What Does Numbers 17:13 Mean in the King James?
Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word for “cometh near” shares its root with “offering”: here, drawing near is the threshold where life is at risk.
THE MEANING
The verse places nearness to the LORD’s dwelling at a lethal threshold: whoever approaches dies. The question, “shall we be consumed with dying?”, voices the fear that death has no stopping point.
THE ROOT
הַקָּרֵב
haqqārēv
GROWS FROM
קרב
Approach, draw near
“cometh near” in this verse is haqqārēv. Hebrew repeats the participle, haqqārēv haqqārēv, so the one drawing near becomes the verse’s pressure point. The same q-r-b root forms qorbān, an offering brought near, revealing nearness as an act with consequences, not mere distance.
ALSO GROWS
qārōv: Near, close
קָרוֹב
The word for closeness grows from the same root as the act of approaching.
qorbān: Offering, something brought near
קָרְבָּן
This branch carries the idea of drawing near into the language of an offering brought toward the LORD.
מִשְׁכַּן
mishkan
GROWS FROM
שׁכן
Settle, dwell
“tabernacle” in this verse is mishkan. Mishkan is a dwelling place, from sh-k-n, “to dwell.” The fatal boundary gathers around a place understood by its name as the LORD’s dwelling, making approach a question of proximity to presence.
ALSO GROWS
shākhan: To dwell, settle
שָׁכַן
The verb names the dwelling that the tabernacle embodies.
shākhen: Neighbor, dweller
שָׁכֵן
The related word names one who dwells nearby, echoing the verse’s concern with nearness.
תַּמְנוּ
tamnu
GROWS FROM
תמם
Be complete, finish, come to an end
“consumed” in this verse is tamnu. The Hebrew layers completion into the question: tamnu asks, “Have we reached the end?” beside ligvoa, “to expire.” The words hold both the prospect of dying and the fear that the whole community may be at its end.
ALSO GROWS
tam: Whole, complete
תָּם
This form carries the root’s sense of being brought to completion.
tamim: Whole, complete, blameless
תָּמִים
This branch shows completion as a state of wholeness, sharpening the question of whether the people have reached their end.
THE PATTERN
Approach to a marked divine dwelling is framed as a boundary where crossing can mean death.
And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.For our God is a consuming fire.THE THREAD
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.Both verses use the q-r-b root for drawing near to the LORD’s presence. Exodus says, “Draw not nigh”; Numbers lets that same approach become the question of who can survive it.
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