What Does Numbers 4:15 Mean in the King James?

And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Numbers 4:15 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Kohathites may bear the holy objects only after they are covered: carrying is entrusted to them, but touching remains a boundary with death on the other side.

THE MEANING

The sacred objects are covered before the camp moves, and the Kohathites carry them without touching them. The passage states the consequence plainly: contact with a holy thing means death. The task is to bear what is entrusted while remaining within the boundary set around it.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Being entrusted with something sacred does not grant unrestricted access to it; the Kohathites bear the objects, but touching them remains forbidden.

THE ROOT

לְכַסֹּת

lekhassot

GROWS FROM

כסה

⁨כָּסָה⁩ (kasah): cover, conceal, or clothe over.

Aaron and his sons cover the objects before the Kohathites carry them, so the covering makes transport possible while the boundary against touching remains. The sacredness is not removed; it is carried under a covering.

ALSO GROWS

mekhusseh: covered

מְכֻסֶּה

This form from ⁨כסה⁩ names the state the objects enter before they are borne.

hitkassah: to cover oneself; be covered

הִתְכַּסָּה

This reflexive form shares the root’s consonants and shows covering as entering a covered state.

לָשֵׂאת

laset

GROWS FROM

נשא

⁨נָשָׂא⁩ (nasa): lift, carry, or bear.

“bear” in this verse is laset. The verse’s act of bearing and its named burden belong to the same Hebrew root. What the Kohathites carry is described as their assigned load, not as permission to handle the holy objects directly.

ALSO GROWS

massa: burden, load

מַשָּׂא

This noun from the weak-initial root ⁨נשא⁩ appears later in this verse as “burden”; its surface form omits the root’s ⁨נ⁩.

nasi: prince, leader

נָשִׂיא

This related form retains the root’s consonants and carries the sense of one raised up or appointed to lead.

יִגְּעוּ

yigge'u

GROWS FROM

נגע

⁨נָגַע⁩ (nagaʿ): touch, reach, or strike against.

The verse places touching directly beside the stated consequence, death. Another noun from this root can mean a stroke or affliction, bringing the sense of impact into view without making every touch a blow.

ALSO GROWS

nega: stroke, affliction, plague

נֶגַע

This noun shares the root’s consonants and shows how the root can describe an impact or affliction.

negi'ah: touch, contact

נְגִיעָה

This noun keeps all three root consonants and makes explicit the contact prohibited here.

THE PATTERN

Scripture marks nearness to the sacred with boundaries, and treats crossing them as consequential.

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:

Exodus 19:12 · KJVThe boundary around the mountain makes contact with what is set apart a matter of life and death.

And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

2 Samuel 6:6-7 · KJVUzzah reaches for the ark and dies beside it, echoing the passage’s stated danger in touching the holy objects.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:28-29 · KJVThe passage joins service near God with reverence and names the consuming fire as the reason that nearness carries weight.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.

Exodus 26:14 · KJV

The covering in Exodus and the instruction to cover the holy objects in Numbers grow from the same Hebrew root. One covers the tent; the other covers its sacred vessels before they are carried.

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