Numbers 8:11
in Numbers 8Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Jehovah for a wave-offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Jehovah.
KJV
And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And Aaron shall offer the Levites--Hebrew, "as a wave offering"; and it has been thought probable that the high priest, in bringing the Levites one by one to the altar, directed them to make some simple movements of their persons, analogous to what was done at the presentation of the wave offerings before the Lord.
This site's exposition
Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord
on Numbers 8:11-12
A wave offering is elsewhere a thing lifted and moved before the Lord, the breast of the peace offering at Leviticus 7:30, the sheaf of firstfruits at Leviticus 23:11, the two loaves at Leviticus 23:17, and here it is a tribe of men. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown suggest that Aaron brought them forward one by one and had them make some movement answering to the wave, and Matthew Henry reads the word as a presenting to God rather than an actual waving. Verse 12 then has the same men laying their hands on the heads of the bullocks, so within two verses the Levites are the offering presented and the offerers presenting.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Aaron gave them up to God, as being first given up by themselves, and by the children of Israel. The original word signifies a wave-offering, not that they were actually waved, but they were presented to God as the God of heaven, and the Lord of the whole earth, as the wave-offerings were.
For an offering - Hebrew. for a wave-offering. Not that Aaron did so wave them, which he could not do, but that he caused them to imitate that motion, and to wave themselves toward the several parts of the world: whereby they might signify their readiness to serve God, according to their capacity wheresoever they should be.
And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord,....
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵנִיף֩ | vehenif | and he will wave | H5130 → | 37 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֨ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֤ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| תְּנוּפָה֙ | tenufah | a wave-offering | H8573 → | 30 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מֵאֵ֖ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְהָי֕וּ | vehayu | and they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֖ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲבֹדַ֥ת | ʾavodat | [the] service of | H5656 → | 145 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְהֵנִיף֩and he will wave
vehenifH5130 →37 times
אַהֲרֹ֨ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַלְוִיִּ֤םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
תְּנוּפָה֙a wave-offering
tenufahH8573 →30 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מֵאֵ֖תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְהָי֕וּand they will be
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
לַעֲבֹ֖דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲבֹדַ֥ת[the] service of
ʾavodatH5656 →145 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Numbers 6:20The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
- Exodus 29:27–28
Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.
- Numbers 5:25
The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7
Through
Leviticus 7:30With his own hands he is to bring the offerings made by fire to the LORD; he shall bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast as a wave offering before…
it leads to
- Numbers 6:20
The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that…
- Leviticus 3:3–4
From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Leviticus 3:9
And from the peace offering he shall bring an offering made by fire to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers…
- Leviticus 3:14
And from his offering he shall present an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Numbers 6:20
Through
Leviticus 8:29He also took the breast—Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination—and waved it before the LORD as a wave offering, as the LORD had commanded him.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:20
And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the…
- Isaiah 66:20
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.