Numbers 18:4
New International Version
They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting—all the work at the tent—and no one else may come near where you are.

New Living Translation
The Levites must join you in fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle, but no unauthorized person may assist you.

English Standard Version
They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you.

Berean Standard Bible
They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.

King James Bible
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

New King James Version
They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; but an outsider shall not come near you.

New American Standard Bible
They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an unauthorized person shall not come near you.

NASB 1995
“They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an outsider may not come near you.

NASB 1977
“And they shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an outsider may not come near you.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they shall be joined with you and keep the responsibility of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an outsider may not come near you.

Amplified Bible
They shall join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting—all the service of the tent—and no stranger [no layman, anyone who is not a Levite] may approach you [and your sons].

Christian Standard Bible
They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.”

American Standard Version
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

Contemporary English Version
No one else is allowed to take care of the sacred tent or do anything connected with it.

English Revised Version
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They will join you and do whatever work is necessary for the tent of meeting, including all the maintenance work for the tent. But no one else may come near you.

Good News Translation
They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you.

International Standard Version
They are to join you to maintain services related to the Tent of Meeting, for all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But no unauthorized person is to approach you.

Majority Standard Bible
They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.

NET Bible
They must join with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person may approach you.

New Heart English Bible
They shall be joined to you, and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come near to you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall be joined to thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh to you.

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and they have been joined to you and have kept the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the tent; and a stranger does not come near to you;

Young's Literal Translation
and they have been joined unto thee, and have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and a stranger doth not come near unto you;

Smith's Literal Translation
And they were joined to thee, and they watched the watches of the tent of appointment for all the service of the tent: and the stranger shall not come near to you.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
But let them be with thee, and watch in the charge of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. A stranger shall not join himself with you.

Catholic Public Domain Version
But they may be with you, and they may watch over the care of the tabernacle and all its ceremonies. A foreigner shall not be mixed with you.

New American Bible
They will be joined to you to perform the duties associated with the tent of meeting, all the labor pertaining to the tent. But no unauthorized person shall come near you.

New Revised Standard Version
They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And they shall accompany you, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation for all the service of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not come near you.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they shall accompany you and they shall keep guard of the Time Tabernacle and of all the service of the Tabernacle and a foreigner shall not be brought with you.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, whatsoever the service of the Tent may be; but a common man shall not draw nigh unto you.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they shall be joined to thee, and shall keep the charges of the tabernacle of witness, in all the services of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not approach to thee.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Duties of Priests and Levites
3And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. 4They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you. 5And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.…

Cross References
Hebrews 7:5
Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham.

1 Chronicles 23:28-32
but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, / as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. / They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening. ...

1 Corinthians 9:13
Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?

Deuteronomy 18:1-5
The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance. / Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them. / This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. ...

2 Chronicles 31:4
Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

Leviticus 6:16-18
Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. / It must not be baked with leaven; I have assigned it as their portion of My food offerings. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. / Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”

Nehemiah 10:37-39
Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor. / A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God. / For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Leviticus 10:8-11
Then the LORD said to Aaron, / “You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come. / You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean, ...

Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Ezekiel 44:10-16
Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. / Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them. / Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. ...

Romans 15:16
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Leviticus 22:10-16
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. / But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food. / If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions. ...

Acts 6:4
and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”


Treasury of Scripture

And they shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come near to you.

a stranger

Numbers 1:51
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.

Numbers 3:10
And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

1 Samuel 6:19
And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

Jump to Previous
Attend Care Charge Common Congregation Draw Join Kept Meeting Needed Nigh Obligations Outsider Responsibility Responsible Service Stranger Tabernacle Tent Unite Whatever Whatsoever Work
Jump to Next
Attend Care Charge Common Congregation Draw Join Kept Meeting Needed Nigh Obligations Outsider Responsibility Responsible Service Stranger Tabernacle Tent Unite Whatever Whatsoever Work
Numbers 18
1. The charge of the priests and Levites
8. The priests, portion
21. The Levites,
25. The heave offering to the priests out of the Levites' portion














They are to join you
This phrase emphasizes the unity and cooperation required among the Levites and the priests. The Hebrew root for "join" is "lavah," which conveys the idea of attachment or accompaniment. Historically, this reflects the close relationship between the priests and the Levites, who were set apart for the service of the Tabernacle. This joining signifies a shared responsibility and a divine calling to serve God’s purposes together, highlighting the importance of community and collaboration in spiritual service.

attend to the duties
The Hebrew word for "attend" is "shamar," meaning to guard, keep, or watch over. This implies a vigilant and careful approach to their responsibilities. The duties of the Levites were not merely tasks but sacred obligations that required dedication and reverence. This phrase underscores the seriousness with which God’s work must be approached, reminding believers today of the importance of faithfully stewarding the roles and responsibilities entrusted to them by God.

of the Tent of Meeting
The "Tent of Meeting" refers to the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary where God met with His people during their wilderness journey. The Hebrew term "ohel moed" signifies a place of divine encounter and revelation. This was a sacred space, symbolizing God’s presence among His people. The Levites’ service here was not just about maintaining a physical structure but facilitating a place where God’s presence could dwell, pointing to the ultimate fulfillment of God dwelling with humanity through Christ.

all the work at the Tent
This phrase encompasses the comprehensive nature of the Levites’ responsibilities. The Hebrew word for "work" is "avodah," which can mean service, labor, or worship. This indicates that their tasks were acts of worship, integral to the spiritual life of Israel. The Levites’ work was essential for the proper functioning of the Tabernacle, ensuring that worship and sacrifices were conducted according to God’s commands. This serves as a reminder that all work done for God, no matter how mundane it may seem, is an act of worship.

and no outsider may approach you
The term "outsider" refers to anyone not authorized or consecrated to perform the sacred duties of the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word "zar" implies someone who is foreign or unauthorized. This restriction was crucial for maintaining the holiness and sanctity of the Tabernacle. It underscores the principle that access to God’s presence requires consecration and obedience to His commands. In a broader sense, it points to the necessity of approaching God on His terms, ultimately fulfilled in the New Testament through Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who grants us access to God.

(4) And keep the charge . . . --See Numbers 1:53; Numbers 3:7.

Verse 4. - A stranger. וֶר, i.e., one not a Levite, as in Numbers 1:51.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They are to join
וְנִלְו֣וּ (wə·nil·wū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3867: To twine, to unite, to remain, to borrow, to lend

you
עָלֶ֔יךָ (‘ā·le·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

and attend
וְשָֽׁמְר֗וּ (wə·šā·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

to the obligations
מִשְׁמֶ֙רֶת֙ (miš·me·reṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4931: A guard, watch, charge, function

of the Tent
אֹ֣הֶל (’ō·hel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 168: A tent

of Meeting,
מוֹעֵ֔ד (mō·w·‘êḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4150: Appointed time, place, or meeting

doing all
לְכֹ֖ל (lə·ḵōl)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the work
עֲבֹדַ֣ת (‘ă·ḇō·ḏaṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5656: Work of any kind

at the Tent;
הָאֹ֑הֶל (hā·’ō·hel)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 168: A tent

but no
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

outsider
וְזָ֖ר (wə·zār)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2114: To turn aside, to be a, foreigner, strange, profane, to commit adultery

may come near
יִקְרַ֥ב (yiq·raḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7126: To come near, approach

you.
אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃ (’ă·lê·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to


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OT Law: Numbers 18:4 They shall be joined to you (Nu Num.)
Numbers 18:3
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