Numbers 16:46
in Numbers 16Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take thy censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah; the plague is begun.
KJV
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.
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This verse in Numbers 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIncense - Which was a sign of intercession, and was to be accompanied with it. Go unto the congregation - He went with the incense, to stir up the people to repentance and prayer, to prevent their utter ruin. This he might do upon this extraordinary occasion, having God's command for his warrant, though ordinarily incense was to be offered only in the tabernacle.
This site's exposition
Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar
on Numbers 16:46-48
The censer that killed two hundred and fifty men the day before now stops a plague, and what has changed is the hand that carries it and the fire that fills it, taken from off the altar. Aaron runs, which is the one action recorded of him in the chapter, and he stands between the dead and the living until the plague is stayed. The office Korah wanted is settled by what it does for the people who had just accused the man holding it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Moses said unto Aaron, take a censer,....
11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the L ORD : and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? An account of the rebels, who and what they were, not, as formerly, the mixed multitude and the dregs of the people, who are therefore never named, but men of distinction and quality, that made a figure.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The plague is begun - God now punished them by a secret blast, so as to put the matter beyond all dispute; his hand, and his alone, was seen, not only in the plague, but in the manner in which the mortality was arrested. It was necessary that this should be done in this way, that the whole congregation might see that those men who had perished were not the people of the Lord; and that God, not Moses and Aaron, had destroyed them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A censer - Rather, the censer. i. e. that of the high priest which was used by him on the great Day of Atonement: compare Lev 16:12; Heb 9:4.
The words behind it
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֜ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֗ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| קַ֣ח | kach | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַ֠מַּחְתָּה | hamachtah | the censer | H4289 → | 22 times |
| וְתֶן־ | veten- | and put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עָלֶ֨יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֜שׁ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| מֵעַ֤ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וְשִׂ֣ים | vesim | and set | H7760 → | 584 times |
| קְטֹ֔רֶת | ketoret | incense | H7004 → | 60 times |
| וְהוֹלֵ֧ךְ | veholekh | and take [it] | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מְהֵרָ֛ה | meherah | quickly | H4120 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעֵדָ֖ה | haedah | the congregation | H5712 → | 149 times |
| וְכַפֵּ֣ר | vekhaper | and make atonement | H3722 → | 102 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָצָ֥א | yatza' | it has gone forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הַקֶּ֛צֶף | haketzef | <the> wrath | H7110 → | 29 times |
| מִלִּפְנֵ֥י | milifnei | from to before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֵחֵ֥ל | hechel | it has begun | H2490 → | 143 times |
| הַנָּֽגֶף׃ | hanagef | the plague | H5063 → | 7 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁ֜הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַהֲרֹ֗ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
קַ֣חtake
kachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַ֠מַּחְתָּהthe censer
hamachtahH4289 →22 times
וְתֶן־and put
veten-H5414 →2011 times
עָלֶ֨יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
אֵ֜שׁfire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
מֵעַ֤לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙the altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
וְשִׂ֣יםand set
vesimH7760 →584 times
קְטֹ֔רֶתincense
ketoretH7004 →60 times
וְהוֹלֵ֧ךְand take [it]
veholekhH1980 →1546 times
מְהֵרָ֛הquickly
meherahH4120 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעֵדָ֖הthe congregation
haedahH5712 →149 times
וְכַפֵּ֣רand make atonement
vekhaperH3722 →102 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֑םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָצָ֥אit has gone forth
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
הַקֶּ֛צֶף<the> wrath
haketzefH7110 →29 times
מִלִּפְנֵ֥יfrom to before
milifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֵחֵ֥לit has begun
hechelH2490 →143 times
הַנָּֽגֶף׃the plague
hanagefH5063 →7 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
Numbers 8:19And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement…
it leads to
- Numbers 1:53
But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 26:16–20
But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar…
- Numbers 1:53
Through
Numbers 11:33But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:30–31
Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
- Psalms 106:14–15
They craved intensely in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.
- Psalms 78:30–31
Through
Leviticus 10:6Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be…
it leads to
- Joshua 7:1
The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set…
- Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Joshua 22:18
And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
- Joshua 22:20
Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”
- Joshua 7:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.