Numbers 1:51

Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God issues this command through Moses to the Israelite assembly as they prepare to mobilize from Sinai. The directive assigns the Levites the operational duty of dismantling and erecting the tabernacle while establishing a strict boundary for the rest of the camp.

The words — The text hinges on יָקִימוּ (ya.Ki.mu), meaning they will raise up, and יוֹרִידוּ (yo.Ri.du), meaning they will take down, which frame the precise physical actions required of the Levites.

The thread — This prohibition against unauthorized proximity appears in Numbers 3:10, which bars any outsider from the sanctuary, and Numbers 18:22, which warns that approaching the Tent of Meeting incurs guilt and death.

Why it lands — The text demands strict adherence to divinely assigned roles and physical boundaries to preserve the sanctuary's holiness. It requires readers to recognize that proximity to the sacred demands authorized service, not casual access.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּבִנְסֹ֣עַu./vi/n.So.a'and/ when/ sets out הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ןha./mish.Kanthe/ tabernacle יוֹרִ֤ידוּyo.Ri.duthey will take down אֹתוֹ֙'o.T/o<obj.>/ it הַלְוִיִּ֔םha/l.vi.Yimthe/ Levites וּבַחֲנֹת֙u./va./cha.Notand/ when/ encamps הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ןha./mish.Kanthe/ tabernacle יָקִ֥ימוּya.Ki.muthey will raise up אֹת֖וֹ'o.T/o<obj.>/ it הַלְוִיִּ֑םha/l.vi.Yimthe/ Levites וְהַזָּ֥רve./ha./Zarand/ the/ stranger הַקָּרֵ֖בha./ka.Rev<the>/ approaching יוּמָֽת׃yu.Mathe will be put to death

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Numbers 3:38 Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.
Numbers 3:10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
Numbers 18:22 No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
1 Samuel 6:19 But 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.
2 Samuel 6:7 And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.
Leviticus 22:10 No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
Numbers 4:1 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
Numbers 10:11 On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,
Numbers 10:17 Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.
Numbers 16:40 just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.