They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you.
Parallel Translations
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They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you.
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And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
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And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent; only they shall not come nigh unto the holy furniture and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (3)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Numbers 18:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 3:25 The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
- Numbers 3:31 Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service.
- Numbers 3:36 The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,
- Numbers 4:19-20 but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”
- Numbers 16:40 to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before Yahweh, that he not be as Korah, and as his company; as Yahweh spoke to him by Moses.
- Numbers 1:51 When 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.
- Numbers 18:7 You 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.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, the things which are committed to thee,…
That is, the things which are committed to thee, or, which thou dost enjoin them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and…
Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Ver. 3. And you also die.] For your ‘other men’s sins’ which you have not prevented or prohibited. Qui non, cum potest, prohibet, iubet.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thy charge, i.e. that which thou shalt command them…
Thy charge, i.e. that which thou shalt command them and commit unto them.
Of all the tabernacle, i.e. of the boards and hangings and utensils of the tabernacle, to take them down, and carry them, and set them up again.
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The vessels, which therefore were to be covered by the priests before the Levites might meddle with them.
They, nor ye, they for presuming to touch them, and you for your negligence in not covering them well, or not looking to them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge…
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle,.... That is, the Levites, whatever Aaron and his sons, the priests, should charge them to do, or commit to their care and charge, that they should observe; as to watch and keep out all unfit persons, to take down and set up the tabernacle when needful, &c.
only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary; as the ark and mercy seat in the holy of holies, the shewbread table, and candlestick in the holy place; wherefore when these were removed from place to place in journeying, they were covered, that they might not touch them as they carried them:
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and the altar; both of incense and burnt offering, on neither of which might they offer:
that neither they nor you also die: the priests for suffering them to meddle with things that did not belong to them, and the Levites for intruding themselves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They charge - That is, that which thou shalt…
They charge - That is, that which thou shalt command them and commit unto them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. keep thy charge, &c.] see on Num_3:7.
3. keep thy charge, &c.] see on Num_3:7.
the vessels] The Heb. word is capable of wider use than the Engl. ‘vessel’; it includes all the sacred utensils and furniture.
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For the prohibition to come into contact with the sacred things cf. Num_4:15.
neither they, nor ye] they, for breaking the law, and ye for permitting it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They shall keep thy charge, &c. ; See on…
They shall keep thy charge, &c. ; See on Num_3:7, Num_3:8. That neither they, nor ye also, die. This warning does not seem to refer to the danger of the Kohathites seeing the sacred things, (Num_4:15) but of the other Levites coming near them; the further warning, "nor ye also," is added because if the carelessness or profanity of the priest led to sacrilege and death in the case of the Levite, it would be laid to his charge. (cf. Num_4:18)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues speaking to Aaron.
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They must serve you ... They must join you
"They" refers to members of the tribe of Levi; the word "you" is singular and refers to Aaron. (See: Forms of You)
or they and also you will die
Here "they" refers to any member of the tribe of Levi who comes "near to anything in the sanctuary;" the word "you" is plural and refers to both Aaron and the rest of the Levites who are serving in approved roles. (See: Pronouns)
not come near you. You must take responsibility
Here "you" is plural and refers to both Aaron and the rest of the Levites. (See: Forms of You)
so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again
Possible meanings are 1) this represents God being extremely angry with his people. AT: "so that I do not become very angry with the people of Israel again" or 2) this represents God punishing them because of his anger. AT: "so that I do not punish the people of Israel again" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
altar
die
tent of meeting
works
alien
anger
people group
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:3-4 all their assigned duties: See 1:47-53; 3:5-38; 4:1-33.…
18:3-4 all their assigned duties: See 1:47-53; 3:5-38; 4:1-33. • they must be careful: The Levites could go near only when the sacred objects were covered for transport.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.