Numbers 8:15
in Numbers 8After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering.
KJV
And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons
on Numbers 8:13-15
The offering of the Levites is stated three times over, at verses 11, 13 and 15, and each time the going in to serve stands after it. Verse 14 says the Levites shall be mine and verse 19 says they are given as a gift to Aaron, and the book holds both, ownership with God and use under the priest. Numbers 3:9 put it the same way, wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel, and Numbers 18:6 says it a third time.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As, on the one hand, none of God's creatures are his necessary servants (he needs not the service of any of them), so, on the other hand, none are taken merely as honorary servants, to do nothing. All whom God owns he employs; angels themselves have their services. They are then given as a gift to Aaron and his sons (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And after that shall the Levites go in,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
after that, shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation--into the court, to assist the priests; and at removal into the tabernacle--that is, into the door of it--to receive the covered furniture.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַֽחֲרֵי־ | veacharei- | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵן֙ | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יָבֹ֣אוּ | yavou | they will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֔ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֖ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹ֣הֶל | ʾohel | [the] tent of | H168 → | 345 times |
| מוֹעֵ֑ד | moed | meeting | H4150 → | 223 times |
| וְטִֽהַרְתָּ֣ | vetiharta | and you will purify | H2891 → | 94 times |
| אֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְהֵנַפְתָּ֥ | vehenafta | and you will wave | H5130 → | 37 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תְּנוּפָֽה׃ | tenufah | a wave-offering | H8573 → | 30 times |
וְאַֽחֲרֵי־and after
veacharei-H310 →715 times
כֵן֙thus
khenH3651 →771 times
יָבֹ֣אוּthey will go
yavouH935 →2568 times
הַלְוִיִּ֔םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
לַעֲבֹ֖דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֹ֣הֶל[the] tent of
ʾohelH168 →345 times
מוֹעֵ֑דmeeting
moedH4150 →223 times
וְטִֽהַרְתָּ֣and you will purify
vetihartaH2891 →94 times
אֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
וְהֵנַפְתָּ֥and you will wave
vehenaftaH5130 →37 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
תְּנוּפָֽה׃a wave-offering
tenufahH8573 →30 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 3:12“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to Me,
it leads to
- Numbers 18:6
Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 3:41
You are to take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of…
- Numbers 8:16
For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of…
- Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Numbers 8:18
But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.
- Numbers 18:6
Through
Numbers 8:11Aaron 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.
it leads to
- Leviticus 7:30
With 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…
- Leviticus 7:30
Through
Numbers 8:13You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering.
it leads to
- Numbers 8:11
Aaron 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.
- Numbers 8:21
The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them.
- Numbers 8:11
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.