🔢WEB · Numbers 27:19
What does Numbers 27:19 mean?
"Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight."
— Numbers 27:19 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
“Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Yahweh may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.
Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight.
You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey.
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”
Moses did as Yahweh commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation.
Explanation
Numbers 27:19 records part of God's instructions to Moses regarding the appointment of Joshua as his successor. In plain language, the verse tells Moses to publicly present Joshua to Eleazar the priest and to the entire community of Israel, and to formally install him as leader in front of everyone, so that the transfer of authority would be witnessed and understood by all.
The context is critical to grasping the verse's meaning. Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah, traditionally attributed to Moses, and it narrates Israel's forty years of wilderness wandering. By chapter 27, Moses is nearing the end of his life and will not enter the Promised Land because of his earlier disobedience at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:12). Aware that Israel needs a leader to guide them into Canaan, Moses asks God to appoint someone "over the congregation" so the people will not be "as sheep which have no shepherd" (27:16-17). God responds by naming Joshua son of Nun, described as a man "in whom is the Spirit" (27:18), and instructs Moses on how the commissioning should take place — through the laying on of hands, before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.
Theologically, this verse emphasizes that leadership in Israel was not self-appointed or merely in
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