Numbers 4:19

Summary

The verse instructs that Aaron and his sons must supervise the Kohathites' approach to the most holy objects, assigning each man his specific task and burden, so that the Levites survive rather than perish when nearing these sacred items.

Key words

• Zot ("this", H2063) — demonstrative particle opening the verse, pointing forward to the instruction that follows, translated as "this" or "thus" in English versions.
• 'aSu ("do", H6213A) — qal imperative plural, a direct command addressed to Aaron and his sons regarding how to handle the Kohathites.
• chayu ("they will live", H2421) and yamutu ("they will die", H4191) — a qal sequential perfect followed by a qal imperfect with negation lo' ("not", H3808), forming a result clause: life versus death depending on proper procedure.
• gishtam ("their drawing near", H5066G) — qal infinitive construct with pronominal suffix, governed by the preposition be ("when/in", H9003), indicating the temporal circumstance of the danger — the moment of approach itself.
• 'ish 'ish ("a man, a man", H0376G, repeated) — distributive repetition of the singular noun, meaning "each man" or "each one individually," specifying that every Kohathite receives his own designated task.

What the text says

The verse opens with ve-zot 'asu lahem ("and this do for them"), an imperative directed at Aaron and his sons concerning the Kohathites mentioned in the preceding context. The consequence of following this instruction is expressed through two verb forms in sequence: chayu ("they will live"), a sequential perfect continuing the imperative's force, and ve-lo' yamutu ("and they will not die"), an imperfect negated by lo'. This life/death outcome is tied to the temporal clause be-gishtam et-qodesh haqqodashim ("when they draw near the holy of holies" or "the holiest things"), where the infinitive construct gishtam marks the precise moment of exposure to danger — the act of approaching the most sacred objects themselves, not merely being near them.

The second half of the verse shifts to the actions required of Aaron and his sons: ya'vo'u ("they will come/enter") and ve-samu ("and they will place/appoint"), both governing the phrase 'ish 'ish 'al-'avodato ve-'el-massa'o ("each man to his service and to his burden"). The repetition 'ish 'ish creates a distributive sense — every individual Kohathite is assigned separately, rather than the group being treated collectively. The two construct nouns 'avodato ("his service", H5656H) and massa'o ("his burden", H4853A) distinguish between the task performed and the physical load carried.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders qodesh haqqodashim as τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων ("the holy of holies"), matching the Hebrew superlative construct closely. The Vulgate's si tetigerint Sancta sanctorum introduces si ("if"), framing the clause conditionally rather than purely temporally as the Hebrew be-gishtam ("when they draw near") does.