Numbers 16:38

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
censers	מַחְתּוֹת֩ mach.tOt	H4289	a pan for live coals · noun, common feminine plural construct
sinners	הַֽחַטָּאִ֨ים ha.cha.ta.'Im	H2400	a criminal · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
souls	בְּנַפְשֹׁתָ֗ם be.naf.sho.Tam	H5315	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
make	וְעָשׂ֨וּ ve.'a.Su	H6213	to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
broad	רִקֻּעֵ֤י ri.ku.'Ei	H7555	beaten out · adjective, masculine plural construct
plates	פַחִים֙ fa.Chim	H6341	a (metallic) sheet (as pounded thin) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
covering	צִפּ֣וּי tzi.Pui	H6826	encasement (with metal) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
altar	לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ la.miz.Be.ach	H4196	an altar · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
offered	הִקְרִיבֻ֥ם hik.ri.Vum	H7126	to approach (causatively · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
before	לִפְנֵֽי lif.nei-	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hallowed	וַיִּקְדָּ֑שׁוּ vai.yik.Da.shu	H6942	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
sign	לְא֖וֹת le.'ot	H226	a signal (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
children	לִבְנֵ֥י liv.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵֽל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name

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

Numbers 26:10 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred a…
Proverbs 20:2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
Ezekiel 14:8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye…
2 Peter 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after shou…
Numbers 17:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite…
1 Kings 2:23 Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
Habakkuk 2:10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
Numbers 16:40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LOR…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 16:35-40

We must now look back to the door of the tabernacle, where we left the pretenders to the priesthood with their censers in their hands ready to offer incense; and here we find, I. Vengeance taken on them, Num 16:35. It is probable that when the earth opened in the camp to swallow up Dathan and Abiram a fire went out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men that offered incense, while Aaron that stood with them was preserved alive. This punishment was not indeed so new a thing as the former, for Nadab and Abihu thus died; but it was not less strange or dreadful, and in it it appeared, 1. That our God is a consuming fire. Is thunder a sensible indication of the terror of his voice? Lightning is a…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 16:37

Speak unto Eleazar--He was selected lest the high priest might contract defilement from going among the dead carcasses.

John Gill on Numbers 16:38

The censers of these sinners against their own souls,.... Who by burning incense in them sinned, and by sinning hurt and ruined their souls: let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar; the altar of burnt offering, which, though it had a covering of brass, another made of these were to be over it, for the further security of it, being of from the fire continually burning on it; these censers were to be beaten into broad plates, by the workmen who understood how to do it: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed; they offered them in his presence, they burned incense in them, and to him, though it was not their business, but the business of the prie…

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John Calvin on Numbers 16:37-39

Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron. Since there is no manifestation of God's wrath so conspicuous as not to be forgotten too often by man's stupidity, God was willing to anticipate this evil, and set up a monument for posterity, lest the recollection of this memorable judgment should ever be obscured. He commands, therefore, that a covering for the altar should be made of the censers, in order that none should rashly intrude himself to make the sacred offerings. When He calls them "hallowed," some understand that it was sinful to transfer them to profane purposes, because they had once been devoted to the service of God. I am, however, rather of opinion that they were set apart (sacratas) a…

Dictionary and topics

Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Korah — Ice, hail. (1.) The third son of Esau, by Aholibamah (Gen. 36:14; 1 Chr. 1:35). (2.) A Levite, the son of Izhar, the brother of Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron (Ex. 6:21). The institution of the…
Token · Cover of the altar — Cover of the altar

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 16:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 16:35-40

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 16:37

John Gill on Numbers 16:38

John Calvin on Numbers 16:37-39

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 16:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 16:35-40

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 16:37

John Gill on Numbers 16:38

John Calvin on Numbers 16:37-39

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 16:36-40

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 16:38-40

Rashi on Numbers 16:34