Numbers 8:12
in Numbers 8And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and offer thou the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, unto Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites.
KJV
And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.
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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 is to present the Levites before the LORD
on Numbers 8:11-12
A wave offering is elsewhere a thing moved before the LORD, like the breast at Leviticus 7:30 or the sheaf at 23:11, and here a tribe of men. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown suggest some movement answering to the wave, while Matthew Henry reads it as a presenting to God. At verse 12 the same men lay hands on the bulls, so they are both the offering and the offerers.
This site's exposition
lay their hands on the heads of the bulls
John Wesley reads the laying on of hands as marking the bulls as offered both by the Levites and for them. Matthew Henry takes the lesson that ministers are fitted for their work by sacrifice, fulfilled in Christ. Israel's hands rest on the Levites, the Levites' on the bulls.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks,....
That interposing cloud must be scattered before there can be any comfortable communion settled between God and our souls. That it is by sacrifice, by Christ the great sacrifice, that we are reconciled to God, and made fit to be offered to him. It is by him that Christians are sanctified to the work of their Christianity, and ministers to the work of their ministry.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַלְוִיִּם֙ | vehalviyim | and the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| יִסְמְכ֣וּ | yismekhu | they will lay | H5564 → | 48 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְדֵיהֶ֔ם | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] head of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הַפָּרִ֑ים | haparim | the young bulls | H6499 → | 132 times |
| וַ֠עֲשֵׂה | vaaseh | and offer | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֶחָ֨ד | haechad | the one | H259 → | 971 times |
| חַטָּ֜את | chatat | a sin offering | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֶחָ֤ד | haechad | the one | H259 → | 971 times |
| עֹלָה֙ | ʾolah | a burnt offering | H5930 → | 287 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֔ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְכַפֵּ֖ר | lekhaper | to make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
וְהַלְוִיִּם֙and the Levites
vehalviyimH3881 →291 times
יִסְמְכ֣וּthey will lay
yismekhuH5564 →48 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְדֵיהֶ֔םhands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] head of
roshH7218 →599 times
הַפָּרִ֑יםthe young bulls
haparimH6499 →132 times
וַ֠עֲשֵׂהand offer
vaasehH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֶחָ֨דthe one
haechadH259 →971 times
חַטָּ֜אתa sin offering
chatatH2403 →295 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָאֶחָ֤דthe one
haechadH259 →971 times
עֹלָה֙a burnt offering
ʾolahH5930 →287 times
לַֽיהוָ֔הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְכַפֵּ֖רto make atonement
lekhaperH3722 →102 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַלְוִיִּֽם׃the Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 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
Hebrews 9:22According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
it leads to
- Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement…
- Leviticus 6:7
In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”
- Leviticus 4:35
And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the offerings made by…
- Leviticus 5:18
He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has…
- Leviticus 14:14
The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and…
- Leviticus 17:11
Through
Leviticus 1:4He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 29:23–24
Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them.
- Leviticus 3:8
He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the…
- Leviticus 3:2
He is to lay his hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on all…
- 2 Chronicles 29:23–24
About Numbers
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.