Numbers 1:51

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“Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites. 50But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, the Levites must set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it must be killed. 52“The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard. 53But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 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 4:5When it is time for the camp to journey, Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
• Numbers 10:11On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.
• Numbers 3:10So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; but the unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.”
• Numbers 16:40It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority of Moses.
• Numbers 18:22No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin and die.
• Leviticus 22:10“‘No lay person may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy,
• 1 Samuel 6:19But the Lord struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.
• 2 Samuel 6:7The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him on the spot for his negligence. He died right there beside 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

• Levites
• Strangers
• Tabernacle

In the dictionaries

• Condition
• Double
• Encamp
• Express
• Levite
• Refuge, Cities of
• Sinai
• Sum
• Unity
• Whereas

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