Numbers 11:16

And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָ֜ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said	וַיֹּ֨אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֗ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
Gather	אֶסְפָה 'es.fah-	H622	to gather for any purpose · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
seventy	שִׁבְעִ֣ים shiv.'Im	H7657	seventy · cardinal number, masculine plural absolute
men	אִישׁ֮ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
elders	מִזִּקְנֵ֣י mi.zik.Nei	H2205	old · preposition + adjective, masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
knowest	יָדַ֔עְתָּ ya.Da'.ta	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
elders	זִקְנֵ֥י zik.Nei	H2205	old · adjective, masculine plural construct
people	הָעָ֖ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
officers	וְשֹׁטְרָ֑יו ve.sho.te.Rav	H7860	properly · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
bring	וְלָקַחְתָּ֤ ve.la.kach.Ta	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
tabernacle	אֹ֣הֶל 'O.hel	H168	a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · noun, common masculine singular construct
congregation	מוֹעֵ֔ד mo.'Ed	H4150	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
stand	וְהִֽתְיַצְּב֥וּ ve.hit.ya.tze.Vu	H3320	to place (any thing so as to stay) · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar o…
Exodus 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Genesis 46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three…
Deuteronomy 1:15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds,…
Deuteronomy 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge t…
Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he hi…
Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Exodus 4:29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 11:16-23

We have here God's gracious answer to both the foregoing complaints, wherein his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. I. Provision is made for the redress of the grievances Moses complains of. If he find the weight of government lie too heavy upon him, though he was a little too passionate in his remonstrance, yet he shall be eased, not by being discarded from the government himself, as he justly might have been if God had been extreme to mark what he said amiss, but by having assistants appointed him, who should be, as the apostle speaks (Co1 12:28), helps, governments (that is, helps in government), not at all to lesson or eclipse his honour, b…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 11:16

the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders-- (Exo 3:16; Exo 5:6; Exo 24:9; Exo 18:21, Exo 18:24; Lev 4:15). An order of seventy was to be created, either by a selection from the existing staff of elders or by the appointment of new ones, empowered to assist him by their collective wisdom and experience in the onerous cares of government. The Jewish writers say that this was the origin of the Sanhedrin, or supreme appellate court of their nation. But there is every reason to believe that it was only a temporary expedient, adopted to meet a trying exigency.

John Gill on Numbers 11:16

And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Without making any reflection upon him, or upbraiding him with his unbecoming speeches to him, but in a kind and tender manner directs for his assistance and case: gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel; out from among them, such as were not only men in years, but men of gravity, prudence, and wisdom; elders there were among the people in Egypt, Exodus 3:16; and it was from among such as those the seventy men were to be taken; we read of seventy elders before this time, that went up to the mount with Moses, Exodus 24:1; but they are supposed only to be selected for that purpose at that time, and did not continue as a separate body, or in any off…

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The Church Fathers

So also the Lord says to Moses: "Choose for yourself presbyters, whom you yourself know to be presbyters." Let us look more diligently at the Lord's word — what that addition may mean, by which He says: "whom you yourself know to be presbyters." Surely he who bore the senile age of the body was not manifest to the eyes of all as being a presbyter, that is, an old man? Why then is this special inspection enjoined upon Moses alone, so great and so notable a prophet, that those be chosen not whom other men know, not whom the untrained crowd recognizes, but whom the prophet full of God shall have chosen? For the judgment concerning them is not about the body, not about age, but about the mind.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 3.3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Congregation — (Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the…
Eldad — Whom God has loved, one of the seventy elders whom Moses appointed (Num. 11:26, 27) to administer justice among the people. He, with Medad, prophesied in the camp instead of going with the rest to…
Elder — A name frequently used in the Old Testament as denoting a person clothed with authority, and entitled to respect and reverence (Gen. 50:7). It also denoted a political office (Num. 22:7). The “elders…
Manna — Heb. man-hu, “What is that?” the name given by the Israelites to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wanderings in the wilderness (Ex. 16:15-35). The name is commonly taken as derived…
Number — Like most Oriental nations, it is probable that the Hebrews in their written calculations made use of the letters of the alphabet. That they did so in post-Babylonian times we have conclusive…
Prophet — (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning “to bubble forth, as from a fountain,” hence “to utter”, comp. Ps. 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of…
Sanhedrim — More correctly Sanhedrin (Gr. synedrion), meaning “a sitting together,” or a “council.” This word (rendered “council,” A.V.) is frequently used in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22; 26:59; Mark 15:1,…
Sanhedrin — (from the Greek sunedrion, “a council-chamber” commonly but in correctly Sanhedrim), the supreme council of the Jewish people in the time of Christ and earlier.
Courts Of Justice · Sanhedrim or court of the seventy: Probably derived from the seventy elders appointed by Moses — Sanhedrim or court of the seventy: Probably derived from the seventy elders appointed by Moses
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The

Numbers 11:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 11:16-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 11:16

John Gill on Numbers 11:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 11:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 11:16-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 11:16

John Gill on Numbers 11:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Numbers 11:16-17

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 11:16-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 11:16-30

Rashi on Numbers 11:16