Numbers 27:23
in Numbers 27and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as Jehovah spake by Moses.
KJV
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
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This verse in Numbers 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And Moses did as the Lord commanded him
on Numbers 27:22-23
The doing is recorded in the same words as the command. He lays his hands on Joshua, plural here where verse 18 said hand, and gives him the charge before Eleazar and the whole assembly. Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, and 1 Chronicles 23:14-15 leaves their line among the ordinary Levites, so the government passes out of his family in front of the nation that watched him lead it. Henry reads the ordination as Moses willing that the people should look away from him to the man coming after.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he laid his hands upon him,....
He cheerfully ordained Joshua, (1.) Though it was a present lessening to himself, and amounted almost to a resignation of the government. He was very willing that the people should look off from him, and gaze on the rising sun.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He laid his hands upon him - As a proof of his being appointed to and qualified for the work. So at the word of Joshua they were to go out, and at his word to come in, Num 27:
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ | vaiyismokh | and he laid | H5564 → | 48 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָדָ֛יו | yadav | hands his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עָלָ֖יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַיְצַוֵּ֑הוּ | vaytzavehu | and he commissioned him | H6680 → | 494 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֥ר | diber | he had spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מֹשֶֽׁה׃ פ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְand he laid
vaiyismokhH5564 →48 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָדָ֛יוhands his
yadavH3027 →1618 times
עָלָ֖יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וַיְצַוֵּ֑הוּand he commissioned him
vaytzavehuH6680 →494 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֥רhe had spoken
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּיַד־by [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
מֹשֶֽׁה׃ פMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 3:28But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:23
Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 31:3
The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.
- Deuteronomy 1:38
Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.
- Deuteronomy 31:7
Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to…
- Numbers 27:18–23
And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.
- Deuteronomy 31:23
Through
Numbers 27:19Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and commission him in their sight.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 3:28
But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.”
- Deuteronomy 31:7–8
Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to…
- 1 Timothy 5:21
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.
- Deuteronomy 3:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
