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But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
Numbers 15:30 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.
  • KJV But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
  • NKJV ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people.
  • NASB But the person who does wrong defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
  • NLT “But those who brazenly violate the Lord’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The person who sins defiantly, with a high hand, blasphemes the LORD and is to be cut off. Deliberate, presumptuous rebellion against God is far graver than sin in ignorance.

Overview

In sharp contrast to unintentional sin, willful, defiant sin amounts to despising God himself and brings the severe penalty of being cut off from the people. No sacrifice is appointed for such presumption, highlighting the gravity of hardened rebellion. This warning is echoed in the New Testament's caution against deliberate, persistent sin that spurns God's grace (Hebrews 10:26-29).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Heb 10:26If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
  • Ps 19:13Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression.
  • Deut 1:43So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
  • Deut 29:19–20because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
  • Heb 10:29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
  • Deut 17:12–13But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
  • Num 14:40–44Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”
  • Matt 12:32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.
  • Num 9:13But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
  • Ps 74:22Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
  • Exod 21:14But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.
  • Ps 74:18Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
  • 2 Pet 2:10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
  • Isa 37:23–24Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
  • Ps 89:51how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
  • Ps 79:12Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.
  • Lev 20:3And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.
  • Prov 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
  • Lev 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
  • Gen 17:14But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
  • Ps 69:9because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
  • Lev 20:6Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 15:30YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 15:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.