“Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
Parallel Translations
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“Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
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Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
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'Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Numbers 27:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 16:22 They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
- Jeremiah 3:15 I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
- Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
- Deuteronomy 31:14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him.” Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Samuel 12:13 Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for. Behold, Yahweh has set a king over you.
- Ezekiel 34:23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
- Ezekiel 37:24 “ ‘ “My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
- Matthew 9:38 Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”
- John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- Acts 20:28 Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
- 1 Peter 5:2-4 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly; not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
- 1 Kings 5:5 Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house for my name.’
- Jeremiah 23:4-5 I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says Yahweh. “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
- Ezekiel 34:11-16 “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on fat pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.” ’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Who as he hath created, so he governeth the…
Who as he hath created, so he governeth the hearts of all men.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 27:16 Let the LORD, the God of the…
Num 27:16 Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
Ver. 16. The God of the spirits of all flesh.] "Thou, Lord, that knowest the hearts of all men." {Act 1:24} {See Trapp on "Act 1:24"} Artificers know well the nature and properties of their own work. Deus intimior nobis intimo nostro.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain All flesh, i.e. of all men; the Searcher of…
All flesh, i.e. of all men; the Searcher of spirits, that knowest who is fit for this great employment; the Father, and Giver, and Governor of spirits, who canst raise and suit the spirits of men to the highest and hardest works, as thou didst those Num 11:16,17. See Num 16:22.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Which may go out before them, and which may…
Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in,.... Which may lead them out, and go before them in war, and command them in battle and bring them in peace, having conquered their enemies; or these phrases only mean the administration of civil government among them, and diligence and assiduity in it, see Ch2 1:10, unless it has any peculiar respect to the leading the people of Israel out of the wilderness, and introducing them into the land of Canaan:
that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd; and so wander about, having none to guide them into proper pastures, or to protect them from beasts of prey; which is to be in a most forlorn and distressed condition; see Mat 9:36.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The Lord of the spirits of all flesh -…
The Lord of the spirits of all flesh - God of all men: the searcher of spirits, that knowest who is fit for this great employment; the father and giver and governor of spirits, who canst raise and suit the spirits of men to the highest and hardest works.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. The Lord, the God of the spirits…
Verse 16. The Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh] See Clarke on Nu 16:22.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 27:16. The God of the spirits of all…
Num 27:16. The God of the spirits of all flesh — God of all men; the Searcher of spirits, that knowest who is fit for this great employment; the Father, and Giver, and Governor of spirits, who canst raise and suit the spirits of men to the highest and hardest works.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The God of the spirits of all flesh -…
The God of the spirits of all flesh - An acknowledgment that man, who is but flesh (compare Gen 6:3), is of himself helpless; and “lives and moves and has his being” in God Act 17:28. The words are suitably employed here to introduce an entreaty that God would not leave the congregation without a guide and leader, and in Num 16:22 as a preface to an intercession that the whole people should not suffer for the sin of a, few.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Flesh, who gives life, and penetrates the secrets of…
Flesh, who gives life, and penetrates the secrets of hearts, chap. xvi. 22.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain God of the spirits of all flesh, set a…
God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation--The request was most suitably made to God in this character, as the Author of all the intellectual gifts and moral graces with which men are endowed, and who can raise up qualified persons for the most arduous duties and the most difficult situations.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain JOSHUA PUBLICLY CONSECRATED AS THE SUCCESSOR OF MOSES, Num_27:15-23.
JOSHUA PUBLICLY CONSECRATED AS THE SUCCESSOR OF MOSES, Num_27:15-23.
16. The spirits of all flesh — The distinction between mind and matter is here clearly taught by Moses. In answer to the objection that the Hebrew word ruach signifies only breath, we quote the following from Sir W. Hamilton: “The term soul, (and what I say of the term soul is true of the term spirit,) though in this country less employed than the term mind, may be regarded as another synonyme for the unknown basis of the mental phenomena. Like nearly all words significant of the internal world, there is here a metaphor borrowed from the external; and this is the case not merely in one, but, as far as we can trace the analogy, in all languages. You are aware that ψυχη, the Greek term for soul, comes from ψυχω, I breathe or blow, as πνευμα, in Greek, and spiritus, in Latin, from verbs of the same signification. In like manner, anima and animus are words which, though in Latin they have lost their primary signification, and are only known in their secondary or metaphorical sense, yet in their original physical meaning are preserved in the Greek ανεμος, wind or air. The English soul, and the German seele, come from a Gothic root saivala, which signifies to storm. Ghost, the old English word for spirit in general, and so used in our English version of the Scriptures, is the same as the German geist, and is derived from gas or gescht, which signifies air. In like manner the two words in Hebrew for soul or spirit, nephesh and ruach, are derivatives of a root which means to breathe; and in Sanscrit the word atma (analogous to the Greek ατμος, vapor or air) signifies both mind and wind or air.” Jehovah is here styled the God of all human spirits, to intimate his perfect acquaintance with the mental, moral, and spiritual characteristics of all men, and hence his ability to select the man who should succeed to the leadership of Israel, soon to be made vacant by the death of Moses.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. the God of the spirits of all flesh]…
16. the God of the spirits of all flesh] See on Num_16:22.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Let the Lord . . . —We have…
(16) Let the Lord . . . —We have a remarkable instance here of the true greatness of Moses, as a type of Him whose words were, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luk_23:28). Instead of indulging in excessive grief, or in unavailing remorse, the mind of Moses was intently fixed upon the welfare of those for whose sake he had been willing that his own name should be blotted out of the Book (Exo_32:32); and instead of appointing one of his own family, or the man of his own choice, as his successor, he commits the matter to God, and prays that He will appoint one who would be a true shepherd to the flock.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of…
Num_27:16-23
Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.
Read full note →
The spiritual leaders of men
I. The worlds need of spiritual leaders.
1. The great majority of every generation are uninventive, unaspiring, cringing, servile, thoughtless, ignorant. They not only walk in moral darkness, but lack the desire, if not the capacity, to struggle into the light of moral principles.
2. Clearly, then, they require spiritual leaders, men who shall point out to them the way of honesty, truth, purity, and holiness, marching before them in all the stateliness of the Christly morality.
II. The genuine type of spiritual leaders.
1. The true spiritual leader must be a man. Not an idiot, not a charlatan, not a functionary. A man is a person who has right convictions of moral duty, and honestly embodies them in his daily life.
2. The true spiritual leader must be a man inspired by God. No man can be a true moral leader of the people who has not within him, as the all-animating and directing force, an unutterable abhorrence of wrong and an invincible attachment to the right, whose whole nature does not beat and beam with the soul of Divine morality.
III. The Divine succession of spiritual leaders. They are all in the hands of God.
1. He takes the greatest spiritual leaders away by death.
2. He raises others to supply their place. One enters into anothers labours. (Homilist.)
A model ordination service
I. That the person ordained should be chosen of God for his work. Moses asked the Lord to set a man over the congregation, &c. (Num_27:16-17). And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, &c. So now the Christian minister should be--
1. Called by God to His work.
2. Appointed by God to his sphere of work.
II. That the ordination is to the most important work.
III. That the ordination should be conducted by tried men.
IV. The ordination should be accompanied with the imposition of hands.
V. That the ordination should include a charge to the ordained, Give him a charge. The duties and responsibilities of the office should be laid before those who are being set apart to it; and the experience of godly and approved men should be made available for the direction of the inexperienced. What wise and inspiring things Moses would say to Joshua in this charge! What sage counsels drawn from his ripe experience! &c.
VI. That the ordination should be conducted in the presence of the people. Moreover, such an arrangement--
1. Is more impressive to the person being ordained. There present with him are the immortal souls for whom he has to live and labour.
2. Tends to influence the people beneficially. As they hear of the important duties and solemn responsibilities of their minister, they should be awakened to deeper solicitude and more earnest prayer on his behalf, and to heartier co-operation with him.
VII. The ordination should confer honour upon the person ordained.
VIII. That a person so chosen of God, should seek special direction from Him, and seeking, shall obtain it.
1. A warning against self-sufficiency.
2. A source of encouragement and strength. (W. Jones.)
The God of the spirits of all flesh
I. The affecting view here furnished of the agency and dominion of God in connection with the human mind.
1. God imparts the powers of the spirit. We have nothing self-derived.
2. He claims the affections of the spirit.
3. He heals the disorders and sympathises with the sorrows of the spirit.
4. He alone can constitute the happiness of the spirit.
5. He will decide upon the future destiny of the spirit.
II. The moral uses of these contemplations.
1. Let them teach you reverence for the human mind.
2. Let them impress you with thoughts of the vast importance of personal religion.
3. Let them inspire you with practical efforts to benefit and bless society. By education-by missions, &c.
4. Let them kindle hope for the prospects of the human race. (S. Thodey.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.