Numbers 8:14

14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they shall be mine.

Numbers 8:14 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 8:14

Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children
of Israel
By sprinkling the water of purification upon them; by offering sacrifices for them; by presenting them before the Lord, with the hands of the people of Israel put upon them; by offering and waving them before the Lord, and by setting them before Aaron and his sons, as their ministers:

and the Levites shall be mine:
in a special and peculiar manner devoted to his service, and by him given to his priests for that purpose; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,

``and the Levites shall minister before me.''

Numbers 8:14 In-Context

12 And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the calves; and thou shalt offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them.

13 And thou shalt set the Levites before the Lord, and before Aaron, and before his sons; and thou shalt give them as a gift before the Lord.

14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they shall be mine.

15 And afterwards the Levites shall go in to perform the works of the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt purify them, and present them before the Lord.

16 For these are given to me for a present out of the midst of the children of Israel: I have taken them to myself instead of all the first-born of the sons of Israel that open every womb.