But they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die: In verse 15 it was enough for the Kohathites not to touch the most sacred objects. But here the prohibition seems to go even further: they were not even allowed to see them while they were still uncovered! The pronoun they refers to the Kohathites, which may have to be made explicit (so Good News Translation). The phrase even for a moment is not in the Hebrew text. It is found in many translations and does not change the main point of the prohibition here. Good News Translation follows the Hebrew more closely here. In Hebrew this verse is literally “and they shall not go in to see when [the priests] engulf/envelop the holy things, and they die.” King James Version follows the Hebrew closely by saying “but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die” (similarly Buber). The Kohathites were not allowed to see the most sacred objects while they were uncovered. Two possible models for this verse are:

• But let the Kohathites not come inside and look while the sacred objects are still being covered/enveloped, lest they die.”

• But let the Kohathites not come inside and catch a glimpse of the sacred objects while they are still being covered/enveloped, lest they die.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .