Numbers 4:20

20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment; otherwise they will die.

Numbers 4:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 4:20

But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are
covered
They were not to be present while they were packing up, test they should see any of them with their eyes; they were not to go in until they were quite covered out of sight; which may signify the hiding of the mysteries of grace in those things under the former dispensation, when even the Levites themselves were not admitted to a sight of them; see ( Ephesians 3:4 Ephesians 3:5 ) ;

lest they die;
by the immediate hand of God.

Numbers 4:20 In-Context

18 You must not let the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites.

19 This is how you must deal with them in order that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each to a particular task or burden.

20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment; otherwise they will die.

21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

22 Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their ancestral houses and by their clans;

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb [they]