And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt.
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.
- BSB He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
- NKJV And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.
- 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 24:25David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So Yahweh was entreated for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.
- Ps 106:30Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.
- 1 Tim 2:5–6For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- 1 Th 1:10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- Num 25:8–11He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
- Num 16:35Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
- Jas 5:16Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
- 1 Chr 21:26–27David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
- Num 16:18They each took his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.
- John 5:14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
- Heb 7:24–25But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable.
- 2 Sam 24:16–17When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” Yahweh’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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
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.