He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
Parallel translations
- WEB He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
- KJV And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
- NKJV And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.
- NASB And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt.
- NLT He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.
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
Aaron stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped, vividly picturing the priest as mediator who halts judgment.
Overview
This striking image of Aaron standing between the dead and the living captures the essence of priestly intercession: the mediator absorbs the boundary between wrath and life. The plague ceased because atonement was made. It is a powerful type of Christ, who stands between sinners and death, bringing life through His atoning mediation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Sam 24:25And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.
- Ps 106:30But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained.
- 1 Tim 2:5–6For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- 1 Th 1:10and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.
- Num 25:8–11followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted,
- Num 16:35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
- Jas 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- 1 Chr 21:26–27And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
- Num 16:18So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- John 5:14Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
- Heb 7:24–25But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
- 2 Sam 24:16–17But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
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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 16:48 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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