Numbers 8:14

14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children 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 [for] a sin-offering, and the other [for] a burnt-offering, to the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.

13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them [for] an offering to the LORD.

14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

15 And after that shall the Levites go in to perform the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them [for] an offering.

16 For they [are] wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, [even instead of] the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them to me.