Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary. The others set up the tabernacle before they arrived.
- KJV And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came.
- NKJV Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. (The tabernacle would be prepared for their arrival.)
- NASB Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.
- NLT Next came the Kohathite division of the Levites, carrying the sacred objects from the Tabernacle. Before they arrived at the next camp, the Tabernacle would already be set up at its new location.
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 Kohathites carried the sanctuary's holy items, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived. The most sacred things were borne with special care.
Overview
The Kohathites carried the holy furnishings, timed so the tabernacle structure was reassembled before they reached the new site. This careful arrangement honored the holiness of the sanctuary objects, reflecting the reverence due to all that pertains to God's presence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Num 10:17Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.
- Num 4:4–16This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things.
- Num 7:9But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.
- Num 1:51Whenever 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.
- Num 3:27–32From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.
- Num 2:17In the middle of the camps, the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the Levites. They are to set out in the order they encamped, each in his own place under his standard.
- 1 Chr 15:12–15And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
- 1 Chr 15:2Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”
- Num 4:20But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 10:21 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
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