Numbers 17:13

Complete Jewish Bible

He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Those dying from the plague numbered 14,700 — besides those who died in the Korach incident. Aharon returned to Moshe at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. (v) Adonai said to Moshe, "Speak to the people of Isra'el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff; and write Aharon's name on the staff of Levi, for each tribe's leader is to have one staff. Put them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds — in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra'el keep making against you." Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon's staff was among their staffs. Moshe put the staffs before Adonai in the tent of the testimony. The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon's staff for the house of Levi had budded — it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well. Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Adonai to all the people of Isra'el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff. (vi) Adonai said to Moshe, "Return Aharon's staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die." Moshe did this; he did as Adonai had ordered him. But the people of Isra'el said to Moshe, "Oh no! We're dead men! Lost! We're all lost! Whenever anyone approaches the tabernacle of Adonai , he dies! Will we all perish?"

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tent of the LORD, dies: shall we perish all of us?

King James Version
Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Lexham English Bible
Anyone who approaches the tabernacle of Yahweh will die. Will we all die?"

New Century Version
Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?"

New English Translation
Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?"

Amplified Bible
"Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"

New American Standard Bible
"Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Whosoeuer commeth neere, or approcheth to the Tabernacle of the Lorde, shal dye: shal we be consumed and dye?

Legacy Standard Bible
Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, must die. Are we to breathe our utter last?"

Contemporary English Version
and doomed if we even get near the sacred tent!"

Darby Translation
Every one that comes at all near to the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die: shall we then expire altogether?

Easy-to-Read Version
Anyone who even comes near the Lord 's holy place will die. Is it true that we will all die?"

English Standard Version
Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord , shall die. Are we all to perish?"

George Lamsa Translation
Whosoever comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD shall die; and, behold, we also are near to perish.

Good News Translation
If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"

Christian Standard Bible®
Anyone who comes near the Lord’s tabernacle will die. Will we all perish?”

Literal Translation
Anyone who draws near to the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die; shall we be consumed to die?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Who so cometh nye ye dwellynge place of ye LORDE, he dyeth. Shal we the vtterly cosume awaie?

American Standard Version
Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth: shall we perish all of us?

Bible in Basic English
Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Whosoeuer cometh nye, or approcheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall dye: Shall we vtterly consume away, and dye?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses. And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.' And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.' Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so did he. And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, is to die; shall we wholly perish?'

King James Version (1611)
Whosoeuer commeth any thing neere vnto the Tabernacle of the Lord, shall die: Shall wee be consumed with dying?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?

English Revised Version
Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, dieth: shall we perish all of us?

Berean Standard Bible
Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
who euer neiyeth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whethir we schulen be doon awei alle `til to deeth?

Young's Literal Translation
any who is at all drawing near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth; have we not been consumed -- to expire?'

Update Bible Version
Every one that comes near, that comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, dies: shall we perish all of us?

Webster's Bible Translation
Whoever approacheth the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

World English Bible
Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tent of Yahweh, dies: shall we perish all of us?

New King James Version
Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?"

New Living Translation
Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies. Are we all doomed to die?"

New Life Bible
Everyone who comes near, who comes near the meeting tent of the Lord, must die. Are we all to be destroyed?"

New Revised Standard
Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
whosoever draweth near - draweth near - unto the habitation of Yahweh, dieth, - are we ever to have made an end of breathing our last?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth. Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?

Revised Standard Version
Every one who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"

Contextual Overview

⁸ Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the tent of meeting. ⁹ (iv) Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁰ "Get away from this assembly, and I will destroy them at once!" But they fell on their faces. ¹¹ Moshe said to Aharon, "Take your fire pan, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and hurry with it to the assembly to make atonement for them, because anger has gone out from Adonai , and the plague has already begun!" ¹² Aharon took it, as Moshe had said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. There the plague had already begun among the people, but he added the incense and made atonement for the people. ¹³ He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Those dying from the plague numbered 14,700 — besides those who died in the Korach incident. Aharon returned to Moshe at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. (v) Adonai said to Moshe, "Speak to the people of Isra'el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff; and write Aharon's name on the staff of Levi, for each tribe's leader is to have one staff. Put them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds — in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra'el keep making against you." Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon's staff was among their staffs. Moshe put the staffs before Adonai in the tent of the testimony. The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon's staff for the house of Levi had budded — it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well. Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Adonai to all the people of Isra'el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff. (vi) Adonai said to Moshe, "Return Aharon's staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die." Moshe did this; he did as Adonai had ordered him. But the people of Isra'el said to Moshe, "Oh no! We're dead men! Lost! We're all lost! Whenever anyone approaches the tabernacle of Adonai , he dies! Will we all perish?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Whosoever: Numbers 1:51-53, Numbers 18:4-7

any thing: Genesis 3:3, 1 Samuel 6:19-21, 2 Samuel 6:6-12, 1 Chronicles 13:11-13, 1 Chronicles 15:13, Psalms 130:3, Psalms 130:4, Acts 5:5, Acts 5:11-14, Ephesians 2:13, Hebrews 10:19-22

consumed: Numbers 16:26, Numbers 32:13, Deuteronomy 2:16, Job 34:14, Job 34:15, Psalms 90:7, Isaiah 28:22

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:14 - that Exodus 12:33 - We be all Numbers 16:34 - Lest Numbers 18:1 - Thou 1 Samuel 6:20 - General 2 Samuel 6:9 - afraid 1 Kings 13:33 - whosoever 1 Chronicles 13:12 - afraid of God Psalms 73:19 - they are Psalms 78:32 - they sinned Proverbs 19:3 - foolishness Isaiah 33:14 - sinners Jeremiah 30:21 - and I Ezekiel 37:11 - Our bones Acts 5:13 - of Acts 7:36 - and in the wilderness Hebrews 8:4 - he should

Cross-References

Genesis 14:14
When Avram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, who had been born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Genesis 15:3
You haven't given me a child," Avram continued, "so someone born in my house will be my heir."

Genesis 37:27
Come, let's sell him to the Yishma‘elim, instead of putting him to death with our own hands. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers paid attention to him.

Genesis 37:36
In Egypt the Midyanim sold Yosef to Potifar, one of Pharaoh's officials, a captain of the guard.

Genesis 39:1
(v) Yosef was brought down to Egypt, and Potifar, an officer of Pharaoh's and captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Yishma‘elim who had brought him there.

Exodus 12:44
But if anyone has a slave he bought for money, when you have circumcised him, he may eat it.

Exodus 21:2
"If you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to work six years; but in the seventh, he is to be given his freedom without having to pay anything.

Exodus 21:4
But if his master gave him a wife, and she bore him sons or daughters, then the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he will leave by himself.

Exodus 21:16
"Whoever kidnaps someone must be put to death, regardless of whether he has already sold him or the person is found still in his possession.

Nehemiah 5:5
Now our flesh is no different from the flesh of our kinsmen, and our children are the same as their children; yet we are bringing our sons and daughters into bondage as slaves. Some of our daughters have gone into slavery already, and it's beyond our power to do anything about it, because other men have our fields and vineyards."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die,.... They who before were so bold and daring as to think the priesthood was common to them with Aaron, or they had as good a right to it, and might go into the sanctuary of the Lord where he did, are now so frightened at the rod being laid up as a token against them, that they thought they must not come near the tabernacle at all, and, if they did, would be in the utmost danger of death:

shall we be consumed with dying? such violent deaths, until there are none left of us? but the Syriac and Arabic versions render the words affirmatively; we are near or about to be consumed; and so the Targum of Onkelos, lo, we are to be consumed; which agrees best with the preceding clause, for they would scarcely make a question of what they had affirmed.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A new section should begin with these verses. They are connected retrospectively with Numbers 16:0; and form the immediate introduction to Numbers 18:0. The people were terror-stricken by the fate of the company of Korah and by the plague. Presumption passed by reaction into despair. Was there any approach for them to the tabernacle of the Lord? Was there any escape from death, except by keeping aloof from His presence? The answers are supplied by the ordinances which testified that the God of judgment was still a God of grace and of love.