Numbers 8:16

16 The Levites have been selected out of the People of Israel for my exclusive use; they function in place of every firstborn male born to an Israelite woman.

Numbers 8:16 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 8:16

For they [are] wholly given unto me from among the children
of Israel
All of them, entirely, and most certainly; or, "given, given" ^F21, which is repeated for the confirmation of it; or because of their being twice given, first to the Lord by the children of Israel, and then by the Lord to Aaron and his sons, as Chaskuni; though Jarchi interprets it of the different parts of their service they were devoted to, given for bearing and carrying the vessels of the sanctuary, and given for the song, or to be singers in the temple:

instead of such as open, every womb, [even instead of] the firstborn
of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto me;
(See Gill on Numbers 3:12), and (See Gill on Numbers 3:13).

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Myntn Myntn) "dati, dati", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Drusius and Ainsworth.

Numbers 8:16 In-Context

14 This is the procedure for setting apart the Levites from the rest of the People of Israel; the Levites are exclusively for my use.

15 "After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a Wave-Offering to God, they can go to work in the Tent of Meeting.

16 The Levites have been selected out of the People of Israel for my exclusive use; they function in place of every firstborn male born to an Israelite woman.

17 Every firstborn male in Israel, animal or human, is set apart for my use. When I struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, I consecrated them for my holy uses.

18 But now I take the Levites as stand-ins in place of every firstborn son in Israel,