The Sabbath-Breaker
Numbers 15:32-36
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Num.15.32 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במדבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וימצאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מקשש: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- עצים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ביום: PREP
- השבת: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 35:2 (quotation): Explicit legal wording: 'Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death'—the statutory basis for capital punishment applied to the man found gathering sticks.
- Exodus 16:23-30 (thematic): Occurs in the wilderness context and establishes Sabbath rest by prohibiting collection of manna on the seventh day—parallels Israelite setting and the prohibition against gathering on the sabbath.
- Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (thematic): Restatement of the Sabbath command in covenant law (observe the sabbath, keep it holy) providing the broader covenantal principle behind punishment for Sabbath violation.
- Ezekiel 20:12-13 (allusion): God recounts giving sabbaths as a sign and punishing desecration—the prophetic reflection on divine enforcement of Sabbath observance echoes the Numbers episode.
- Mark 2:23-28 (thematic): Jesus' dispute over disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath recalls earlier Israelite Sabbath incidents; shows later interpretive and theological engagement with what constitutes unlawful 'work' on the sabbath.
Alternative generated candidates
- The people of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
- While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
Num.15.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקריבו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- המצאים: VERB,part,qal,3,m,pl,def
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- מקשש: VERB,part,qal,3,m,sg,abs
- עצים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- אהרן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- העדה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Numbers 15:32-36 (structural): Immediate narrative context: verses before and after record finding the man gathering sticks, bringing him to Moses/Aaron/assembly, consulting the LORD, and executing him by stoning.
- Exodus 31:14-15 (thematic): Establishes the Sabbath law and its capital penalty—legal principle that underlies the congregation's action in Numbers.
- Leviticus 24:10-16 (structural): Another case in which an offender is brought before Moses (and the assembly) and punished by death—parallels procedure of bringing a person to leaders and the community for adjudication.
- Deuteronomy 17:2-7 (thematic): Prescribes the procedure for communal adjudication of capital offenses (bringing accused before elders/judges and executing after witness testimony), echoing the communal handling of the Sabbath violator.
- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (thematic): Describes bringing a delinquent son to the elders of the city for public adjudication and execution—another example of bringing an offender before the community for capital sanction.
Alternative generated candidates
- Those who found him brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole congregation.
- Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation.
Num.15.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויניחו: VERB,hiphil,impf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- במשמר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- פרש: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- יעשה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Leviticus 24:10-11 (verbal): A near-verbal parallel: a man who blasphemed was 'put in custody' until the word/decision of the LORD was made — same formula and the same motif of holding someone until divine adjudication.
- Deuteronomy 17:8-9 (structural): Provides the legal procedure for cases 'too hard' for local courts: such matters are brought to the priests/judges at the central place for a ruling — parallels the motive here of withholding immediate punishment because the people 'did not know' what to do and awaited authoritative decision.
- Genesis 42:24 (thematic): Joseph has Simeon detained as a guarantee until the brothers bring Benjamin — the motif of detention as a temporary measure pending a later resolution or decision echoes the Numbers episode.
- Acts 12:4 (thematic): Herod 'put [Peter] in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers, intending to bring him out' after Passover — a New Testament instance of custody maintained pending an intended public decision/action, paralleling the narrative function of detention in Num 15:34.
Alternative generated candidates
- They held him in custody, for it had not been made clear what should be done to him.
- They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Num.15.35 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
- יומת: VERB,niphal,impf,3,m,sg
- האיש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- רגום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- באבנים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כל: DET
- העדה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- מחוץ: PREP
- למחנה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 24:14 (verbal): In the case of the blasphemer (Lev 24:10–16) Moses commands the congregation to send the man outside the camp and stone him—language and procedure closely mirror Num 15:35.
- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (thematic): The law concerning a stubborn/rebellious son prescribes that 'all the men of his city' shall stone him—a parallel example of communal stoning as the prescribed penalty for grave covenant violations.
- Deuteronomy 17:2-7 (thematic): Accused idolaters or false prophets are to be investigated by the community and, if guilty, executed by stoning; parallels Num 15:35 in communal judgment and stoning as capital punishment.
- Deuteronomy 22:22 (thematic): The law prescribing death by stoning for adultery (when both parties are found guilty) provides another statutory instance of stoning as the sanctioned penalty for severe moral crimes.
- Acts 7:58 (allusion): The mob casts Stephen out of the city and stones him—an early-Jewish/Christian narrative echo of sending the condemned outside the community and executing by stoning, reflecting continuity of the practice.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely die; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
- Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
Num.15.36 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויציאו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- כל: DET
- העדה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- מחוץ: PREP
- למחנה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וירגמו: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- באבנים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וימת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כאשר: CONJ
- צוה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 24:14 (verbal): Law narrative about the blasphemer: congregation brings him outside the camp and stones him — language and procedure closely parallel to Num 15:36.
- Deuteronomy 17:7 (verbal): Case of apostasy/idolatry where the community is to bring the guilty outside the camp and stone him — a legal parallel prescribing communal stoning for capital offenses.
- Deuteronomy 21:21 (thematic): Law concerning the stubborn/rebellious son who is to be stoned by the men of the city — another Mosaic prescription of communal stoning as capital punishment.
- Joshua 7:24-25 (structural): Narrative execution of Achan: he and his family are taken outside the camp/city and stoned (then burned) — a historical example of the punishment enacted.
- John 8:3-5 (quotation): Pharisees cite Mosaic law ('Moses commanded us to stone such women') when bringing the woman caught in adultery — New Testament allusion to stoning as a Mosaic penalty (parallel legal tradition).
Alternative generated candidates
- So the whole congregation took him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the LORD commanded Moses.
While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the day of the Sabbath. And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation.
They kept him in custody, for it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 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.'
Then all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the LORD commanded Moses.