Numbers 15:32
in Numbers 15While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.
KJV
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
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This verse in Numbers 15
Commentary
12 notes on this verseI find, in taking up the Holy Scripture, that in the Old and New Testament stubbornness toward God is clearly condemned not in consideration of the number or heinousness of transgressions but in terms of a single violation of any precept whatsoever, and, further, that the judgment of God covers all forms of disobedience. In the Old Testament, I read of the frightful end of Achar and the account of the man who gathered wood on the sabbath day.
This site's exposition
they found a man that gathered sticks
on Numbers 15:32-36
Exodus 31:14-15 and 35:2 had already fixed death for breaking the sabbath, and verse 34 says exactly what was missing, that it was not declared what should be done to him. So the man is held while Moses waits for a ruling, which is the shape of the defiled men at 9:6-8 and of the daughters of Zelophehad at 27:1-11. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that gathering sticks was lawful on any other day of the week, and that the day is the whole of what the case turns on. The narrative stands between the law of presumption and the fringes given to prevent forgetting.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
We have in fact noticed that even for less serious faults some people have suffered the very sentence of death by which those who we said were the authors of sacrilegious prevarication were also punished. This happened in the case of the man who had been collecting wood on the sabbath, as well as in that of Ananias and Sapphira, who by their misguided faithlessness kept back a little bit of their property. It is not that these sins were equally grave but that when these persons had been found committing a new offense, they had to furnish a kind of example to others of the penalty and terror of sinfulness. Thus, from then on, whoever was tempted to do the same thing would know that at the future judgment he would receive the same condemnation as the others, even if in this life his punishment was deferred.
Wherefore then was he punished that was gathering the sticks? Because if the laws were to be despised even at the beginning, of course they would scarcely be observed afterwards. For indeed the Sabbath did at the first confer many and great benefits; for instance, it made them gentle towards those of their household, and humane; it taught them God's providence and the creation, as Ezekiel saith; it trained them by degrees to abstain from wickedness, and disposed them to regard the things of the Spirit.
The Law, if it lay hold on a murderer, putteth him to death; the Gospel, if it lay hold on a murderer, enlighteneth, and giveth him life. And why do I instance a murderer? The Law laid hold on one that gathered sticks on a sabbath day, and stoned him. This is the meaning of, "the letter killeth." The Gospel takes hold on thousands of homicides and robbers, and baptizing delivereth them from their former vices.
When a man of the Israelite community gathered wood on the sabbath, he was killed, and this by the judgment and order of God, a judge most loving and merciful and who doubtless preferred to spare rather than kill him if the reason for severity …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
On the sabbath-day - This seems to be added as an example of a presumptuous sin: for as the law of the sabbath was plain and positive, so this transgression of it must needs be a known and wilful sin.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness,....
This seemed but a small offence, but it was a violation of the law of the sabbath, and so was a tacit contempt of the Creator, to whose honour the sabbath was dedicated, and an incursion upon the whole law, which the sabbath was intended as a hedge about.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
They found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath - This was in all likelihood a case of that kind supposed above: the man despised the word of the Lord, and therefore broke his commandment; see Num 15:31. On this ground he was punished with the utmost rigor of the law.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The mere gathering of sticks was not a sinful act and might be necessary for fuel to warm him or to make ready his food. But its being done on the Sabbath altered the entire character of the action. The law of the Sabbath being a plain and positive commandment, this transgression of it was a known and wilful sin, and it was marked by several aggravations.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Moses mentions here, as is his wont (compare Lev 24:10-16), the first open transgression and its punishment in order to exemplify the laws which he is laying down. The offence of Sabbath-breaking was one for which there could be no excuse. This law at least might be observed even in the wilderness. Transgression of it was therefore a presumptuous sin, and was punished accordingly.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּהְי֥וּ | vaiyihyu | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וַֽיִּמְצְא֗וּ | vaiyimtzeu | and they found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ | mekoshesh | gathering | H7197 → | |
| עֵצִ֖ים | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
וַיִּהְי֥וּand they were
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
וַֽיִּמְצְא֗וּand they found
vaiyimtzeuH4672 →455 times
אִ֛ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁgathering
mekosheshH7197 →
עֵצִ֖יםwood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
בְּי֥וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃the sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 16:23He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil…
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:3
For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a…
- Exodus 20:8–11
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Exodus 31:15
For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to…
- Genesis 2:2–3
And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
- Exodus 35:2–3
For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put…
- Leviticus 23:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, PREFACE ON THE JUDGMENT OF GOD 15.32-36; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 6.11.11; John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew 39; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Corinthians 6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 6.10.55.