Numbers 27:16-19

27:16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, ¹  appoint ²  a man over the community, 27:17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, ³  and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that ⁴  the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

27:18 The Lord replied ⁵  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ⁶  and lay your hand on him; ⁷  27:19 set him ⁸  before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission ⁹  him publicly. ¹⁰ 

[27:16]  ¹ tn Heb “flesh”; cf. NAB, NIV “all mankind”; NCV “all people”; NLT “all living things.”

[27:16]  ² tn This is the same verb פָּקַד (paqad) that is used throughout the book for the aspect of “numbering” the people.

[27:17]  ³ sn This is probably technical terminology for a military leader (Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:13-16; 1 Kgs 3:7; 2 Kgs 11:9). The image of a shepherd can also be military in nature (1 Kgs 22:17).

[27:17]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the conjunction with the negated imperfect tense, “and it will not be.” This clause should be subordinated to the preceding to form a result clause, and the imperfect then function as a final imperfect.

[27:18]  ⁵ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ⁶ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ⁷ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:19]  ⁸ tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”

[27:19]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.

[27:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in their eyes.”