Numbers 1:53

Num 1:53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

Ver. 53. Shall pitch round about.] As the living creatures (the ministers) are between the four and twenty eiders, the congregation of the faithful, and the throne. {Rev 4:4}

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.

Num 1:53. No wrath — From God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it to go unpunished! whose wrath is called simply wrath, by way of eminence, as the most terrible kind of wrath.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By not having due regard to the Tabernacle of the Lord.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(53) That there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel.—The word kezeph (wrath) is used to denote some immediate visitation of the hand of God, as, e.g., the plague. Thus, after the plague which broke out in consequence of the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, we read in Num_18:5 “that there be no wrath (kezeph) any more upon the children of Israel.” In Num_8:19 the word negeph (plague) is used in the same sense as kezeph is used here. (Cf. Jos_9:20; 2Ki_3:27; 1Ch_27:24.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

53. that there be no wrath] i.e. Divine judgement for the violation of the sacredness of the Tabernacle; cf. Num_8:19. The Tabernacle was an outward expression of a great religious ideal—that of the dwelling of Jehovah in the midst of His people. But the religious ideal of the Jew fell short of the truth revealed in Christianity. The Jew strained every nerve to safeguard the awful unapproachableness of God, whereas the Christian knows that he can ‘draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace’ (Heb_4:16). For this purpose the Jewish writers represented the Tabernacle as surrounded by a cordon of ‘clergy,’ i.e. the sons of Aaron and the three Levitical families. And outside them the laity of Israel pitched their tents according to their tribes, in the positions specified in ch. 2. This arrangement is a counterpart of Ezekiel’s ideal description of the assignment of land to the several tribes round the Temple which should be built when Israel was restored from exile (Ezekiel 48).

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.

But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony,.... Between the tabernacle and the camps of Israel, to guard the tabernacle and preserve the things in it, and to keep persons from going into it that should not, to pollute or plunder it: these were placed in like manner as the four living creatures round the throne, Rev 4:6; where the allusion seems to be to this situation of the Levites:

that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel; that is, from the Lord, should any of them approach too near, or meddle with and touch what they had nothing to do with, or go where they should not; such wrath as came upon Uzzah for his error and transgression before observed:

and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony; the several things in it committed to their charge; see Num 3:8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Watch. Lest any thing should offer any indecency to the tabernacle, and thus provoke God’s indignation. (Haydock)

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).

No wrath, to wit, from God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it to go unpunished; whose wrath is called simply wrath by way of eminency, as the most terrible kind of wrath.

Shall keep the charge, i.e. shall suffer no stranger to approach through curiosity, or any other motive.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

53. That there be no wrath — By the Levites encamped around the sacred tabernacle a strong guard was established for its protection, and a safeguard to keep the people from intrusion into the consecrated enclosure, and consequent destruction by the wrath of Jehovah. The spiritual lessons conveyed to us are, the great solemnity and self-examination with which we should approach the sacred mysteries of Christianity, the baptismal font and the holy eucharist, “lest we eat and drink damnation, not discerning the Lord’s body;” and also the carefulness and scrutiny of motives which should characterize every man who desires to enter the high vocation of the Christian ministry.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That there be no wrath upon the congregation that no man, not being a Levite, intrude himself through ignorance or presumption upon the sacredness of the tabernacle, and so bring death upon himself, and displeasure upon the people. The Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle. Out of this command grew the Levitical guard of the temple, which afterwards played a considerable part in the history of Israel. (2Ki 11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No wrath - From God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it go unpunished! whose wrath is called simply wrath by way of eminency, as the most terrible kind of wrath.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the tabernacle of the covenant decrees

The tabernacle was also called by this longer name because the ark with the law of God was placed inside it. See how you translated this in Numbers 1:50.

so that my anger does not come upon the people of Israel

Here Yahweh speaks of not punishing the Israelites as his anger not coming upon them. The phrase "come upon" refers to his anger being applied to them. AT: "so that in my anger I do not punish the people of Israel" (See: Metaphor)

Yahweh commanded through Moses

Yahweh had commanded Moses everything that the Israelites were to do, and then Moses had commanded the Israelites. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Levi

anger

Yahweh

command

Moses

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ולא יהיה קצף THAT THERE BE NO ANGER [UPON THE CONGREGATION] — If you act according to My commands there will be no anger, but if not, — i.e., that strangers take part in this their (the Levites’) service, there will be anger, just as we find at the incident with Korah (Numbers 17:11): “for there is anger gone forth [from the Lord]”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND THE LEVITES SHALL PITCH ROUND ABOUT THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, THAT THERE BE NO WRATH UPON THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND THE LEVITES SHALL KEEP THE CHARGE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. Although this [verse] was said [specifically] about the Tabernacle set up between the standards in the desert, it constitutes a commandment for all times, [and thus applies] also to the Sanctuary [in Jerusalem], and it is on the basis of this [verse] that [David and Samuel] instituted the mishmaroth. was a twofold one: consisting of the Divisions, as explained above in Note 92, and of guards, as explained here. See my Hebrew commentary p. 200. And the meaning of [the verse before us], and the Levites shall keep the charge at the Tabernacle of the Testimony is that they should keep guard of and patrol the Tabernacle at night, just as the Rabbis have said: 116. “The priests are to keep watch within [the enclosures or the walls], and the Levites outside,” all of them constituting a kind of “guard of the king’s head.” Similarly we have been taught in the Beraitha of Thirty-two Rules: precepts of the Torah, there are thirteen basic principles of exegesis formulated by Rabbi Ishmael. For explaining the Agadic (homiletic) teachings of the Torah, there are thirty-two such rules, formulated by Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosei the Galilean. Ramban’s quotation here is found in Enelow’s edition of the work, page 30. See in Genesis (Vol. I, p. 437) where Ramban refers to this Tannaitic work as “the Midrash of Thirty-two Rules by which Agadah is explained.” Thus, although a wider latitude of interpretation was applied to the homiletic teachings of the Torah, they were yet guarded by a set of rules which assured all such elucidations as being authentic expressions of the Torah. “What is [an example of] a subject not explained in its [proper] place but explained elsewhere? It is written etc. Similarly, it is stated: The families of the sons of Kohath were to pitch on the side of the Tabernacle southward; The families of the Gershonites were to pitch behind the Tabernacle westward;, Verse 23. And the prince of the father’s house of the families of Merari being Zuriel the son of Abichail, they were to pitch on the side of the Tabernacle northward., Verse 35. We have not yet heard, however, that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded [Aaron] that he should divide his sons into twenty-four Divisions. [literally: a guard] is a Division of priests and Levites for duty in the Sanctuary. According to tradition, Moses divided the priests into eight Divisions, four from the families of Eleazar and four from Ithamar, and later on when the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, David and Samuel sub-divided them into twenty-four Divisions. Each Division served for a period of one week, and during the three Festivals all the Divisions were in attendance simultaneously (see “The Commandments” Vol. I, pp. 46-47). See also Ramban further, Verse 53, and at Note 96, for additional aspects of this term as used by Ramban. — It should be noted that the concept of mishmaroth applied also to the Levites and Israelites, for just as the priests were divided into twenty-four Divisions, so also were the other two groups. Each week a new mishmar of priests, Levites, and Israelites would arrive in Jerusalem to attend to the Divine Services in the Sanctuary. The Israelites’ function was to “stand by” the daily offerings brought for the whole congregation of Israel, for “how can a man’s offering be offered while he does not stand by it?” (Taanith 26a). Such a group of Israelites is referred to as a ma’amad (literally: “stand by”). In the text of Ramban before us, however, reference is only to the Divisions of the priests and Levites. Where, then, have we heard it? [In the verse in I Chronicles 24: 19, following the division of the priests by David and Zadok into twenty-four Divisions, where it is stated]: These were the orderings of them in their service, to come into the House of the Eternal according to the ordinance given unto them by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Eternal, the G-d of Israel, had commanded him. We thus learn that this commandment [of dividing the priests into mishmaroth] [literally: a guard] is a Division of priests and Levites for duty in the Sanctuary. According to tradition, Moses divided the priests into eight Divisions, four from the families of Eleazar and four from Ithamar, and later on when the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, David and Samuel sub-divided them into twenty-four Divisions. Each Division served for a period of one week, and during the three Festivals all the Divisions were in attendance simultaneously (see “The Commandments” Vol. I, pp. 46-47). See also Ramban further, Verse 53, and at Note 96, for additional aspects of this term as used by Ramban. — It should be noted that the concept of mishmaroth applied also to the Levites and Israelites, for just as the priests were divided into twenty-four Divisions, so also were the other two groups. Each week a new mishmar of priests, Levites, and Israelites would arrive in Jerusalem to attend to the Divine Services in the Sanctuary. The Israelites’ function was to “stand by” the daily offerings brought for the whole congregation of Israel, for “how can a man’s offering be offered while he does not stand by it?” (Taanith 26a). Such a group of Israelites is referred to as a ma’amad (literally: “stand by”). In the text of Ramban before us, however, reference is only to the Divisions of the priests and Levites. was already given to Moses and Aaron.”We have also been taught in Tractate Tamid: “The priests kept watch at three places in the Sanctuary.” And in the Gemara there the Rabbis said:, 26 a. The Mishnah there explains which were the three specific places in the Temple at Jerusalem where the priests used to keep watch. “Whence do we know this? Said Abaye: Scripture states, And those that were to pitch before the Tabernacle eastward were Moses, and after him Aaron and his [two] sons, keeping the charge of the Sanctuary. [This teaches us that] Aaron was [to guard] in one place and his [two] sons in two [other] places etc.,” as is explained there. Thus we learn that these commandments apply for all times and not only at the Tabernacle, and the verses in the Book of Chronicles, Verses 20-31. Verse 19 there [quoted above in the text] states that the command to make such Divisions was already given to Moses and Aaron. See also ibid., 9:22. It remained, however, an oral tradition among the priests that they would be finally divided into such twenty-four Divisions until Ezra (the author of the Book of Chronicles) came and showed that the total number of these Divisions has been alluded to, in the Torah. explain the subject of the mishmaroth [literally: a guard] is a Division of priests and Levites for duty in the Sanctuary. According to tradition, Moses divided the priests into eight Divisions, four from the families of Eleazar and four from Ithamar, and later on when the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, David and Samuel sub-divided them into twenty-four Divisions. Each Division served for a period of one week, and during the three Festivals all the Divisions were in attendance simultaneously (see “The Commandments” Vol. I, pp. 46-47). See also Ramban further, Verse 53, and at Note 96, for additional aspects of this term as used by Ramban. — It should be noted that the concept of mishmaroth applied also to the Levites and Israelites, for just as the priests were divided into twenty-four Divisions, so also were the other two groups. Each week a new mishmar of priests, Levites, and Israelites would arrive in Jerusalem to attend to the Divine Services in the Sanctuary. The Israelites’ function was to “stand by” the daily offerings brought for the whole congregation of Israel, for “how can a man’s offering be offered while he does not stand by it?” (Taanith 26a). Such a group of Israelites is referred to as a ma’amad (literally: “stand by”). In the text of Ramban before us, however, reference is only to the Divisions of the priests and Levites. and the [details of the] whole institutions.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.