Matthew Poole and continuators on Numbers 11:17

17 And I will come down , and talk with thee there, and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them , and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thy self alone.

Not by local motion, but by my powerful presence and operation. See Gen. 11. 5. and Exod. 34. 5.

(i. e.) I will give the same spirit to them which I have given to thee. But as the spirit was not conveyed to them from or through Moses, but immediately from God, so the spirit or its gifts were not by this means impaired in Moses. The spirit is here put for the gifts of the spirit as it is Num. 27. 18. Ioel 2. 28. Io[illegible: 1+ letters]. 7. 39. Act. 19. 2, 6. 1 Cor. 14. 12, 32. and particularly for the spirit of prophesy, v. 25. whereby they were enabled, as Moses had been and still was, to discern hidden and future things and resolve doubtful and difficult cases, which made them fit for government. It is observable, that God would not, and therefore men should not, call any persons to any office for which they were not sufficiently fit and qualified.

Marginal references: Neh. 9. 20.