And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
- NASB Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
- NLT Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.”
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 LORD declared the man must be put to death by stoning outside the camp. Deliberate defiance of God's covenant sign brought the ultimate penalty.
Overview
God himself pronounces the sentence, confirming the gravity of presumptuous Sabbath-breaking under the covenant. The execution outside the camp marked the removal of defilement from the community. Strikingly, Jesus too suffered 'outside the camp,' bearing reproach to sanctify his people (Hebrews 13:12-13), taking upon himself the penalty sinners deserve.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Acts 7:58They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Exod 31:14–15Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people.
- 1 Kgs 21:13And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
- Deut 21:21Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
- Lev 24:14–16“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.
- Lev 24:23Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Heb 13:11–12Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp.
- Lev 20:2“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 15:35 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
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