🔢WEB · Numbers 27:23
What does Numbers 27:23 mean?
"He laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Yahweh spoke by Moses."
— Numbers 27:23 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
He laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.
Explanation
Numbers 27:23 describes a simple but weighty action: Moses placed his hands on Joshua and formally installed him as the new leader of Israel, doing exactly what God had instructed him to do. The verse is the concluding note to a larger scene in which Moses, knowing his death was near, asked God to appoint a successor so the people would not be left without a shepherd. God chose Joshua, and Moses carried out the commissioning publicly, before the priest Eleazar and the whole assembly, so that everyone would recognize Joshua's authority as coming from God through Moses.
The context is the end of the wilderness wanderings, as Israel stood poised to enter the Promised Land. Moses, who had led the people for forty years, would not be permitted to enter Canaan because of his earlier disobedience at Meribah (recorded earlier in Numbers 20 and referenced again in this same chapter). Rather than leaving a leadership vacuum, God directed Moses in Numbers 27:18-21 to take Joshua, lay his hand on him, set him before the priest and the congregation, and give him some of his authority. Numbers
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