וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ אֶת יָדָ֛יו עָלָ֖יו וַיְצַוֵּ֑הוּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה בְּיַד מֹשֶֽׁה
and he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.
World English Bible · Public Domain
Numbers 27:23
Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Numbers 27:23 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
English Translation
and he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
and he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.
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King James Version Public Domain
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
and he laid his hands on him, and he commanded him, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 18 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
and he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.
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King James Version Public Domain
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as Jehovah spake by Moses.
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD spake by the hand of Moses.
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
Then he put his handes vpon him, and gaue him a charge, as the Lord had spoken by the hand of Moses.
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
And laying his hands on his head, he repeated all things that the Lord had commanded.
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
and layeth his hands upon him, and chargeth him, as Jehovah hath spoken by the hand of Moses.
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
and lays his hands on him and charges him, as YHWH has spoken by the hand of Moses.
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
He laid his hands on him and commanded him to lead, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
and he laid his hands on him, and he commanded him, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.
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Darby Bible Public Domain
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him commandment, as Jehovah had said through Moses.
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD spoke by Moses.
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
Moses placed his hands on Joshua and dedicated him, just as the Lord had told him to do.
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
And he put his hands on him and gave him his orders, as the Lord had said by Moses.
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JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD spoke by the hand of Moses.
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
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וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ
çâmak
H5564
“and · to lean”
Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- Appears 48× in the Hebrew Bible
- First appears at Genesis 27:37
- Part of Speech
- Conjunction + Verb
- Stem
- Qal
- Form
- Sequential Imperfect
- Person
- 3rd Person
- Gender
- Masculine
- Number
- Singular
Full BDB Definition
to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon
- (Qal)
- to lean or lay upon, rest upon, lean against
- to support, uphold, sustain
- (Niphal) to support or brace oneself
- (Piel) to sustain, refresh, revive
- וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ çâmak H5564 “and · to lean” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
- יָדָ֛יו yâd H3027 “hands · his” Noun, Common, Both, Dual, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- עָלָ֖יו ʻal H5921 “upon · him” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- וַיְצַוֵּ֑הוּ tsâvâh H6680 “and · to command · him” Conjunction + Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר ʼăsher H834 “like/as · which” Preposition + Particle, Relative
- דִּבֶּ֥ר dâbar H1696 “to speak” Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
- יְהוָ֖ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
- בְּיַד yâd H3027 “in/at · hand of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct
- מֹשֶֽׁה Môsheh H4872 “Moses” Noun, Proper
About this verse
These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →
- 10
- words
- 9
- distinct lemmas
- Pentateuch
- section
Shared distinctive vocabulary
וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ to lean H5564 occurs in 47 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:
Grammatical profile
- 3 verbs
- 4 nouns
- 1 preposition
- 2 particles
Verb forms
- וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
- וַיְצַוֵּ֑הוּ Piel · Sequential Imperfect
- דִּבֶּ֥ר Piel · Perfect
Repetition
A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:
- יָדָ֛יו hand H3027 ×2
Hebrew & Septuagint length
In English translation the verse runs 17 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.
A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.
Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.
In the original languages it is 10 Hebrew tokens and 15 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.
Cross-references
3Topical passages linked to Numbers 27:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 3:28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.
- Numbers 27:19 and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.
- Deuteronomy 31:7–8 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.
Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).
Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint
The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.
These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.
καί ἐπιτίθημι ὁ χείρ αὐτός ἐπί αὐτός καί συνἵστημι αὐτός καθάπερ συντάσσω κύριος ὁ μωυσῆς
And he laid his hands on him, and appointed him as the Lord ordered Moses.
LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain
Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →
Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)
The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.
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Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
וּסְמַךְ יָת יְדוֹהִי עֲלוֹהִי וּפַקְדֵיהּ כְּמָא דִי מַלִיל יְיָ בִּידָא דְמשֶׁה
(no public-domain English translation for this verse)
Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
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Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
וּסְמַךְ יַת יְדוֹי עֲלוֹי וּפַקְדֵיהּ הֵיכְמָא דְפַקֵיד יְיָ יַת משֶׁה
and he laid his hands upon him and instructed him, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Lesson kit
Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.
Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 10 words (9 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is çâmak (“to lean”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- What does “to lean” (çâmak) contribute to the verse as a whole?
- Genesis 27:37 shares the word «to lean» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
- “hand” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
- These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
- The verb «וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
- Reading how Geneva Bible (1599) and Adam Clarke's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?
Things to notice
- This verse counts 10 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
- These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
- “hand” occurs 2× in this single verse.
- 9 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 10 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on Numbers 27:23 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.
Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →
Geneva Bible (1599)
Geneva Bible translators
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
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).
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Rashi
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)
Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.