Numbers 15

Numbers 15 stands in the middle portion of the book, which recounts the wilderness journey. In the preceding chapter 14, the people murmured after the report of the twelve spies, and as a result the forty years in the wilderness were pronounced upon them. Chapter 15 follows immediately with regulations that presuppose Israel's entry into "the land whither I bring you."

Outline

• Verses 1–16 set the quantities of the meat offering (grain offering) and the drink offering (wine poured out) that are to accompany a burnt offering (a sacrifice wholly burned) or a vow or freewill offering (a voluntary sacrifice) once the people have entered the land. The quantities vary according to whether the animal is a lamb, a ram, or a bullock. The ephah is a unit of dry measure for grain, and the hin is a unit of liquid measure. The same law applies to the stranger who lives among the Israelites.
• Verses 17–21 command that a cake made from the first of the dough be offered as a heave offering (an offering lifted up) throughout the generations.
• Verses 22–29 prescribe the sin offering to be brought when the whole congregation or an individual sins through ignorance (unintentionally). The congregation offers a young bullock and a kid of the goats, while an individual offers a she goat of the first year.
• Verses 30–31 declare that one who sins presumptuously (deliberately) reproaches the LORD and shall be cut off from among the people.
• Verses 32–36 relate that a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath in the wilderness. The people held him in custody while awaiting instruction, and at the LORD's command they stoned him to death outside the camp.
• Verses 37–41 command the people to make fringes in the borders of their garments and to put upon them a ribband of blue, so that by looking upon them they would remember the commandments.

Key Verses

• Numbers 15:16 "One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you." This verse expresses the principle that the same law applies to residents of foreign origin.
• Numbers 15:30 "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously... the same reproacheth the LORD." This passage distinguishes deliberate sin from unintentional sin.
• Numbers 15:39 "That ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes." This verse states the purpose of the law of fringes.

People and Places

• Moses: receives the word of the LORD and delivers it to the people.
• Aaron: was present with Moses when the man who gathered sticks was brought before them.
• The man who gathered sticks: unnamed; he was punished for gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
• The stranger who sojourns: a Gentile who dwells among Israel.
• Outside the camp: the place of execution, beyond the encampment pitched in the wilderness.
• Egypt: mentioned in verse 41 as the land out of which the LORD brought Israel.

Points for Reflection

• Regulations for life in the land follow directly upon the judgment of chapter 14. Many interpreters read this arrangement as showing that the promise had not been revoked.
• The word rendered "presumptuously" in verse 30 is said to mean literally "with a high hand" in Hebrew. Christians sometimes read this verse together with the warning about willful sin in Hebrews 10:26–31.
• Jewish tradition includes verses 37–41, together with Deuteronomy 6:6–9 and Deuteronomy 11:13–21, in the Shema, which is recited daily. The practice of wearing garments with fringes (tzitzit) is also based on this passage.
• In the New Testament, Matthew 23 mentions the enlarging of the borders of garments. Some interpreters also identify the "hem" of Jesus' garment touched by the woman with the issue of blood with these fringes.
• Denominations differ on what the punishment of the man who gathered sticks means for keeping the Sabbath or the Lord's Day today. This question is treated in the article Sabbath and the Lord's Day.