Numbers 17:13
in Numbers 17Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth: shall we perish all of us?
KJV
Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
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This verse in Numbers 17
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And Moses did so
on Numbers 17:11-13
Moses obeys in half a verse and the camp answers the sign with panic. Korah had said that all the congregation are holy and every one of them; the same people now say that whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die. Adam Clarke marks the swing between those two claims and reads the word behind we perish as breath failing rather than plain death. The next chapter answers the cry by laying the charge of the sanctuary on Aaron and his sons, so that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If we die, if we perish, it is owing to ourselves, and the blame will lie upon our own heads. Many interpreters take it as expressing their submission: "Now we see that it is the will of God we should keep our distance, and that it is at our peril if we draw nearer than is appointed.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die,....
They strive with God for the dominion; and the question is whose will shall stand. God will rule, but Israel will not be ruled; and this is the quarrel. It is an instance of the grace of God that, having wrought divers miracles to punish sin, he would work one more on purpose to prevent it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
cometh any thing near--that is, nearer than he ought to do; an error into which many may fall. Will the stern justice of God overtake every slight offense?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ל | kol | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַקָּרֵ֧ב׀ | hakarev | <the> [person] approaching | H7131 → | 12 times |
| הַקָּרֵ֛ב | hakarev | <the> [person] approaching | H7131 → | 12 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִשְׁכַּ֥ן | mishkan | [the] tabernacle of | H4908 → | 139 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יָמ֑וּת | yamut | he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הַאִ֥ם | haim | ¿ or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תַּ֖מְנוּ | tamnu | will we complete | H8552 → | 63 times |
| לִגְוֹֽעַ׃ ס | ligvoa' | to die | H1478 → | 24 times |
כֹּ֣לevery
kolH3605 →5413 times
הַקָּרֵ֧ב׀<the> [person] approaching
hakarevH7131 →12 times
הַקָּרֵ֛ב<the> [person] approaching
hakarevH7131 →12 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מִשְׁכַּ֥ן[the] tabernacle of
mishkanH4908 →139 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
יָמ֑וּתhe will die
yamutH4191 →839 times
הַאִ֥ם¿ or
haimH518 →1069 times
תַּ֖מְנוּwill we complete
tamnuH8552 →63 times
לִגְוֹֽעַ׃ סto die
ligvoa'H1478 →24 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
Genesis 3:3but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
it leads to
- Genesis 2:16–17
And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
- 2 Corinthians 6:17
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did…
- Genesis 2:16–17
Through
1 Chronicles 15:13It 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.”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 6:3
They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new…
- 1 Corinthians 14:40
But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.
- 1 Corinthians 11:2
Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Deuteronomy 31:9
So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 6:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.