Numbers 16:38
in Numbers 16As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
even the censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before Jehovah; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
KJV
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
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This verse in Numbers 16
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
These sinners against their own souls - That is, “against their own lives.” By their sin they had brought destruction upon themselves.
This site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying
on Numbers 16:36-38
The censers outlast the men who carried them. Having been brought before the Lord they are counted hallowed, and the metal is beaten into plates to cover the altar, so the instruments of the offence end as the surface of the place where atonement is made. Albert Barnes reads sinners against their own souls as sinners against their own lives, since the sin cost them exactly that.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The censers of these sinners against their own souls,....
These censers were preserved in terrorem, that others might hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously. Thus God has provided that his wonderful works, both in mercy and judgment, should be had in everlasting remembrance, that the end of them may be answered, and they may serve for instruction and admonition to those on whom the ends of the world are come.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֡ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַחְתּוֹת֩ | machtot | [the] censers of | H4289 → | 22 times |
| הַֽחַטָּאִ֨ים | hachataim | the sinners | H2400 → | |
| הָאֵ֜לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| בְּנַפְשֹׁתָ֗ם | benafshotam | by lives their | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְעָשׂ֨וּ | veasu | and people will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתָ֜ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רִקֻּעֵ֤י | rikuei | beaten out of | H7555 → | |
| פַחִים֙ | fachim | thin plates | H6341 → | |
| צִפּ֣וּי | tzipui | overlay | H6826 → | |
| לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ | lamizbeach | for the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִקְרִיבֻ֥ם | hikrivum | they brought near them | H7126 → | 280 times |
| לִפְנֵֽי־ | lifnei- | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּקְדָּ֑שׁוּ | vaiyikdashu | and they became holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| וְיִֽהְי֥וּ | veyihyu | and they may become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְא֖וֹת | leot | <into> a sign | H226 → | 80 times |
| לִבְנֵ֥י | livnei | for [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
אֵ֡ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מַחְתּוֹת֩[the] censers of
machtotH4289 →22 times
הַֽחַטָּאִ֨יםthe sinners
hachataimH2400 →
הָאֵ֜לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
בְּנַפְשֹׁתָ֗םby lives their
benafshotamH5315 →754 times
וְעָשׂ֨וּand people will make
veasuH6213 →2628 times
אֹתָ֜ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
רִקֻּעֵ֤יbeaten out of
rikueiH7555 →
פַחִים֙thin plates
fachimH6341 →
צִפּ֣וּיoverlay
tzipuiH6826 →
לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַfor the altar
lamizbeachH4196 →401 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הִקְרִיבֻ֥םthey brought near them
hikrivumH7126 →280 times
לִפְנֵֽי־<to> before
lifnei-H6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּקְדָּ֑שׁוּand they became holy
vaiyikdashuH6942 →171 times
וְיִֽהְי֥וּand they may become
veyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לְא֖וֹת<into> a sign
leotH226 →80 times
לִבְנֵ֥יfor [the] people of
livneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
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
2 Peter 2:6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
it leads to
- Jude 1:7
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 17:28–30
It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Genesis 19:24–25
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Numbers 26:10
And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.
- Jude 1:7
Through
Proverbs 20:2The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:12
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Proverbs 8:36
But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
- Proverbs 19:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
