described as having been carried out. On Numbers 8:19 see Numbers 1:53.


Verses 20-22

Numbers 8:20-22 contain an account of the execution of the divine command.


Verses 23-26

The Levitical period of service is fixed here at twenty-five years of age and upwards to the fiftieth year. “ This is what concerns the Levites, ” i.e., what follows applies to the Levites. “ From the age of twenty-five years shall he (the Levite) come to do service at the work of the tabernacle; and at fifty years of age shall he return from the service of the work, and not work any further, but only serve his brethren at the tabernacle in keeping charge, ” i.e., help them to look after the furniture of the tabernacle. “Charge” ( mishmereth ), as distinguished from “work,” signified the oversight of all the furniture of the tabernacle (see Numbers 3:8); “work” (service) applied to laborious service, e.g., the taking down and setting up of the tabernacle and cleaning it, carrying wood and water for the sacrificial worship, slaying the animals for the daily and festal sacrifices of the congregation, etc.

Numbers 8:26

“So shalt thou do to the Levites (i.e., proceed with them) in their services .” משׁמרת from משׁמרת , attendance upon an official post. Both the heading and final clause, by which this law relating to the Levites' period of service is bounded, and its position immediately after the induction of the Levites into their office, show unmistakeably that this law was binding for all time, and was intended to apply to the standing service of the Levites at the sanctuary; and consequently that it was not at variance with the instructions in ch. 4, to muster the Levites between thirty and fifty years of age, and organize them for the transport of the tabernacle on the journey through the wilderness (Num 4:3-49). The transport of the tabernacle required the strength of a full-grown man, and therefore the more advanced age of thirty years; whereas the duties connected with the tabernacle when standing were of a lighter description, and could easily be performed from the twenty-fifth year (see Hengstenberg's Dissertations , vol. ii. pp. 321ff.). At a later period, when the sanctuary was permanently established on Mount Zion, David employed the Levites from their twentieth year (1 Chronicles 23:24-25), and expressly stated that he did so because the Levites had no longer to carry the dwelling and its furniture; and this regulation continued in force from that time forward (cf. 2 Chronicles 31:17; Ezra 3:8). But if the supposed discrepancy between the verses before us and Numbers 4:3, Numbers 4:47, is removed by this distinction, which is gathered in the most simple manner from the context, there is no ground whatever for critics to deny that the regulation before us could have proceeded from the pen of the Elohist.