As with the Israelites, who are warned “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes” (v. 39), there remains for us “all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes” (1 John 2:16; cf. 2 Pet. 1:4), “passions . . . which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11; James 4:1). These oppose the Spirit, but the Spirit combats them (Gal. 5:16–17; James 4:5). Paul reminds the believer, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13:14); and Peter declares, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Pet. 4:1; cf. Heb. 2:18; 4:15). Grace is an essential weapon in the struggle: “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12).
Robert Robertson captures the source of victory in this battle for the heart in the last stanza of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
Let that grace now, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above.Numbers 15
Or an offering by fire; so throughout Numbers
An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
Or by mistake; also verses 24, 27, 28, 29
Hebrew to spy out
15:1–21 This section contains instructions regarding the grain and drink offerings accompanying animal sacrifices (vv. 3–16) and the first-dough contribution (vv. 19–21). Each part opens with “When you come into the land” (vv. 2, 18). The new generation is reminded that the Lord will keep his covenant promise (Gen. 12:7; 15:18) despite the parents’ failure at Kadesh to keep their oath made at Sinai (“All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient”; Ex. 24:7; cf. Ex. 19:8; 24:3). “You” (Num. 15:2) are those under twenty years of age at the rebellion (cf. 14:29) and those born to them (cf. 14:31). This is one of two occurrences in Numbers depicting their settlement in the Promised Land (cf. 35:29). “Which I am giving you” (15:2) reformulates the land promise made to the fathers in the present tense (cf. 10:29; 11:12; 14:16, 23).
The laws in 15:3–5 remind the people that the land is flowing with “milk and honey” (cf. comment on Num. 13:25–33 [at v. 37]). The offerings presuppose abundance in both major socioeconomic sectors: transhumant herding (“herd . . . flock”; 15:3) and sedentary husbandry (“grain . . . oil . . . wine”; vv. 4–5). This abundance is proof of God’s blessing and goodness (10:29; Deut. 7:13; Jer. 31:12).
Animals from the flock (Num. 15:3) include the “lamb” (v. 5), “ram” (v. 6), and “young goat” (v. 11). “Lamb” (Hb. she) can refer to young sheep or goats (Ex. 12:5). From the “herd” (Num. 15:3) here means a “bull” (v. 8). “Bull or ram” (v. 11) are paired, perhaps since rams would be separated from the flock and placed with the herd until breeding time. A “food offering” (ʾishshah; v. 3) is made by fire (ʾesh), as the name suggests (Lev. 3:5). All offerings on the altar are food offerings, since the altar is “the Lord’s table” (Mal. 1:7), an anthropomorphic image, as if the Lord ate sacrifices and drank their blood (Ps. 50:12–13). This portrays his communing at table with his people (Ps. 23:5; Rev. 3:20; 19:9), mirroring the practice of eating a covenant meal (Gen. 26:30; Ex. 24:11; 34:15; Matt. 26:28; 1 Cor. 11:20–22). ESV adds “or” before “a burnt offering”; a closer rendering is “And you make a food offering to the Lord, whether a burnt offering or a votive or freewill offering.”
The “burnt offering” (ʿolah, lit., “ascending”; 15:3, 8) goes up in smoke and is totally consumed by fire (cf. LXX holocaust). As here, it is first in lists of sacrifices (Lev. 1:3). Its sprinkled blood is used in making atonement. The body is skinned and dismembered, with the legs and entrails washed and the pieces, including the head and fat, arranged on the wood (Lev. 1:5–9). The word “sacrifice” (zebakh; Num. 15:3) simply implies a slaughtered animal (cf. Isa. 34:6; zebakh, “sacrifice”// tebakh, “slaughter”). Here it is an abbreviation for “peace offerings” (zebakh shelamim; Lev. 22:21; shelamim; Num. 15:8). These are often presented with burnt offerings (Lev. 6:12; Num. 15:8; 29:39; 2 Sam. 6:18). The fat, kidneys, and liver are burnt (Lev. 3:3–4). Two of the three kinds of peace offerings are mentioned in Numbers 15:3, “to fulfill a vow” and “freewill offering.” The third (“thanksgiving sacrifice”; Lev. 7:11–12) is unspecified, since grain and drink accompaniments are not required. The priest and his family receive the breast and right thigh, which are first ritually waved and contributed (Lev. 9:18, 21; 10:14). The remainder is eaten by the offeror (Lev. 7:15–16). “Appointed feasts” (moʿed; Num. 15:3) are festive occasions on which community offerings will be made once Israel is in the land (vv. 2, 18).
“He who brings his offering shall offer” (v. 4) renders a unique three-word Hebrew phrase turning on the qrb stem; literally, “The one drawing near (maqrib) shall draw near (hiqrib) to the Lord, by means of his drawer-near (qorban).” The major concern of these regulations—that which is unique to Numbers (cf. Ex. 29:38–42; Lev. 2:1–16; 7:11–14)—is the detailed quantity of food accompaniment according to the offering and the animal offered (cf. Ezek. 46:11–15): “fine flour,” in fractions of the “ephah” dry measure, and of olive “oil” and “wine,” in fractions of the “hin” liquid measure (Num. 15:4–5, 8–10, 11). The underlying principle is that the greater the value (and size) of the animal is—lamb/goat, ram, bull—the greater the measured quantity must be—tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths of an ephah of flour and a quarter, third, half of a hin of wine and oil. Meat offerings are accompanied by bread, a “grain offering” (v. 4), flour mixed with oil, and “wine . . . a drink offering” (nesek; v. 5) poured out either at the foot of the altar or on the offering. Describing all these offerings as “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (v. 10; cf. vv. 3, 7, 14, 24) portrays the Lord convivially at table in covenant communion with the offeror. The grain and drink offerings are not joined to sin or guilt offerings, nor does the pleasing aroma expression apply to them.
The section ends by reiterating the general application, first concerning each offering. The stipulated dry and liquid measures, whether with a bull, ram, lamb, or goat, apply as follows: “As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one” (vv. 11–12). There is no distinction of person according to the animal offered or the quantity of grain and oil accompaniments. A second application concerns anyone presenting an offering, whether “native Israelite” (ʾezrah), sojourning “stranger” (ger, a temporary resident), or anyone “living permanently” (perhaps a foreigner; cf. Gen. 23:4, neker/nokri), for all of whom there is “one law and one rule” (Num. 15:13–16), though with some restrictions for a foreigner (Ex. 12:43). Anyone in the land who desires, if qualified, can make an offering. These social distinctions anticipate life in the land, the very thing the previous generation doubted in unbelief.
The second part of the laws on sacrifices begins much like the first, “When you come into the land to which I bring you” (Num. 15:18; cf. v. 2). As do the former laws, this one anticipates agricultural abundance in the Promised Land. The reminders “When you eat of the bread of the land” (v. 19)—rather than manna—and “Throughout your generations” (v. 21)—beyond the generation that will die in the wilderness—reassure the people that for those who love and obey him, the Lord will keep covenant and steadfast love to a thousand generations (Ex. 20:6; Num. 14:18; Deut. 7:9).
The law introduced in Numbers 15:18 is unique (vv. 19–21; cf. Lev. 23:17). The bread in view is the “first of your dough” (Num. 15:20), a portion of which is to be presented (rum) to the Lord. The verb describes the action of presenting to the Lord that which is removed from the whole, that is, the portion contributed to the priest. This does not necessarily imply that the contribution is held up or “heaved” (the language of the “heave offering” comes from the KJV, via the rabbis; cf. Mishnah, Menahot 5:6) any more than “raising an offering” means lifting it up. Such would be impossible given the weight of the gold, silver, and bronze contributions for the tabernacle (called a terumah in Ex. 35:5), a land contribution for the temple (Ezek. 45:1, “portion”), and large amounts of plunder (Num. 31:29, 41, 52). The contribution here, a “loaf,” is part of a lump of “dough” made from some of the grain on the “threshing floor” (15:20). “First” here could refer to the first dough made at the time of the earliest grain harvest, or perhaps each time a new lump is made.
15:22–31 This initial section on unintentional sins of the congregation parallels the more elaborate Leviticus 4:13–21 law, with some differences. For example, Leviticus 4 includes four case categories—high priest, congregation, leader, and individual—whereas the present law includes only two—congregation and individual. Leviticus 4 treats violations “not to be done” (e.g., Lev. 4:2) or prohibitive (do not do) commandments, whereas Numbers 15 deals with “all” commandments (Num. 15:22, 23), both prohibitive and prescriptive (to do). Whether unintentional ritual or ethical infractions, in both passages they require atonement.
The plural verb in “if you [pl.] sin unintentionally [shagah]” (v. 22) refers to the unintentional sin of the congregation (cf. Lev. 4:13, pl. verb + “whole congregation”), that is, its representatives (“elders of the congregation,” Lev. 4:15; but distinct from a leader, v. 22). The law on “one person” begins in Numbers 15:27 (cf. Lev. 4:27; “anyone of the common people”). Shagah describes sheep that wander (Ezek. 34:6) and people who stray from the commandments (Ps. 119:21; cf. Ps. 119:118, “go astray”). Sheep do so unawares. Implied in the verb is the notion “unintentionally,” translating the cognate shegagah (Num. 15:24; v. 25, “mistake”; cf. v. 27, “sins unintentionally,” hataʾ + shegagah). The act itself may be intentional, but not the awareness that it is sinful or occasions impurity. An example would be someone who becomes impure by walking on an unmarked grave and later becomes aware of it (cf. 19:16). This law apparently includes inadvertent violations of the preceding ritual regulations.
Whether unintentional or not, sin is not limited to doing wrong (Lev. 4:13; “ought not to be done”); it includes, as here, not doing what is required (Num. 15:22). Guilt is incurred even if the violation is unintentional. Like the laws on future offerings in the land, this exhortation extends “onward throughout your generations” (v. 23). The fact that it is “without the knowledge of the congregation [i.e., the representatives]” (v. 24) reiterates the point that awareness of the error incriminating the entire community comes after the fact (cf. Lev. 4:13, ʾasham; “they realize their guilt”; Lev. 4:14, “sin . . . becomes known”). In Joshua 7 Israel suffers the consequences of the act of one man: from God’s standpoint “Israel has sinned” (Josh. 7:11) although only “I [Achan] sinned” (Josh. 7:20).
The requisite “bull . . . for a burnt offering” (Num. 15:24) is for representatives of the congregation (elders). The “male goat for a sin offering” (Num. 15:24) is for a leader (nasiʾ; Lev. 4:23). A “female goat” (Num. 15:27) is for an ordinary member of the community (Lev. 4:28). The burnt offering is mentioned here before the sin offering (also in Num. 6:14–15; 7:15–16), indicating what is offered. The order in which they are offered is reversed. This ritual sequence shows that purification and forgiveness of sin, by the atoning sin (blood purification) offering, is required first before making a burnt offering, which exudes a fragrant aroma. Numbers 15:25 summarizes, “And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their mistake.” Even unintentional mistakes require atonement.
The priest intermediary makes ceremonial blood “atonement” (kipper) by smearing, sprinkling, or pouring/throwing the blood, by which impurity is symbolically removed from holy objects (altar of burnt offerings, incense altar, mercy seat). The blood from a “sin offering,” applied to the altar, makes atonement for it (Ex. 29:36; 30:10; Lev. 8:15; 16:18–19; Ezek. 43:20; 45:18–20). This is done “for [on behalf of] all the congregation of the people of Israel” (cf. 8:19; 2 Chron. 29:24). The animal sacrificed is a substitute for those who have caused the defilement. After blood purges the impurity, “they shall be forgiven” for defiling the sacred and for “their mistake” causing the contamination. Although the priest probably announces the pardon, the Lord alone can forgive.
After the laws about unintentional sins (Num. 15:22–29) comes a ruling on intentional sin (vv. 30–31). Behind the sin qualified “anything with a high hand” (v. 30) is a defiant gesture, like that made at the exodus by the Israelites in the face of the Egyptians (Ex. 14:8, “defiantly”; Num. 33:3, “triumphantly”). Such a sin usually involves a willful violation of one of the Ten Commandments, as illustrated in the next section with the Sabbath (Num. 15:32–36). To “cut [someone] off” (karat; v. 31) is a severe form of covenant curse (Gen. 8:21; cf. Gen. 9:11; Jer. 44:8), involving punishment for offenses that are unatonable and thus unpardonable. “His iniquity”—his punishment for it—“shall be on him”; that is, the consequences are to be borne by him.
In Numbers 5 another kind of intentional sin was addressed. Blood atonement was made there under certain conditions—notably, true repentance and confession. In David’s case these actions mitigate the judgment upon high-handed sins for which there is no sacrifice—adultery and murder (Ps. 51:1, 4, 16–17).
15:32–36 The case is then introduced of a man “gathering sticks on the Sabbath day” (Num. 15:32). The law forbids lighting a fire on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:3; cf. Jer. 17:27). Gathering sticks is not in itself the problem since, if it were considered work, there would be no need to inquire of the Lord (cf. Ex. 31:14; 35:2). The question seems to regard whether gathering sticks is evidence of intent to make fire, and, if so, whether it is punishable, and to what extent. According to a strict interpretation, since no fire is made, there might be no infraction since no human court could prove intent.
Those who observed the man “brought him . . . to all the congregation” (Num. 15:33), that is, to the representatives. He is held “in custody” (in the mishmar, “guardhouse”; v. 34), but only until the case is decided (cf. Lev. 24:12). Imprisonment as punishment is foreign to the Israelite penal system. The question remains: What should they do next (Num. 15:34)? Identical language is used in the case of the blasphemous son of an Israelite and an Egyptian father (Lev. 24:11). In both cases the verb “be/make clear” (parash) involves a legal decision derived from the law (cf. Neh. 8:8).
The Lord decrees: “The man shall be put to death” (Num. 15:35; or “shall surely be put to death,” mot yamut; e.g., Gen. 26:7; Num. 35:16). “All the congregation,” that is, the designated representatives, “shall stone him” to death. Stoning is the sentence for divination (Lev. 20:27), blasphemy (Lev. 24:16), idolatry (Deut. 17:3, 5), and adultery (Deut. 22:21). Anyone guilty of certain perversions could be burned with fire (Lev. 20:14; 21:9). Execution is “outside the camp” (Num. 15:35, 36) so as not to defile it (31:19; cf. 5:3). Thereafter a lifeless body could be hung on a tree (25:4; Josh. 10:26; 2 Sam. 4:12). Being so hung is a curse (Deut. 21:22; Gal. 3:13).
15:37–41 “Tassels” (Hb. tsitsith; v. 38; cf. Deut. 22:12; LXX kraspeda, “fringes,” also Matt. 9:20; 14:36; 23:5) were worn on hems of garments of religious notables in Near Eastern antiquity. “Corners” (kanap) more precisely indicates “border/hem,” not “corner” (pinnah; cf. 1 Sam. 15:27 “skirt of his robe”). A “cord of blue” (Num. 15:38) is the color of royalty, a reminder, with the tassels, that Israel is a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6).
Tassels provide a sign “to look at and remember,” positively “all the commandments . . . to do them” and negatively “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after” (Num. 15:39). “Heart” here is the seat of bad desires, while “eyes” indicates the visual enflaming of improper passions. “To follow” (tur) is the same verb translated “to spy out” in 13:2, a subtle way of reminding the people that they must submit to God’s commands and believe his promises in order not to repeat their sinful rebellion at Kadesh. To “whore after” (from zanah) refers to idolatry (e.g., Ex. 34:15–16), also a capital offense. It defiles the person (Hos. 6:10) and pollutes the land (Jer. 3:2, 9). The new generation will succumb to lascivious idolatry at Peor (Num. 25:1).
To “do all my commandments, and be holy to your God” (Num. 15:40) is predicated upon their being a priestly kingdom (Ex. 19:6). Leviticus 20:7 commands them to “consecrate yourselves” (or “be holy yourselves”), while Leviticus 20:8 reminds, “I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (or “makes you holy”). God gives what he requires (cf. “circumcise . . . your heart”; “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart”; Deut. 10:16; 30:6). Obedience to God’s Word (“my commandments”) yields the fruit of holiness, since Scripture is essential to sanctification (John 17:17; Eph. 5:26; 1 Tim. 4:5), empowered by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16; 2 Thess. 2:13). Failing to obey God’s Word is failure to uphold him as holy, a sin that costs Moses and Aaron dearly (Num. 27:14). The stimulus for obedience is always the grace of the redeeming Lord, “who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God” (15:41).