Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, 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.
- KJV Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, 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.
- 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 22:9“‘They shall therefore follow my requirements, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
- Lev 20:20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.
- Num 3:10You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
- Num 1:51–52When 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.
- Num 3:38Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
- Num 18:7You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near 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.