Bamidbar

The Third Census

1:1 After the Tabernacle was erected and began to function, God instructed Moses to take a census of the Jewish people. The act of counting the people at this time indicated that the erection of the Tabernacle was a pivotal junction in the people’s history and that God values each individual’s contribution to the Divine plan for creation. The importance of the census would have required that it be conducted on the same day the Tabernacle was erected—the first day of Nisan—but doing so would have detracted from the people’s focus on the Tabernacle itself and the rites performed within it. On the other hand, postponing the census until immediately after the installation rites would have given the impression that the significance of the census was a subordinate aspect of the people’s relationship with the Tabernacle, rather than an integral part of it. God therefore scheduled the census for the first day of the next month, indicating that, like the erection of the Tabernacle, the census was also important enough to take place on the first day of a month.1 Thus, God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of Iyar, the second month of 2449, the second year after their exodus from Egypt, saying:

2 “Take a census of all the adult males of the congregation of the Israelites by families and then add up the family totals to arrive at the total for each tribe.2 The people’s tribal lineage will follow their paternal houses. Do not count them directly, but indirectly: take a half-shekel from each in accordance with the number of their names, one for each. Thus you will have an exact head count of every male.

3 You and Aaron shall count all those males in Israel 20 years old and over up to age 60—for only males between 20 and 60 are fit to serve in the army3—by their tribal troops.

4 Throughout the census there shall be one man with you from each tribe: i.e., the prince of that tribe, the one who is the head of his paternal house. All 12 princes shall assist you in counting each tribe.4

5 These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: for Reuben, Elitzur the son of Shede’ur;

6 for Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Tzurishadai;

7 for Judah, Nachshon the son of Aminadav;

8 for Issachar, Netanel the son of Tzu’ar;

9 for Zebulun, Eliav the son of Chelon;

10 for the descendants of Joseph: for Ephraim, Elishama the son of Amihud; for Manasseh, Gamliel the son of Pedahtzur;

11 for Benjamin, Avidan the son of Gidoni;

12 for Dan, Achiezer the son of Amishadai;

13 for Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;

14 for Gad, Eliasaf the son of De’uel;

15 for Naphtali, Achira the son of Einan.”

16 These men were until now simply the heads of their respective tribes. By appointing them to assist Moses collectively in conducting the census, God promoted them to be the ones summoned from the congregation to represent the people collectively in all important matters as the princes of the tribes of their fathers; thus, they all became the heads of the thousands of Israel.

17 So Moses and Aaron took these men, who had been designated by God by their names, and installed them in their new capacity and office.5

18 Moses and Aaron assembled all the congregation of adult male Israelites on the same day, the first day of the second month, and they all registered their lineage according to their families and according to their fathers’ houses by producing their family records and bringing witnesses regarding the social acceptance of their family ties.6 They then counted them by the number of their names, i.e., first making sure each gave one half-shekel and then counting these half-shekels. Thus they had a head count of every male 20 years old and over.

19 As God commanded Moses, so did he count them in the Sinai desert. They found that miraculously, the tally of each tribe was an exact round number, divisible by 50, as follows:7

Second Reading 20 This was the tally of the tribe of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, by the number of individual names, and according to the head count of every male 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

21 the tally of the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.

22 This was the tally of the tribe of Simeon—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, by the number of individual names, and according to the head count of every male 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

23 the tally of the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.

24 This was the tally of the tribe of Gad—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

25 the tally of the tribe of Gad was 45,650.

26 This was the tally of the tribe of Judah—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

27 the tally of the tribe of Judah was 74,600.

28 This was the tally of the tribe of Issachar—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

29 the tally of the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.

30 This was the tally of the tribe of Zebulun—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

31 the tally of the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.

32 For the tribe of Joseph: this was the tally of the tribe of Ephraim—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

33 the tally of the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.

34 This was the tally of the tribe of Manasseh—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

35 the tally of the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.

36 This was the tally of the tribe of Benjamin—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

37 the tally of the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.

38 This was the tally of the tribe of Dan—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

39 the tally of the tribe of Dan was 62,700.

40 This was the tally of the tribe of Asher—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

41 the tally of the tribe of Asher was 41,500.

42 This was the tally of the tribe of Naphtali—their descendants who were counted according to their families, according to their fathers’ houses, and by the number of individual names, 20 years old and over, all who were fit to serve in the army:

43 the tally of the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.

44 These are the tallies counted by Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel—12 men, each representing his fathers’ house.

45 These are the tallies of all the Israelites according to their fathers’ houses, 20 years old and over, all those in Israel who were fit to serve in the army:

46 the sum of all the tallies was 603,550.

47 But the Levites, according to their fathers’ tribe, were not numbered among them, despite the fact that the reason for this census was (a) to express the people’s integral relationship with the Tabernacle, and the Levites were the Tabernacle’s officiants, and (b) to express how God values each Jew individually, and the Levites had proven themselves to be the tribe most loyal to God in the incident of the Golden Calf!

48 So God explained why the Levites were not included. He spoke to Moses, saying:

49 “The Levites are indeed part of the people; however, they are My private legion. Therefore, you shall not tally the tribe of Levi the same way you counted the other Israelites, and you shall not add the results of their census to that of the other Israelites, for they deserve their own census. Moreover, you shall not tally the tribe of Levi at all; I will count them for you Myself, for reasons that will become clear later.8 And even once you know how many there are of them, you shall not add the results of their census to that of the other Israelites.” God foresaw that in a little over three months, many of the lay Israelites would participate in the sin of the spies, and He would decree that because of their collective responsibility, the entire generation—including those innocent of this sin—would not enter the Land of Israel.9 God wanted to exclude the tribe of Levi from this decree, since they had proven themselves loyal to Him at the incident of the Golden Calf.10 Since it was the census that expressed the people’s collective identity and responsibility, God excluded the Levites from the general census. Even though the tribe of Levi would not participate in the incident of the spies either,11 this fact alone would not have been enough to exclude them from the decree had they been counted in the general census.12

50 Explaining how the Levites are His private legion, God continued, “Rather than having them serve in the army like the rest of the people, you shall put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings and over all that pertains to it. They shall carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings when you travel, they shall serve in it, and they shall encamp around the Tabernacle.

51 When the Tabernacle is set to travel, the Levites shall dismantle it, and when the Tabernacle camps, the Levites shall erect it; any non-Levite who approaches and tries to do this shall be put to death by an act of God.

52 Because of this danger, the Israelites must camp in a specific formation—according to their tribal troops, each man by his tribe’s division, three tribes per division, and each man by his division’s banner, as will be detailed presently13—

53 but the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, separating it from the other tribes, so that none of them will approach the Tabernacle intending to erect, dismantle, carry, guard, or serve in it. If the Levites preserve this separation carefully, no Divine wrath will be directed against the congregation of the Israelites, either potentially—if the separation between the Levites and the laity is breached—or actually, if a lay Israelite attempts to perform a Levite function.14 The Levites shall guard the Tabernacle of the Testimony for this purpose.”

54 The Israelites did this; they did exactly according to all that God had commanded Moses. Thus, the people encamped in three concentric camps: the Tabernacle and its courtyard was the innermost camp, known as “the camp of the Divine presence”; surrounding this was the middle camp, that of the Levites; and surrounding both was the outermost camp, that of the lay Israelites.

The Camp

Third Reading 2:1 God then gave the details regarding how the camp was to be organized and how this organized camp was to travel. God spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2 “The Israelites shall camp each man by his division’s banner, each of which will be a unique color, and by the insignias on the banners of their fathers’ houses, i.e., their tribes, each of whose banners will be the color of the tribe’s stone in the high priest’s breastplate.15 Their order around the Tabernacle will be the same as the order in which Jacob told his sons to carry his coffin.16 They shall encamp around the Tent of Meeting at the maximum distance practical, in order to minimize the possibility that any layperson enter the Tabernacle precincts. This maximum practical distance is 2,000 cubits17 from the outer extremity of the Tabernacle’s precincts, because it is prohibited to walk more than this distance from one inhabited area to another on the Sabbath.18

3 Those camping in front, to the east, will be under the banner of the division of Judah, organized according to their troops. The prince of the tribe of Judah is Nachshon the son of Aminadav;

4 the tally for his troop is 74,600.

5 Camping next to him will be the tribe of Issachar. The prince of the tribe of Issachar is Netanel the son of Tzu’ar;

6 the tally for his troop is 54,400.

7 Next to him will be the tribe of Zebulun. The prince of the tribe of Zebulun is Eliav the son of Chelon;

8 the tally for his troop is 57,400.

9 The total sum for the division of Judah according to their troops is 186,400; these shall set out first.

10 “Those camping under the banner of the division of Reuben will be to the south, organized according to their troops. The prince of the tribe of Reuben is Elitzur the son of Shede’ur;

11 the tally for his troop is 46,500.

12 Camping next to him will be the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the tribe of Simeon is Shelumiel the son of Tzurishadai;

13 the tally for his troop is 59,300.

14Next to him will be the tribe of Gad. The prince of the tribe of Gad is Eliasaf the son of Re’uel, who was mentioned previously19 as De’uel;

15 the tally for his troop is 45,650.

16 The total sum for the division of Reuben according to their troops is 150,450; they shall set out second.

17 Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, together with the Levite camp, in the center of the other camps. Just as they camp, so shall they travel, each man in his place, by their banners.” According to one opinion, this means that the people traveled in exactly the same square formation as they camped in. According to another opinion, they traveled one tribe after the other, and the words “just as they camp, so shall they travel” here simply mean that they should travel in the order they encamped around the Tabernacle.20 The description here accords with the first opinion; the description of how the people actually set out later21 accords with the second opinion.

18 “Those camping under the banner of the division of Ephraim will be to the west, organized according to their troops. The prince of the tribe of Ephraim is Elishama the son of Amihud;

19 the tally for his troop is 40,500.

20 Next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh. The prince of the tribe of Manasseh is Gamliel the son of Pedahtzur;

21 the tally for his troop is 32,200.

22 Next to him will be the tribe of Benjamin. The prince of the tribe of Benjamin is Avidan the son of Gidoni;

23 the tally for his troop is 35,400.

24 The total sum for the division of Ephraim according to their troops is 108,100; they shall set out third.

25 Those camping under the banner of the division of Dan will be to the north, organized according to their troops. The prince of the children of Dan is Achiezer the son of Amishadai;

26 the tally for his troop is 62,700.

27 Camping next to him will be the tribe of Asher. The prince of the tribe of Asher is Pagiel the son of Ochran;

28 the tally for his troop is 41,500.

29 Next to him will be the tribe of Naphtali. The prince of the tribe of Naphtali is Achira the son of Einan;

30 the tally for his troop is 53,400.

31 The total sum for the division of Dan according to their troops is 157,600; they shall set out last.”

32 These are the tallies of the Israelites according to their fathers’ houses. The sum of all the tallies of the divisions according to their troops was 603,550.

33 The Levites were not counted with the rest of the Israelites, as God commanded Moses.

34 The Israelites did all that God had commanded Moses; they encamped by their banners, and they journeyed each man with his family, according to his paternal house.

The Census of the Levites

Fourth Reading 3:1 The Torah now turns to the census of the tribe of Levi—the priests and the Levites—and their assignments when the people would travel. It first defines the priestly caste. These are the descendants of Moses, figuratively, and Aaron, physically. Aaron’s sons are figuratively considered to be also Moses’ sons because Moses made special efforts to teach them the Torah.22 In this sense, they became his sons on the day that God spoke to Moses and gave the Torah at Mount Sinai.

2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadav—the firstborn, Avihu, Eleazar, and Itamar.23

3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom Moses consecrated to serve as priests.

4 Nadav and Avihu died before God when they brought an unauthorized fire before God in the Sinai desert,24 and they had no children. Eleazar and Itamar, however, served as priests during their father Aaron’s lifetime.

5 God spoke to Moses, saying:

6 “Bring forth the tribe of Levi and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him, as follows:

7 They shall help him keep his charge, that is, the charge given him regarding the entire lay community in front of the Tent of Meeting, which is to perform the service of the Tabernacle by keeping the laity from serving in it.25

8 In addition to helping the priests in this way, the Levites shall also keep the charge given to them alone, which concerns all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, that is, the charge they perform on behalf of the lay Israelites, which is to perform the service of the Tabernacle by transporting it and singing and playing music in it.26

9 But even though you shall give over the Levites to Aaron and his sons—for they are given, yes, given over to him from among the Israelites in order to help him ensure that the laity not enter the Tabernacle—

10 nonetheless, you shall direct Aaron and his sons to guard their priesthood from the Levites as well,27 because any non-priest—even a Levite—who approaches to participate in the priestly duties shall be put to death by an act of God.”

11 God then explained by what right He had appointed the Levites as representatives of the general populace and had given them to the priests. He spoke to Moses, saying:

12 “As for Me, I have taken the Levites from the other Israelites as their surrogates,28 in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites who have opened the womb, so the Levites shall be Mine.

13 For all the firstborn are Mine: on the day I killed every firstborn in Egypt, I sanctified for Myself every firstborn in Israel by sparing them, both man and beast.29 But since the firstborn participated in the sin of the Golden Calf, they became disqualified to act as priests or as their assistants. In their stead, the tribe of Levi, who did not participate in this sin, shall be Mine;30 I am God.”

Fifth Reading 14 God spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert, saying:

15 “The Levites are to take the place of the firstborn on a head-for-head basis. Therefore, you must tally both the Levites and the lay firstborn. First, tally the Levites according to their fathers’ houses, according to their families. When I killed the Egyptians’ firstborn, I killed them all, regardless of their age, so I therefore sanctified all the firstborn of Israel, regardless of their age. Thus, since the Levites will be replacing the firstborn, all of them should really be counted, from birth. Furthermore, their very existence—even from birth—contributes to the size of the Levite camp, and therefore they can be considered to be serving as Levites and helping distance the laity from the Tabernacle as soon as they are born.31 Nonetheless, you should count only all males one month old and over, for only from this age is a baby considered viable.” (Precedent for counting the Levites in recognition of their contribution even from birth can be taken from Levi’s daughter Yocheved, who as a newborn completed the tally of Jacob’s family to 70 members.32)

16 Moses protested, “How can I enter their private tents and count the nursing babies?” God told him to stand at the entrance of each tent and He would announce how many babies were inside. So Moses tallied them according to God’s word as He announced the count of children in each tent, just as he was commanded. Here, too, the tallies were exact round numbers.

17 These were the sons of Levi, by name: Gershon, Kehat, and Merari.

18 The names of the sons of Gershon according to their families were Livni and Shimi.

19 The sons of Kehat according to their families were Amram, Yitzhar, Hebron, and Uziel.

20 The sons of Merari according to their families were Machli and Mushi. These were the families of Levi according to their fathers’ houses.33

21 For Gershon, Moses tallied the family of Livni and the family of Shimi, these being the families of Gershon.

22 Their tally was the number of males one month old and over, whose tally was 7,500.

23 The families of Gershon camped behind the Tabernacle, to the west.

24 The prince of the paternal house of the families of Gershon was Eliasaf the son of Lael.

25 The charge of the clan of Gershon in transporting the Tent of Meeting was the three coverings that served as its roof—the bottom cover of tapestries draped over the Tabernacle, the middle Tent of goat skins placed on top of this, and the topmost cover of ram skins and tachash-skins over it—the Screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

26 the curtains of the courtyard, the Screen at the entrance to the courtyard that enclosed the Tabernacle and the Altar, the ropes used to fasten the two lower covers draped over the Tabernacle (the bottom, tapestry cover and the middle, goat-skin cover) to the ground, and all the work involved.

27 For Kehat, Moses tallied the family of Amram, the family of Yitzhar, the family of Hebron, and the family of Uziel; these being the families of Kehat.

28 The number of all males one month old and over was 8,600; they were the keepers of the charge of the Sanctuary.

29 The families of the clan of Kehat camped to the south side of the Tabernacle.

30 The prince of the paternal house of the families of Kehat was Elitzafan the son of Uziel.

31 Their charge in transporting the Tabernacle was the Ark, the Table, the Candelabrum, the Altars, the utensils of the Sanctuary with which they would minister, the Screen that divided between the outer and inner chambers of the Tent of Meeting, and all the work involved.

32 The prince over all the princes of the Levites was Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest; his job was the appointment of the keepers of the charge of the Sanctuary.

33 For Merari, Moses tallied the family of Machli and the family of Mushi; these being the families of Merari.

34 Their tally, the number of males one month old and over, was 6,200.

35 The prince of the paternal house of the families of Merari was Tzuriel the son of Avichail. They camped on the north side of the Tabernacle.

36 The appointed charge of the clan of Merari in transporting the Tabernacle was the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its utensils, all the work involved,

37 the pillars of the surrounding courtyard, their sockets, their stakes, and the ropes used to hang the curtains of the courtyard from its pillars.

38 Camping in front of the Tabernacle, in front of the Tent of Meeting to the east, were Moses, Aaron and his sons, the keepers of the charge of the Sanctuary as a trust for the Israelites, for any outsider who approached to participate was to be put to death by an act of God.

39 All the tallies of the male Levites, according to their families, one month old and over, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the word of God, was 22,300. Of these, 300 were firstborn. Thus, there were only 22,000 Levites who were not firstborn. For the procedure of redeeming the Israelite firstborn, which will be described presently, only these Levites were considered.

Sixth Reading 40 God said to Moses, “Now, tally all the firstborn Israelite males one month old and over, and take a census of their names.

41 And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am God—in place of all the Israelite firstborn, head for head, and the Levites’ lambs34 in place of all the firstborn donkeys of the Israelites. The substitution of Levite lambs for lay donkeys, however, is not on a head-for-head basis; one Levite lamb may redeem any number of lay donkeys. And there is no redemption for the firstborn cattle, sheep, or goats of the lay Israelites; they must give these to the priests.”35

42 So Moses counted all the Israelite firstborn, as God had commanded him. He did not need God’s assistance as he did when he counted the Levites, since he only had to enter the laity’s tents if the firstborn of a particular family was still a nursing baby.36

43 The tally of the firstborn males one month old and over, according to the number of names, was 22,273. Of the 22,300 Levites, 300 were firstborn, as we saw; these 300 substituted (as Levites) for themselves (as firstborn), and could therefore not substitute for first born lay Israelites. There were thus 273 more firstborn Israelites than there were Levites that could redeem them.

44 God spoke to Moses, saying:

45 “Take the Levites in place of all the Israelite firstborn and the Levites’ lambs in place of the Israelites’ firstborndonkeys, and the Levites shall be Mine; I am God.

46 As for those yet to be redeemed, the 273 Israelite firstborn who are in excess of the Levites,

47 you shall take five shekels per head from each of them. Take them according to the shekel of the Sanctuary, by which the shekel is 20 gerahs. This ‘price’ for a firstborn was established when Rachel’s firstborn, Joseph was sold by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver.37

48 You shall give the money to Aaron and his sons, as redemption for the firstborn who are in excess of them.”

49 Moses used a lottery to determine which of the Israelite firstborn would be redeemed head-for-head by a Levite and which ones would have to pay the five-shekel redemption fee. Moses then collected the redemption money from those 273 Israelite firstborn who were in excess of those redeemed by the Levites head-for-head.

50 He took the money from the firstborn of the Israelites: 1,365 shekels of the Sanctuary.

51 Moses then gave the money of the redeemed Israelitesto Aaron and his sons, in accordance with the word of God, as God had commanded Moses.

The Levite Clans

Seventh Reading 4:1 God now told Moses to count the Levites who were able to transport the Tabernacle and its furnishings, clan by clan. He spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2 “Take a separate census of the clan of Kehat from among the Levites by their families, according to their fathers’ houses,

3 from the age of 30 until the age of 50, all who are strong enough to lift heavy things and are thus eligible for the troop, to do work in the Tent of Meeting.

4 The following is the service of the clan of Kehat in transporting the Tent of Meeting:38 they will carry the holiest of the holy furnishings: the Ark, the dividing Screen, the showbread Table, the Candelabrum, the two Altars, and all their utensils.

5 But before they approach these furnishings, the priests will cover them, as follows: When the cloud moves forward, indicating that the camp is about to travel, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the dividing Screen and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it.

6 They shall put a covering of tachash-skin on it, and on top of that they shall spread a pure turquoise wool cloth bag. Then they shall put its poles in place.

7 They shall spread a fitted, turquoise wool cloth bag on the showbread Table and they shall place on it the forms, spoons, supports, and covering canes, the continual bread remaining upon it.

8 They shall then spread a fitted, scarlet wool cloth bag on them and cover that with a covering of tachash-skin. Then they shall put its poles into place.

9 They shall take a fitted, turquoise wool cloth bag and cover the Candelabrum of illumination, its lamps, its tongs, its scoops, and all its oil vessels they use in performing its service.

10 They shall put it and all its utensils into a covering of tachash-skin and place the bag and its cover on a pole, since the Candelabrum has no poles with which it can be carried.

11 They shall spread a fitted, turquoise wool cloth bag over the golden, Inner Altar and cover it with a covering of tachash-skin, and then set its poles in place.

12 They shall then take all the utensils they use for the golden Altar, which is inside the Sanctuary, put them into a turquoise wool cloth bag, cover them with a covering of tachash-skin, and put this bag and its cover onto a pole in order to carry it.39

13 They shall remove the ashes from the Outer Altar and spread a fitted, purple wool cloth bag over it. The heavenly fire will be covered with a copper bowl so that it does not burn this wool bag.

14 They shall place on it all the utensils with which they minister upon it: the scoops, the forks, the shovels, and the basins—all the implements of the Altar. Then they shall spread over it a covering of tachash-skin and set its poles into place.

15 Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy furnishings and all the utensils of the Sanctuary when the camp is set to travel, and only afterwards shall the clan of Kehat come to carry them. But the clan of Kehat must not touch the sacred objects themselves, for then they will die. These furnishings are the burden of the clan of Kehat in transporting the Tent of Meeting.

16 The charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is as follows: he must carry the oil for lighting and the spice incense; he must ensure the daily meal offering is offered when they make camp; and he must carry the anointing oil. In addition, he has the charge of supervising the work of the clan of Kehat, assigning each one of them what they should carry from the entire Tabernacle and all that is in it, that is, from the holy things and from all the Tabernacle’s furnishings.”

Maftir 17 God spoke to Moses to speak to Aaron, saying:

18 “Do not let the tribe of the families of Kehat be eliminated from among the Levites.

19 Do this for them, so they should live and not die when they approach the holiest of the holy things in order to carry them, as was just described: Aaron and his sons shall first come and appoint each man individually to his task and his load.

20 But the clan of Kehat shall not come in to see when the holy furnishings are being wrapped up, lest they inadvertently touch them and die.”