Numbers 15:34
in Numbers 15and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
KJV
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
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This verse in Numbers 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Death had indeed been assigned as the penalty Exo 31:14; Exo 35:2; but it had not been determined how that death was to be inflicted.
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 Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They - That is, Moses and Aaron, and the seventy rulers. What should be done - That is, in what manner he was to be cut off, or by what kind of death he was to die, which therefore God here particularly determines: otherwise it was known in general that sabbath-breakers were to be put to death.
And they put him in ward,....
It seems, even common Israelites, though there was much amiss among them, yet would not contentedly see the sabbath profaned, which was a good sign that they had not quite forsaken God, nor were utterly forsaken of him. God was consulted, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּנִּ֥יחוּ | vaiyanichu | and they left | H5117 → | 142 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בַּמִּשְׁמָ֑ר | bamishmar | in <the> custody | H4929 → | |
| כִּ֚י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| פֹרַ֔שׁ | forash | it had been decided | H6567 → | |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יֵּעָשֶׂ֖ה | yeaseh | will it be done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ ס | lo | to <the> him |
וַיַּנִּ֥יחוּand they left
vaiyanichuH5117 →142 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
בַּמִּשְׁמָ֑רin <the> custody
bamishmarH4929 →
כִּ֚יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
פֹרַ֔שׁit had been decided
forashH6567 →
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יֵּעָשֶׂ֖הwill it be done
yeasehH6213 →2628 times
לֽוֹ׃ סto <the> him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Numbers 9:8“Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied.
it leads to
- Numbers 27:5
So Moses brought their case before the LORD,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 85:8
I will listen to what God the LORD will say; for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints; He will not let them return to folly.
- Hebrews 3:5–6
Now Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be spoken later.
- Acts 20:27
For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.
- Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Numbers 27:5
Through
Leviticus 24:12They placed him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.
it leads to
- Exodus 18:15–16
“Because the people come to me to inquire of God,” Moses replied.
- Numbers 36:5–6
So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.
- Exodus 18:23
If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”
- Exodus 18:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.