to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 27:15–end
Here, I. Moses prays for a successor. When God had told him that he must die, though it appears elsewhere that he solicited for a reprieve for himself (Deu 3:24, Deu 3:25), yet, when this could not be obtained, he begged earnestly that the work of God might be carried on, though he might not have the honour of finishing it. Envious spirits do not love their successors, but Moses was not one of these. We should concern ourselves, both in our prayers and in our endeavours, for the rising generation, that religion may flourish, and the interests of God's kingdom among men may be maintained and advanced, when we are in our graves. In this prayer Moses expresses, 1. A tender concern for the peopl…
MOSES BEING TOLD OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH, ASKS FOR A SUCCESSOR. (Num 27:12-17)
The Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land--Although the Israelites were now on the confines of the promised land, Moses was not privileged to cross the Jordan, but died on one of the Moabitic range of mountains, to which the general name of Abarim was given (Num 33:47). The privation of this great honor was owing to the unhappy conduct he had manifested in the striking of the rock at Meribah [Num 20:12]; and while the pious leader submitted with meek acquiescence to the divine decree, he evinced the spirit of genuine patriotism in his fervent prayers for the appointment of a…
And Moses spake unto the Lord,.... Having requested to go into the land and see it, which was denied him; and perceiving he must quickly die, and being a man of a public spirit, and concerned for the welfare of the people of Israel, prays that a successor might be nominated and appointed:
saying; as follows.
John Calvin on Numbers 27:15–end
Numbers 27:15-23
15. And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying,
15. Loquutus est igitur Moses ad Jehovam, dicendo:
16. Let the Lord, the God of the of all flesh, set a man over the spirits of the flesh, set a man over the congregation,
16. Praeficiat Jehova Deus spirituum omnis carnis, virum super congregationem:
17. 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; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
17. Qui egrediatur ante eos, et qui ingrediatur ante eos, id est, qui educat eos, et introducat eos, ne sit congregatio Jehovae velut pecudes quae nullum habent pastorera.
18. And th…
The Church Fathers
But meanwhile let us see the greatness of Moses. About to depart from the world, he prays to God that he provide a leader for the people. What are you doing, O Moses? Have you not sons, Gershom and Eleazar? Or if you doubt anything about them, are there not the sons of your brother, a great and excellent man? Why do you not pray to God for them, that he may set them as leaders over the people? But let the princes of the churches learn to mark out for themselves as successors not those who are joined by blood-kinship, nor those who are allied by nearness of flesh, by testament, nor to hand down the headship of the church as an inheritance, but to refer it to the judgment of God, and not to choose him whom human affection commends, but to leave the whole matter of the successor's election to the judgment of God. Could not Moses have chosen a prince for the people, and chosen him by true judgment and by right and just verdict — Moses, to whom God had said: choose elders for the people, whom you yourself know to be elders, and he chose such men in whom the Spirit of God straightway rested, and they all prophesied? Who then could so choose a prince of the people as Moses could? But he does not do this, he does not choose, he does not dare. Why does he not dare? Lest he leave to posterity an example of presumption. But listen to what he says: let the Lord God of spirits and of all flesh provide, he says, a man over this congregation, who may go out before their face and who may go in, and who may lead them out and who may bring them back. If then so great and such a man as Moses does not entrust to his own judgment the choosing of a prince of the people, the appointing of a successor, who will there be who would dare — whether from the common people, who, often stirred by clamors to favor or perhaps to a price, are wont to be moved, or even from the priests themselves, who will there be who would judge himself fit for this — unless it be revealed by the Lord to one who prays and asks? As also God says to Moses: take to yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit of God in himself, and you shall lay your hands upon him; and you shall set him before Eleazar the priest, and give him commands in the sight of the whole congregation, and give charge concerning him before them; and you shall put your glory upon him, that the children of Israel may hear him.…
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
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Appointment of Joshua — Appointment of Joshua
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Consecration of Joshua as the Successor of Moses. - Num 27:15-17. The announcement thus made to Moses led him to entreat the Lord to appoint a leader of His people, that the congregation might not be like a flock without a shepherd. As "God of the spirits of all flesh," i.e., as the giver of life and breath to all creatures (see at Num 16:22), he asks Jehovah to appoint a man over the congregation, who should go out and in before them, and should lead them out and in, i.e., preside over and direct them in all their affairs. ובוא צאת ("go out," and "go in") is a description of the conduct of men in every-day life (Deu 28:6; Deu 31:2; Jos 14:11). והביא הוציא ("lead out," and "bring in") signif…
Israel was on the threshold of a long battle for Canaan; Moses did not want them to flounder without a leader or lose their way like sheep without a shepherd (cp. 1 Kgs 22:17; Ezek 34:5; Matt 9:36).
Rashi on Numbers 27:15
'וידבר משה אל ה וגו׳ AND AND MOSES SPAKE TO THE LORD, [LET THE LORD … SET A MAN OVER THE CONGREGATION] — This statement serves to show the praise of the righteous: when they are about to depart from the world, they abandon all thought of their own affairs and occupy themselves with the affairs of the community (Sifrei Bamidbar 138).
לאמר saying (more lit., to say, i.e., that God should say, or answer him) — He said to Him, “Answer me whether You will appoint a leader for them or not” (Sifrei Bamidbar 138).
