Passage

Numbers 6.25

Book: Numbers · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

23. Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel: ye shall say unto them, 24. Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee:

25. Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27. So shall they put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:23-27, ASV)

WEB

23. “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them, 24. ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.

25. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.

Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’ 27. “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:23-27, WEB)

KJV

23. Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24. The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

25. The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:23-27, KJV)

YLT

23. 'Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, saying, Thus ye do bless the sons of Israel, saying to them, 24. 'Jehovah bless thee and keep thee;

25. 'Jehovah cause His face to shine upon thee, and favour thee;

'Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and appoint for thee, peace. 27. 'And they have put My name upon the sons of Israel, and I, I do bless them.' (Numbers 6:23-27, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Yahweh, speaking to Moses, giving the words Aaron and his sons are to speak (Numbers 6:22-23).
Audience: Israel, to be blessed by the priests (Numbers 6:23).
Location: The camp in the wilderness of Sinai.
Time period: At Sinai in the second year after the Exodus, between the census of Numbers 1:1 and the departure on the twentieth day of the second month (Numbers 10:11); traditionally dated to the 15th or 13th century BC, depending on the Exodus chronology.

Theological reading

The second line of the priestly blessing. The blessing has three lines, each opening with the divine name. The second asks that Yahweh "make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee" (Numbers 6:25, ASV). A shining face is an image of favor turned toward someone, and the psalms take up the phrase as a prayer for rescue: "cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved" (Psalm 80:3, ASV).

The face language is relational. Exodus 33:20 says no one can see God's face and live, so the blessing does not promise a visible form. It asks for God's favorable presence and grace, which the next line completes with peace (Numbers 6:26).

The blessing is attested early. A form of it appears on the Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls, dated to the late 7th century BC, the oldest known artifact carrying biblical text.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Josiah Wrote the Bible Objection Defeater, via Numbers 6.24-26

Concepts:

Anthropomorphism
Bible Manuscript Reliability, via Numbers 6.24-26
Biblical Archaeology, via Numbers 6.24-26
Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls, via Numbers 6.24-26

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.