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.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near 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.
- NKJV And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
- NASB So when the tabernacle is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman who comes near it shall be put to death.
- NLT Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Levites alone may dismantle and erect the tabernacle, and any unauthorized person who approaches must die. God's holiness demands reverent, ordered access.
Overview
Only the consecrated Levites may handle the sacred structure; the 'stranger' who intrudes faces death. This severe warning guards the holiness of God's dwelling and teaches that He cannot be approached carelessly. The barrier points to humanity's need for a mediator, fulfilled in Christ, through whom believers now draw near with boldness (Heb. 10:19-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 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 on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.
- Num 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.”
- 1 Sam 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 with a great slaughter.
- Num 18:22No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
- 2 Sam 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.
- Num 4:1–33Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
- Lev 22:10–13No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
- Num 16:40just 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.
- Num 10:17–21Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.
- Num 10:11On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 1:51 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.