And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel:

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tent of meeting; and thou shalt gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt convene the whole assembly of the children of Israel:

and thou hast brought near the Levites before the tent of meeting, and thou hast assembled the whole company of the sons of Israel,

And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together:

And you shall bring forward the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the sons of Israel.

Tunc offeres Levitas coram tabernaculo conventionis: et congregabis omnem coetum filiorum Israel.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the (d) whole assembly of the children of Israel together:
(d) That you may do this in the presence of them all.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation,.... Not without it, but within it, in the court of the tabernacle, at least at the door of it, where stood the altar of burnt offering, on which sacrifices for them were now to be offered:
and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together; the heads of the tribes, and elders of the people, as Aben Ezra interprets this phrase in Leviticus 8:3; where the whole congregation is said to be assembled at the consecration of the priests, as here at the consecration of the Levites, having a concern therein, as well as to be spectators and witnesses of this solemn affair; and no doubt as many of them as could conveniently assemble at the door of the tabernacle did, though every individual of that large body of people could not possibly do it.

thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together, &c.--As it was plainly impossible that the whole multitude of the Israelites could do this, a select portion of them must be meant. This party, who laid their hands upon the Levites, are supposed by some to have been the first-born, who by that act, transferred their peculiar privilege of acting as God's ministers to the Levitical tribe; and by others, to have been the princes, who thus blessed them. It appears, from this passage, that the imposition of hands was a ceremony used in consecrating persons to holy offices in the ancient, as, from the example of our Lord and His apostles, it has been perpetuated in the Christian Church.

Moses was then to cause them to draw near before the tabernacle, i.e., to enter the court, and to gather together the whole congregation of Israel, viz., in the persons of their heads and representatives.