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Numbers 8:15-17
New English Translation
Numbers 8:15-17
New English Translation
15 “After this, the Levites will go in[a] to do the work[b] of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them[c] and offer them like a wave offering.[d] 16 For they are entirely given[e] to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of[f] all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites. 17 For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed[g] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 8:15 tn The imperfect tense could also be given the nuance of the imperfect of permission: “the Levites may go in.”
- Numbers 8:15 tn Heb “to serve.”
- Numbers 8:15 tn The two verbs in the rest of this verse are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive constructions, making them equal to the imperfect. Some commentators try to get around the difficulty of repetition by making these future perfects, “and you will have cleansed,” as opposed to a summary statement, “for thus you will cleanse….”
- Numbers 8:15 tc The Greek text adds “before the Lord.”
- Numbers 8:16 tn As before, the emphasis is obtained by repeating the passive participle: “given, given to me.”
- Numbers 8:16 tn Or “as substitutes” for all the firstborn of the Israelites.
- Numbers 8:17 tn The idiomatic “on the day of” precedes the infinitive construct of נָכָה (nakhah) to form the temporal clause: “in the day of my striking…” becomes “when I struck.”
New English Translation (NET)
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