Numbers 4:18

18 "You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathites from the midst of the Levites.

Numbers 4:18 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 4:18

Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites
from among the Levites.
] Or give no occasion, as the Targum of Jonathan; or be not the cause of their cutting off, as Jarchi, through negligence or inadvertency of theirs, in packing up the above things, and delivering them to them.

Numbers 4:18 In-Context

16 "Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is to supervise the oil of the light source, the incense, {the regular grain offering}, the oil of anointment, the supervision of all the tabernacle and all that [is] in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels."

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

18 "You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathites from the midst of the Levites.

19 Do this to them and they will live and not die when they come near the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will go and appoint them, each one to his task and burden.

20 But they must not go and look {for a moment} at the holy objects."

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "Kohathite"