But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
- KJV And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
- NKJV I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
- NASB But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel.
- NLT Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God formally takes the Levites in exchange for all Israel's firstborn. The whole tribe stands in for the firstborn He owns.
Overview
This verse restates the substitution: the Levites are accepted by God instead of the firstborn of every family. It shows God graciously providing a way for His claim on the firstborn to be honored through a designated, set-apart group, a pattern of representative substitution completed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
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Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 8:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.