Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
Parallel translations
- WEB Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.
- BSB No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
- NKJV Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die.
- NASB And the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die.
- NLT “From now on, no Israelites except priests or Levites may approach the Tabernacle. If they come too near, they will be judged guilty and will die.
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 ordinary Israelites were warned not to approach the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin and die.
Overview
To protect the people from the deadly danger of God's holiness, direct access to the sanctuary was restricted to the appointed ministers. This boundary answered the people's earlier fear of perishing. The need for mediated access highlights the gulf sin creates between God and people, a gulf bridged only in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Lev 22:9They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.
- Lev 20:20And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
- Num 3:10And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
- Num 1:51–52And 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.
- Num 3:38But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
- Num 18:7Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
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 18:22 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.