“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
- KJV Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
- NKJV “Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
- NASB “Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites.
- NLT “Do not let the Kohathite clans be destroyed from among the Levites!
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
God warns that the Kohathite clan must not be cut off from among the Levites. Their sacred service must be carried out in a way that preserves their lives.
Overview
Because the Kohathites handled the most holy things, careless contact could bring divine judgment and threaten the clan's survival. God's command shows His concern to protect them through right order rather than to destroy them. This balance of holiness and mercy points to the gospel, where God's justice and His desire to save His people meet in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 17:10The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”
- 2 Sam 6:6–7When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.
- Num 18:5And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.
- 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.
- Exod 19:21and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
- Jer 38:23All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”
- Num 16:32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
- Lev 10:1–2Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
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 4:18 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.