Numbers 1:51

Translations

Modern

Whenever 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.

Traditional

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.

Literal

And in the going forward of the tabernacle, the Levites shall take it down. And in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites shall set it up. And the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.

Latin

Cum proficiscendum fuerit, deponent Levitæ tabernaculum; cum castrametandum, erigent. Quisquis externorum accesserit, occidetur.

Original

Hebrew

English

Whenever 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.

Notes

Numbers 1:50–53

The Levites had the job of setting up, taking down, moving, and guarding the tabernacle. They kept unauthorized people from coming too close or making it unclean. This protected the Israelites from the Lord's judgment.

Numbers 1:47–54

The tribe of Levi did not serve in Israel's army like the other tribes. This part of Numbers explains how the Levites organized to serve in the tabernacle of the Testimony, which was their main duty.

Theme notes and profiles

Violation of the Sacred

Related verses

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 on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.
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.”
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 with a great slaughter.
Numbers 18:22
No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
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.
Numbers 10:17–21
Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.
Numbers 16:40
…just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.
Numbers 4:1–33
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
Leviticus 22:10–13
No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
Numbers 10:11
On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,

People

Levi: Son of Jacob; progenitor of the Levites

Glossary

Deuteronomy, Book of Genealogy Glory Numbers, Book of Tribe of Levi

Topics

Levites: Exempt from Enrollment for Military Duty Levites: Functions of had Charge of the Tabernacle in the Encampments and on the March Levites: Place of, in Encampments and the March Levites: Set Apart As Ministers of Religion Strangers: Mosaic Law Relating to Their Approaching the Tabernacle Tabernacle: How Prepared for Removal During the Travels of the Israelites Tabernacle: Strangers (Foreigners) Forbidden to Enter Tabernacle: The Levites: Took Down, and Put Up The Levites: Services of Taking Down, Putting Up, and Carrying the Tabernacle

Numbers 1:51

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