Numbers 8:14

14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel; and the Levites 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 upon the heads of the bullocks; and thou shalt offer the one as the sin, and the other as a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to reconcile the Levites.

13 And thou shalt cause the Levites to present themselves before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.

14 And thou shalt separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine.

15 Thus shall the Levites go in to minister in the tabernacle of the testimony; and thou shalt cleanse them and wave them for an offering.

16 For they are completely given unto me from among the sons of Israel, instead of each one that opens the womb; instead of the firstborn of all the sons of Israel, I have taken them for myself.