Numbers 15:32-36

B. STONING OF THE SABBATH-BREAKER vv. 32-36
TEXT

Numbers 15:32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. 35. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 15:32. Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. 3 3. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34. And they held him in custody, since it had not been told what should be done to him. 35. And the Lord said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. 36. And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

COMMENTARY

Following immediately upon the law distinguishing between unwitting and deliberate sins, the brief account of the Sabbath-breaker may well be introduced as an exemplum, as well as a concrete reference for future cases in which labor on the Sabbath might require judgment. The man appears to be acting presumptuously rather than in ignorance of the law. Much of the discussion upon the incident, especially that of liberal scholarship, purports to find a basic contradiction between the statement here that it was not declared what should be done to him, (Numbers 15:34), and the clear teaching of Exodus 31:14 ff; Exodus 35:2that Sabbath-breaking is a capital offenseoverlooks a basic point. Labor on the Sabbath clearly is such an offense; but, is gathering sticks considered labor, or is it an excusable necessity under the circumstances? God's answer is quick and decisive: the man had broken the law, and must suffer the consequences previously prescribed. He is stoned by the congregation to his death.

The incident offends certain modern minds which find the death penalty horrendous under any or all circumstances. They are especially disturbed that death should come upon an individual for such an apparently trivial reason. Where such an attitude can be found, it is evidence of a more deeply seated reaction against the sovereign right of God to prescribe laws and govern human conduct by standards which do not rest upon human reasoning. Much more than our present age, the Israelites were taught from infancy to recognize the holiness of the Lord. Since His laws were nothing less than the extension of His will and His person into the ideal human society, they were always justifiable, always above question. Such conclusions were inevitable and essential in a truly theocratic system.
Stoning without the camp preserved the undefiled nature of the camp. In no manner were the people to be held accountable for the presumptuous man's sins; they were to be totally dissociated from both the living violator and the dead victim of the law of God.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

284.

Upon what grounds can we justify the death sentence for this apparently trivial offense?

285.

What point of the Law needed clarification before the man's fate could be decided?

286.

Why should the congregation participate in execution of the sentence?

287.

What important fact is impressed upon us regarding the Sabbath in the incident?