Christian Standard Bible
Numbers 1:51
51Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it is to be put to death.
Numbers 1:51 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.
- English Standard Version (ESV)When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.
- New King James Version (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.
Context of Numbers 1:51
49“Do not register or take a census of the tribe of Levi with the other Israelites. 50Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it is to be put to death. 52“The Israelites are to camp by their military divisions, each man with his encampment and under his banner. 53The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the Israelite community.”
Read all of Numbers 1Numbers 1:51 word by word
וּבִנְסֹ֣עַ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן יוֹרִ֤ידוּ אֹתוֹ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם וּבַחֲנֹת֙ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן יָקִ֥ימוּ אֹת֖וֹ הַלְוִיִּ֑ם וְהַזָּ֥ר הַקָּרֵ֖ב יוּמָֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And when the tabernacleמִשְׁכָּןmishkân · tabernacleH4908
- setteth forwardנָסַעnâsa‛ · to set outH5265
- the Levitesלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
- shall take it downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- is to be pitchedחָנָהchânâh · to campH2583
- shall set it upקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
- and the strangerזוּרzûr · be a strangerH2114
- that cometh nighקָרֵבqârêb · approachingH7131
- shall be put to deathמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
Cross-references for Numbers 1:51
- Numbers 4:5Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
- Numbers 10:11During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony.
- Numbers 3:10You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
- Numbers 16:40just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord and become like Korah and his followers.
- Numbers 18:22The Israelites must never again come near the tent of meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
- Leviticus 22:10“No one outside a priest’s family is to eat the holy offering. A foreigner staying with a priest or a hired worker is not to eat the holy offering.
- 1 Samuel 6:19God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter.
- 2 Samuel 6:7Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.
Commentaries on Numbers 1:51
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 47-54Verses 47-54 When a census of the tribe of Levi takes place. Numbers 3:15; Numbers 26:62, “all” the males are counted from a month old and upward, and not, as in the other tribes, those only who were of age for service in the field. Numbers 1:48 had spoken - Render spake. The formal appointment is only now made, in reward for their zeal Exodus 32:26-29, though reference to their future office appears previously in Leviticus 25:32 ff, and they had already…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 47-54Verses 47-54 Care is here taken to distinguish the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself. Singular services shall be recompensed by singular honours. It was to the honour of the Levites, that to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and its treasures, in their camps and in their marches. It was for the honour of the holy things that none should see them, or touch them, but those who were called of God to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 50-53The Levites had the job of setting up, taking down, moving, and guarding the tabernacle. They kept unauthorized people from coming too close or making it unclean. This protected the Israelites from the Lord's judgment.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 47-5447-54. But the Levites ... were not numbered among them--They were obliged to keep a register of their own. They were consecrated to the priestly office, which in all countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that "no stranger"--that is, no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 1:51
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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