^27:18The Lord replied²⁸ to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit,²⁹ and lay your hand on him;³⁰^27:19set him³¹ before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission³² him publicly.³³^27:20Then you must delegate³⁴ some of your authority³⁵ to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient.³⁶

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Footnotes

28 Or “said.”
29 The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”
30 This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.
31 This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”
32 The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.
33 Heb “in their eyes.”
34 The verb is simply “give,” but in this context giving some of Moses’ honor to Joshua in the presence of the people is essentially passing the leadership to him, or delegating the authority to him with the result that people would follow him.
35 The Greek, , and read “glory” for this form that occurs only here in the Pentateuch. Elsewhere it is rendered “majesty, splendor” (see Ps 96:6). It could even be “vitality” here. The authority being transferred here is both spiritual and civil.
36 Heb “hear.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Have him stand before the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him.

NLTNew Living Translation

The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and place your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the entire community, and commission him in their sight. You will give to him from your authority so that the entire community of Israel will obey him.

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

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