Numbers 4:20
in Numbers 4But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
KJV
But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
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This verse in Numbers 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhen the holy things are covered - Literally, כבלע keballa, when they are swallowed down; which shows the promptitude with which every thing belonging to the holy of holies was put out of sight, for these mysteries must ever be treated with the deepest reverence; and indeed without this they could not have been to them the representatives of heavenly realities. See the concluding note Num 4:36 (note).
This site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses
on Numbers 4:17-20
The warning goes to Moses and Aaron rather than to the men in danger, and it takes the form of a charge to the priests, cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites. Careless covering would destroy the family that carries, so the weight of the risk sits on the men who pack. Verse 20 keeps the bearers out while the holy things are being covered, which means the Kohathites handled what they were never permitted to see. Adam Clarke observes that the Hebrew behind covered is nearer to swallowed up, and Henry read the whole arrangement as the darkness of that dispensation, which is a reading of the older commentators rather than a claim the text makes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered,.... They were not to be present while they were packing up, test they should see any of them with their eyes; they were not to go in until they were quite covered out of sight; which may signify the hiding of the mysteries of grace in those things under the former dispensation, when even the Levites themselves were not admitted to a sight of them; see Eph 3:4, lest they die; by the immediate hand of God.
Even those that bore the vessels of the Lord saw not what they bore, so much were even those in the dark concerning the gospel whose office it was to expound the law.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
to see when the holy things are covered - Render: to see the holy things for an instant. The expression means Iiterally” as a gulp,” i. e. for the instant it takes to swallow.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָבֹ֧אוּ | yavou | they will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לִרְא֛וֹת | lirot | to see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כְּבַלַּ֥ע | kevala' | as a swallowing | H1104 → | 49 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ | hakodesh | the holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וָמֵֽתוּ׃ פ | vametu | and they will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָבֹ֧אוּthey will go
yavouH935 →2568 times
לִרְא֛וֹתto see
lirotH7200 →1300 times
כְּבַלַּ֥עas a swallowing
kevala'H1104 →49 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁthe holy thing
hakodeshH6944 →469 times
וָמֵֽתוּ׃ פand they will die
vametuH4191 →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
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
- 2 Samuel 6:7
And 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 4:15
When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- 2 Samuel 6:7
Through
Leviticus 10:2So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:61
but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.
- Leviticus 9:24
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell…
- Numbers 26:61
Through
Numbers 4:15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 6:6–7
When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.
- Numbers 7:9
But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.
- 2 Samuel 6:6–7
Through
Exodus 19:21and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
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 Samuel 6:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.