Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 8:13
And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them [for] an offering unto the LORD.
13. The Levites are formally handed over to the priests as their ministers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Before Aaron and his sons, i.e. put them into the power of Aaron and his sons, to employ them in holy ministrations; for so that phrase is sometimes used, as Gen 13:9,
the land is before thee, i.e. in thy power, to use or enjoy it. Or setting the Levites before them did signify the giving the Levites to them, or to their service.
For an offering unto to the Lord; for to him they were first properly offered, and by him given to the priests in order to his service.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons,…. After atonement was made for them, as Aben Ezra observes; then they were presented to Aaron and his sons, to whom they were given to he their ministers, and assistants to them:
and offer them [for] an offering unto the Lord: or, and “waved them”, c. as before, that is, order them to be waved for not Moses, but Aaron, did this, and indeed was done already; and therefore should rather be rendered, as by Bishop Patrick, after thou hast offered, or waved them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) And offer them for an offering.Literally, and wave them as a wave- offering, as in Num. 8:11. So also in Num. 8:15.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Num 8:13. And thou shalt set the Levites Houbigant renders this verse, Then thou shalt bring the Levites to Aaron and to his sons, and shalt apply them to [the service of] the Lord: others would have it, Thou shalt present them to Aaron and his sons, after having offered them as an offering unto the Lord. So in Num 8:15. And thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them, &c. should be, after thou shalt have cleansed them, and have, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
offer them: Wehainaphta othom tenoophath, literally, as in Num 8:11, “and thou shalt wave them for a wave-offering;” manifestly in allusion to the ancient sacrificial rite of waving the sacrifices before the Lord; and it is probable, that some significant action, analogous to the waving of the sacrifice, was employed on this occasion; for the Levites were considered as an offering to the Lord, to whose service they were wholly dedicated. To this the apostle Paul manifestly alludes, when, in writing to the Romans, he says – Rom 12:1, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Num 8:11, Num 8:21, Num 18:6, Rom 12:1, Rom 15:16
Reciprocal: Num 8:15 – and offer 1Ch 15:2 – to minister