Numbers 1:51
in Numbers 1Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
KJV
And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
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This verse in Numbers 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The custody of the things devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that "no stranger"--that is, no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to approach these [Nu 16:40].
This site's exposition
thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony
on Numbers 1:50-53
Levi is taken off one service and put to another, taking the tabernacle down, setting it up, bearing it and camping around it. The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death, and the stranger meant is any Israelite outside Levi, a rule repeated at 3:10, 3:38 and 18:7 and tested by Korah in chapter 16. Israel pitches by standard at a distance, Levi forms a ring between, and verse 53 states the reason outright, that there be no wrath upon the congregation. The word standard occurs at verse 52 for the first time in Scripture, before chapter 2 names the four.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And when the tabernacle setteth forward,....
Thus we all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God until we are first called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and so, being the spiritual seed of that great high priest, are made priests to our God; and it is promised that God would take Levites to himself, even from the Gentiles, Isa. lxvi.
Note, Great care must be taken to prevent sin, because the preventing of sin is the preventing of wrath. It was their further honour that as Israel, being a holy people, was not reckoned among the nations, so they, being a holy tribe, were not reckoned among other Israelites, but numbered afterwards by themselves,
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבִנְסֹ֣עַ | uvinsoa' | and when sets out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן | hamishkan | the tabernacle | H4908 → | 139 times |
| יוֹרִ֤ידוּ | yoridu | they will take down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| אֹתוֹ֙ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֔ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| וּבַחֲנֹת֙ | uvachanot | and when encamps | H2583 → | 143 times |
| הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן | hamishkan | the tabernacle | H4908 → | 139 times |
| יָקִ֥ימוּ | yakimu | they will raise up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֑ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| וְהַזָּ֥ר | vehazar | and the stranger | H2114 → | 77 times |
| הַקָּרֵ֖ב | hakarev | <the> approaching | H7131 → | 12 times |
| יוּמָֽת׃ | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
וּבִנְסֹ֣עַand when sets out
uvinsoa'H5265 →146 times
הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ןthe tabernacle
hamishkanH4908 →139 times
יוֹרִ֤ידוּthey will take down
yoriduH3381 →381 times
אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
הַלְוִיִּ֔םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
וּבַחֲנֹת֙and when encamps
uvachanotH2583 →143 times
הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ןthe tabernacle
hamishkanH4908 →139 times
יָקִ֥ימוּthey will raise up
yakimuH6965 →628 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
הַלְוִיִּ֑םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
וְהַזָּ֥רand the stranger
vehazarH2114 →77 times
הַקָּרֵ֖ב<the> approaching
hakarevH7131 →12 times
יוּמָֽת׃he will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 3:38Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service…
it leads to
- Numbers 3:10
So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 3:10
Through
2 Samuel 6:7And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 6:19
But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them…
- 1 Chronicles 15:13
It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
- 1 Samuel 6:19
Through
1 Samuel 6:19But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them…
it leads to
- Numbers 4:20
But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”
- Exodus 19:21
and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
- Numbers 4:20
Through
Numbers 3:10So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
it leads to
- Numbers 3:38
Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 18:7
But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 3:38
Through
Numbers 18:22No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:9
The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
- Leviticus 22:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.