Numbers 8:10

Num 8:10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

Ver. 10. Shall put their hands.] Imposition of hands is an ancient rite at the ordination of ministers.

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.

Num 8:10. The children of Israel — Not all of them, which was impossible, but some in the name of all the princes or chiefs of each tribe, who used to transact things in the name of their tribes. Put their hands — Whereby they signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the firstborn, in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites, and their entire resignation and dedication of them to God’s service.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:10-11 By the laying on of hands, Israel recognized the Levites’ special status and offered them as their representatives before the Lord (8:16).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, certain of them in the name of the whole.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 10. Shall put their hands upon the Levites] It has been argued from this that the congregation had a part in the appointment of their own ministers, and that this was done by the imposition of hands. However that may be, it appears that what was done on this occasion meant no more than that the people gave up this whole tribe to God in place of their firstborn; and that by this act they bound themselves to provide for them who, because of their sacred service, could follow no secular work. And surely it was right, that they who served the altar should live by the altar. The ministers of God perform offices for the people which the people cannot perform for themselves; and nothing can be more reasonable than that the people should give them the necessaries and comforts of life while they are thus employed in their behalf.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Shall put their hands upon the Levites.—The same phrase is here used as in Num_8:12, and elsewhere, of the offerer who was required to lay his hand upon the victim which he offered in sacrifice. By this symbolical act the obligation which rested upon the whole nation in regard to the dedication of the firstborn was transferred to the Levites, who were thenceforth to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, and given over to the priests as the representatives of the Lord.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. shall lay their hands] Through their representatives (Num_1:4-16), to indicate that the whole community offered the Levites as their gift. Cf. the same action in the case of the burnt-offering (Lev_1:4).

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.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord,.... From the door of the tabernacle, to the altar of burnt offering, where the Lord was in some sense present to accept the sacrifices offered to him:

and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites; as were used to be put upon sacrifices, for the Levites were themselves offered for an offering of the children of Israel, as is expressed in Num 8:11; by which rite they signified that they voluntarily parted with them, and gave them up to the Lord, and transferred their service to them, in which they were to serve in their room and stead; these, according to some Jewish writers, were the firstborn of Israel that laid their hands on the Levites, a type of the general assembly and church of the firstborn; or rather the princes and heads of the tribes, who represented the whole body. Some think by this rite is signified the consent of the people in the designation and appointment of the ministers of the word to their work and office; but what in the New Testament seems to answer to this is, the laying of the hands of the presbytery on ministers of the word, Ti1 4:14.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Upon them. Some of the princes performed this ceremony, to testify that they gave up the Levites to serve God, (ver. 15,) and would not be answerable, if they were guilty of any irreverence or neglect. (Calmet) --- They offered them as a sort of sacrifice for the people, (Menochius) and gave their approbation to them, setting them at liberty, ver. 14., and 20. (Du Hamel)

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 children of Israel; not all of them, which was impossible, but some in the name and stead, and by the appointment of all, to wit, either the first-born, or rather the princes or chiefs of each tribe, who used to transact things in the name of their tribes.

Put their hands upon the Levites; whereby they signified their transferring of that right of ministering to God from the first-born, in whose hands it formerly was, unto the Levites, and their renouncing of their interest in the Levites, from whom they might otherwise have expected help by their persons or purses, as they did from other tribes, in their common concernments, and their entire resignation and dedication of them to God’s service; as the person offering, by laying his hand upon the head of his sacrifice, Lev 1:4, signified his translation of his guilt upon the beast, and his dedication of it unto God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Before the Lord. As in Num_5:16, either near the brazen altar, or more probably before the entrance of the tabernacle. And the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. Presumably by means of their representatives, probably the tribe princes. This laying on of hands signified that the obligation to assist personally in the service of the sanctuary was transferred from the whole congregation to the Levites.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The children of Israel - Not all of them, which was impossible, but some in the name of all the princes or chiefs of each tribe, who used to transact things in the name of their tribes. Put their hands - Whereby they signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the first-born in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites, and their entire resignation and dedication of them to God's service.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

After this the Levites were to come before Jehovah, i.e., in front of the altar; and the children of Israel, i.e., the tribe-princes in the name of the Israelites, were to lay their hands upon them, not merely "as a sign that they released them from the possession of the nation, and assigned them and handed them over to Jehovah" (Knobel), but in order that by this symbolical act they might transfer to the Levites the obligation resting upon the whole nation to serve the Lord in the persons of its first-born sons, and might present them to the Lord as representatives of the first-born of Israel, to serve Him as living sacrifices.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)