He struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
B. G. Caird also complained that, "There is nowhere else any indication that this (looking into the ark) was regarded as an offense."[23]  How could a Biblical commentator write something like that in the light of the word of God?  "They shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die"  (Numbers 4:20).