Numbers 15:32

And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְנֵֽי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
wilderness	בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר ba.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
found	וַֽיִּמְצְא֗וּ vai.yim.tze.'U	H4672	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
man	אִ֛ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gathered	מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ me.ko.Shesh	H7197	to forage for straw · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
sticks	עֵצִ֖ים 'e.Tzim	H6086	a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
sabbath	הַשַּׁבָּֽת ha.sha.Bat	H7676	intermission · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day	בְּי֥וֹם be.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 35:2-3 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work t…
Exodus 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye wi…
Exodus 16:27-28 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 31:14-15 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth a…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 15:30-36

Here is, I. The general doom passed upon presumptuous sinners. 1. Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners that sin with a high hand, as the original phrase is (Num 15:30), that is, that avowedly confront God's authority, and set up their own lust in competition with it, that sin for sinning-sake, in contradiction to the precept of the law, and in defiance of the penalty, that fight against God, and dare him to do his worst; see Job 15:25. It is not only to sin against knowledge, but to sin designedly against God's will and glory. 2. Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment, (1.) Reproaches the Lord (Num 15:30); he says the worst he can of him, and…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 15:32

a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day--This incident is evidently narrated as an instance of presumptuous sin. 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. For the deed was done with unblushing boldness in broad daylight, in open defiance of the divine authority--in flagrant inconsistency with His religious connection with Israel, as the covenant-people of God; and it was an…

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John Gill on Numbers 15:32

And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness,.... According to Aben Ezra, in the wilderness of Sinai; for it is a common notion of the Jews, that though this fact is recorded here, yet was committed the first year the Israelites came out of Egypt, quickly after the giving the law of the sabbath: hence Jarchi remarks, that the Scripture speaks of this to the reproach of the Israelites, that they kept only the first sabbath, and on the second this man came and profaned it; but it seems rather to be in the wilderness of Paran where this fact was committed, after the business of the spies and the discomfiture of Israel, and the above laws were given; and stands here in its proper plac…

The Church Fathers

When a man of the Israelite community gathered wood on the sabbath, he was killed, and this by the judgment and order of God, a judge most loving and merciful and who doubtless preferred to spare rather than kill him if the reason for severity had not overcome the reason for mercy. One man who was more unmindful perished, lest many be undone afterwards through lack of caution.
— Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 6.10.55

The Law, if it lay hold on a murderer, putteth him to death; the Gospel, if it lay hold on a murderer, enlighteneth, and giveth him life. And why do I instance a murderer? The Law laid hold on one that gathered sticks on a sabbath day, and stoned him. This is the meaning of, "the letter killeth." The Gospel takes hold on thousands of homicides and robbers, and baptizing delivereth them from their former vices.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Corinthians 6

Wherefore then was he punished that was gathering the sticks? Because if the laws were to be despised even at the beginning, of course they would scarcely be observed afterwards. For indeed the Sabbath did at the first confer many and great benefits; for instance, it made them gentle towards those of their household, and humane; it taught them God's providence and the creation, as Ezekiel saith; it trained them by degrees to abstain from wickedness, and disposed them to regard the things of the Spirit.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew 39

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fire — (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Sabbath breaker stoned — Sabbath breaker stoned
Legislation · Supplemental, concerning Sabbath-breaking — Supplemental, concerning Sabbath-breaking
Punishment · .For — .For
Sabbath · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Sabbath, The · Punishment of those who profane — Punishment of those who profane

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 15:32

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 15:30-36

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 15:32

John Gill on Numbers 15:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 15:32

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 15:30-36

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 15:32

John Gill on Numbers 15:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Numbers 15:32-36

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 15:32-36

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 15:32-36

Rashi on Numbers 15:32