Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
Parallel Translations
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Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
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But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
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And those that were to pitch before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, were Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary, even the charge for the children of Israel; and the common man that drew nigh was to be put to death.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Numbers 3:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 1:53 But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. The Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”
- Numbers 3:10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
- Numbers 2:3 Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
- 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 3:7-8 They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
- Numbers 3:23 The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
- Numbers 3:29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.
- Numbers 3:35 The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.
- Numbers 18:1-5 Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. 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. They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you. “You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 6:48-49 Their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of God’s house. But Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That none should enter into the Tabernacle contrary to…
That none should enter into the Tabernacle contrary to God’s appointment.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For the charge of the children of Israel; either…
For the charge of the children of Israel; either in their stead. that charge which they were obliged to keep either by themselves. or by others appointed by them, if God had not committed it to those; or for their good, and service, and benefit; for their preservation, as the word may be rendered.
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 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses…
All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron,
numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families,.... Whence it appears, that Moses was not alone, but Aaron with him, in numbering the Levites, and that by the appointment of the Lord. The word "Aaron", in the Hebrew text, has a dot on every letter, for what reason it is not certain; the word itself is left out in the Samaritan and Syriac versions:
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all the males, from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand; 22,000 men; but by putting the sums together they amount to three hundred more; for of the Gershonites there were 7,500, and of the Kohathites 8,600, and of the Merarites 6,200, in all 22,300; which difficulty some endeavour to remove by saying, as Aben Ezra observes, that the Scripture takes a short way, mentioning the thousands, and leaving out the hundreds but this, he says, is not right, nor is it the way of the Scripture in this chapter: and in an after account of the firstborn of the Israelites, not only the hundreds are mentioned, but the broken number of seventy three. Others think there is a corruption crept into the text somewhere in the particular numbers, through the inadvertency of some copyist; and suppose it to be in the number of the Kohathites, where they fancy six, is put instead of three: but there is no occasion to suppose either of these, for which there is no foundation, since the reason why three hundred are left out in the sum total may be, because there were so many firstborn among the Levites, and these could not be exchanged for the firstborn of the other tribes; they, as such, being the Lord's, and one firstborn could not redeem another; and so it is said in the Talmud (t), these three hundred were firstborn, and there is no firstborn redeems a firstborn, or frees from the redemption price of five shekels.
(t) T. Bab. Becoroth, fol. 5. 1.
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 For the charge - Either in their stead, that…
For the charge - Either in their stead, that charge which they were obliged to keep, if God had not committed it to those: or for their benefit; for their preservation, as the word may be rendered.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 3:38. For the charge — Either in their…
Num 3:38. For the charge — Either in their stead, that charge which they were obliged to keep, if God had not committed it to those: or for their benefit; for their preservation, as the word may be rendered.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sons, the children of Aaron. Those of Moses were…
Sons, the children of Aaron. Those of Moses were among the Levites, 1 Paralipomenon xxiii. 13. They did not remain with their father. --- In the, &c. Hebrew, "to guard the," &c., in order to supply for the rest of the Israelites, ver. 9. (St. Augustine, q. 4.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain those that encamp, &c.--That being the entrance side, it…
those that encamp, &c.--That being the entrance side, it was the post of honor, and consequently reserved to Moses and the priestly family. But the sons of Moses had no station here.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 38. Moses] The mention of his name in a…
38. Moses] The mention of his name in a command given to him is strange. It would be still stranger if he were the writer of the passage.
the charge] i.e. that which has to be attended to.
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for the charge of the children of Israel] An idiomatic use of ‘for’ confined to late writings. It is virtually equivalent to ‘and.’ (Cf. Num_3:26 ‘for all the service’ with Num_3:31; Num_3:36 ‘and all the service.’) That which had to be attended to for the laity was the offering of sacrifice on the altar in the court.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (38) Keeping the charge of the sanctuary . .…
(38) Keeping the charge of the sanctuary . . . —The word mikdash (sanctuary) appears to be of a more comprehensive import than mishkan, the shittimwood building, or ohel, the tent which covered it, and it seems to include the court which surrounded the Tabernacle, as in Lev_12:4; Lev_21:12.
For the charge of the children of Israel—i.e., to attend to everything which was commanded the children of Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Before the tabernacle toward the east,... Moses, and Aaron…
Before the tabernacle toward the east,... Moses, and Aaron and his sons. The most central and honourable place in the camp, and the most convenient for constant and direct access to the sanctuary. Moses held a wholly personal and exceptional position as king in Jeshurun; (Deu_33:5) Aaron was hereditary high priest. Between them they represented the union of royal and sacerdotal authority, which had many partial continuations in Jewish history, but was fully realized in Christ.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain final regulations
final regulations
v. 38. But those that encamp before the Tabernacle toward the east, even before the Tabernacle of the Congregation eastward, for its entrance was on that side, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the Sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel, performing the duties of the priesthood for all the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death, v. 10.
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v. 39. All that were numbered of the Levites which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand, in round numbers, the exact figure being 22,300, or the three hundred were subtracted, as the Jews say, because they themselves were first-born and could therefore not be used in a comparison with the other tribes.
v. 40. And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
v. 41. And thou shalt take the Levites for Me (I am the Lord) instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel, as their substitutes in the service of the Sanctuary; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel, to be consecrated to the Lord and by Him designated for the use of the Levites.
v. 42. And Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel.
v. 43. And all the first-born males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen (22,273).
v. 44. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 45. Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine. I am the Lord.
v. 46. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the first-born of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;
v. 47. thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll (about $3. 20), after the shekel of the Sanctuary shalt thou take them, this being the standard of weight; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;)
v. 48. and thou shalt give the money wherewith the odd, the surplus, number of them is to be redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, as ransom money.
v. 49. And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites, the 22,000 that were ransomed by the equal number of the Levites;
v. 50. of the first-born of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary (1,365 shekels being about equal to $4,368);
v. 51. and Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses. Although the men in the service of the ministry of the Word in the New Testament are supported by voluntary gifts, these gifts, for all of that, should not be less plentiful than were those under the Law.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 his sons
his sons
Here "his" refers to Aaron
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toward the sunrise
This is the east side of the tabernacle. AT: "on the east side, where the sun rises" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
for the fulfillment of the duties
The word "fulfilment" is an abstract noun that can be expressed as a verb. AT: "to perform the duties" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death
This can be stated in active form. AT: "You must kill any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary" or "Any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary must die" (See: Active or Passive)
twenty-two thousand men
"22,000 men" or "22,000 males" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
Moses
Aaron
tent of meeting
fulfill
sanctuary
Israel
alien
die
clan
Levi
Yahweh
command
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 3:38 The preeminent campsite east of the Tabernacle was…
3:38 The preeminent campsite east of the Tabernacle was reserved for . . . Moses, Aaron, and his priestly sons.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.