Numbers 27:15–23, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Numbers 27:15–23
Joshua Is Commissioned before Priest and Congregation
Moses asks for a shepherd so the people will not be scattered
Moses speaks to the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, asking him to set a man over the congregation who may go out and in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. The request is for the people's continuity, not for a dynasty in Moses' house.
Joshua is commissioned in public, under priestly inquiry
The LORD names Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit. Moses is to take him, lay a hand on him, set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight. Put some of Moses' honor on him, that all the congregation may be obedient. Joshua shall stand before Eleazar, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD. At Eleazar's word they shall go out and come in, Joshua and all the congregation.
Moses does as commanded: he takes Joshua, sets him before Eleazar and the congregation, lays hands on him, and gives him a charge. Shepherd language describes leadership, not livestock. The hand-laying is public and partial—'some' of Moses' honor—not a transfer of infallibility. Future guidance is tied to priestly Urim, not to Joshua deciding alone. The scene does not authorize authoritarian succession.
How this should shape us
Ask for the people's next shepherd before you disappear, and make the charge public. Do not treat laying on of hands as a magic of certainty, and do not use sheep imagery to talk about adults as if they were owned. Shared honor and a priest who must be asked are limits, not decorations.
Teach it back
Explain Numbers 27:15–23 in your own words. Include its place in Numbers' movement from Sinai to Moab, both movements within this thought unit, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters debate source layers, motives, gender, institutional history, Moses' failure, Joshua's relation to Eleazar, and whether specific scenes defend or critique power. The text's own gaps require stated uncertainty. For “Joshua Is Commissioned before Priest and Congregation,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Numbers 27:15–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 27:15–23
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 27:15–23
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Supports: Women's successful legal petition, inheritance development, closing marriage restriction, agency, and patriarchal limits.
TheTorah, “Zelophehad's Daughters Challenge the Law—and Moses Is Speechless,” complete Numbers 27 and 36 discussion of petition, divine ruling, inheritance, tribal restriction, women, and later reception, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Supports: Scout versus spy vocabulary, report layers, leadership roles, final-form crisis, and compositional alternatives.
TheTorah, “The Story of the Anonymous Scouts Modified by the Book of Numbers,” complete comparison of Numbers 13–14 with Deuteronomy 1 and source-compositional proposal, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 27:15–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 27:15–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 27:15–23
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Numbers Part 2
Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open gender law and reception study
Zelophehad's Daughters Challenge the Law and Moses Is Speechless
Nehama Aschkenasy
TheTorah.com, 2024
Supports: Women's successful legal petition, inheritance development, closing marriage restriction, agency, and patriarchal limits.
Exact location: TheTorah, “Zelophehad's Daughters Challenge the Law—and Moses Is Speechless,” complete Numbers 27 and 36 discussion of petition, divine ruling, inheritance, tribal restriction, women, and later reception, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open compositional study
The Story of the Anonymous Scouts, Modified by the Book of Numbers
TheTorah.com named scholarly contributor
TheTorah.com, 2022
Supports: Scout versus spy vocabulary, report layers, leadership roles, final-form crisis, and compositional alternatives.
Exact location: TheTorah, “The Story of the Anonymous Scouts Modified by the Book of Numbers,” complete comparison of Numbers 13–14 with Deuteronomy 1 and source-compositional proposal, applied to Numbers 27:15–23
Open source ↗