In whom is the spirit Compare Genesis 41:38. Joshua was endowed by God with the requisite spiritual qualifications for the office. Moses howerer, was to lay his hands upon him, both in order to confer formal and public appointment, and also (compare Deuteronomy 34:9) to confirm and strengthen the spiritual gifts already bestowed. The previous reception of the inner grace did not dispense with that of the outward sign; compare the case of Cornelius Acts 10:44-48; and Paul’s baptism after his miraculous conversion Acts 9:18.
Related Commentaries of Numbers 27:18
Numbers 27:18
18 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;