1And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you have come to the land of your dwellings, which I am giving to you, 3then you shall prepare a fire offering to Jehovah, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your appointed seasons, to make a soothing fragrance to Jehovah, out of the herd, or out of the flock. 4And he who is bringing his offering to Jehovah shall bring near a food offering of flour, a tenth part, mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil; 5and wine for a drink offering, a fourth of a hin you shall prepare for the burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, for the one lamb. 6Or you shall prepare a food offering of flour for a ram, two tenth parts mixed with oil, a third of a hin; 7and wine for a drink offering, a third part of a hin. You shall bring it near, a soothing fragrance to Jehovah. 8And when you prepare a son of the herd for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow, or peace offerings to Jehovah, 9then he shall bring near for the son of the herd a food offering of flour, three tenth parts, mixed with oil, a half of a hin; 10and you shall bring wine near for a drink offering, a half of a hin, as a fire offering of soothing fragrance to Jehovah. 11So it shall be done for one ox, or for the one ram, or for a lamb of the sheep, or of the goats. 12You shall prepare according to the number. So you shall do for everyone according to their number. 13All that are native shall do these things in this way, in bringing in an offering made by fire, of a soothing fragrance to Jehovah. 14And if an alien lives with you, or whoever may be among you, throughout your generations, and desires to offer a fire offering of a soothing fragrance to Jehovah; as you do, so he shall do. 15As for the congregation, there shall be one statute both for you and for the alien that lives with you, a never ending statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before Jehovah. 16There shall be one law and one ordinance both for you and for the alien that lives with you. 17And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 18Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you, 19then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall lift up a heave offering to Jehovah. 20You shall lift up a cake of the first of your dough as a heave offering; as the heave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. 21You shall give of the first of your dough to Jehovah, a heave offering for your generations. 22And when you shall err and shall not perform all these commands which Jehovah has spoken to Moses, 23even all that Jehovah has commanded you by the hand of Moses from the day that Jehovah commanded, and onward for your generations, 24then it shall be, if it be done in error by the congregation, without knowledge, even all the congregation shall offer a son of the herd, one bull, for a burnt offering, for a soothing fragrance to Jehovah, and its food offering, and its drink offering, according to the ordinance; and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25And the priest shall atone for all the congregation of the sons of Israel; and it shall be forgiven them. For it was in error, and they have brought their offering, a fire offering to Jehovah, and their sin offering before Jehovah for their error. 26And all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and the alien that lives among them, shall be forgiven; for as to all the people, it was in error. 27And if one person sins through error, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28And the priest shall atone for the soul that errs when he sins through error before Jehovah to atone for him. And he shall be forgiven, 29both the native among the sons of Israel, and the alien that lives among them; one law shall be to you for him who acts in error. 30And the soul that does anything with a high hand, whether of a native or of the alien, the same blasphemes Jehovah. And that person shall be cut off from the midst of his people. 31For he has despised the Word of Jehovah and has broken His command; that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him. 32And while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. 33And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 34And they put him under guard; for it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35And Jehovah said to Moses, Dying the man shall die; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. 36And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones. And he died, as Jehovah commanded Moses. 37And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 38Speak to the sons of Israel and you shall say to them that they shall make themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, for their generations. And they shall put a thread of blue with the fringe of each corner. 39And it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that you do not go about after your own heart and your own eyes after which you fornicate; 40that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy to your God. 41I am Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Jehovah your God.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE LAW OF SUNDRY OFFERINGS. (Num. 15:1-41)
The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel--Some infer from
Num 15:23 that the date of this communication must be fixed towards the close of the wanderings in the wilderness; and, also, that all the sacrifices prescribed in the law were to be offered only after the settlement in Canaan.
3 make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering--It is evident that a peace offering is referred to because this term is frequently used in such a sense (
Exod 18:12;
Lev 17:5).
4 tenth deal--that is, an omer, the tenth part of an ephah (
Exod 16:36).
fourth part of an hin of oil--This element shows it to have been different from such meat offerings as were made by themselves, and not merely accompaniments of other sacrifices.
6 two tenth deals--The quantity of flour was increased because the sacrifice was of superior value to the former. The accessory sacrifices were always increased in proportion to the greater worth and magnitude of its principal.
13 a stranger--one who had become a proselyte. There were scarcely any of the national privileges of the Israelites, in which the Gentile stranger might not, on conforming to certain conditions, fully participate.
19 when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering--The offering prescribed was to precede the act of eating.
unto the Lord--that is, the priests of the Lord (
Ezek 44:30).
20 heave offering of the threshing-floor--meaning the corn on the threshing-floor; that is, after harvest.
so shall ye heave it--to the priests accompanying the ceremony with the same rites.
22 if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, &c.--respecting the performance of divine worship, and the rites and ceremonies that constitute the holy service. The law relates only to any omission and consequently is quite different from that laid down in
Lev 4:13, which implies a transgression or positive neglect of some observances required. This law relates to private parties or individual tribes; that to the whole congregation of Israel.
24 if aught be committed by ignorance--The Mosaic ritual was complicated, and the ceremonies to be gone through in the various instances of purification which are specified, would expose a worshipper, through ignorance, to the risk of omitting or neglecting some of them. This law includes the stranger in the number of those for whom the sacrifice was offered for the sin of general ignorance.
27 if any soul sin through ignorance--not only in common with the general body of the people, but his personal sins were to be expiated in the same manner.
30 the soul that doeth aught presumptuously--Hebrew, "with an high" or "uplifted hand"--that is, knowingly, wilfully, obstinately. In this sense the phraseology occurs (
Exod 14:8;
Lev 26:21;
Ps 19:13).
the same reproacheth the Lord--sets Him at open defiance and dishonors His majesty.
31 his iniquity shall be upon him--The punishment of his sins shall fall on himself individually; no guilt shall be incurred by the nation, unless there be a criminal carelessness in overlooking the offense.
32 a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day--This incident is evidently narrated as an instance of presumptuous sin. The mere gathering of sticks was not a sinful act and might be necessary for fuel to warm him or to make ready his food. But its being done on the Sabbath altered the entire character of the action. The law of the Sabbath being a plain and positive commandment, this transgression of it was a known and wilful sin, and it was marked by several aggravations. For the deed was done with unblushing boldness in broad daylight, in open defiance of the divine authority--in flagrant inconsistency with His religious connection with Israel, as the covenant-people of God; and it was an application to improper purposes of time, which God had consecrated to Himself and the solemn duties of religion. The offender was brought before the rulers, who, on hearing the painful report, were at a loss to determine what ought to be done. That they should have felt any embarrassment in such a case may seem surprising, in the face of the sabbath law (
Exod 31:14). Their difficulty probably arose from this being the first public offense of the kind which had occurred; and the appeal might be made to remove all ground of complaint--to produce a more striking effect, so that the fate of this criminal might be a beacon to warn all Israelites in the future.
35 The Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death--The Lord was King, as well as God of Israel, and the offense being a violation of the law of the realm, the Sovereign Judge gave orders that this man should be put to death; and, moreover, He required the whole congregation unite in executing the fatal sentence.
38 bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments--These were narrow strips, in a wing-like form, wrapped over the shoulders and on various parts of the attire. "Fringe," however, is the English rendering of two distinct Hebrew words--the one meaning a narrow lappet or edging, called the "hem" or "border" (
Matt 23:5;
Luke 8:44), which, in order to make it more attractive to the eye and consequently more serviceable to the purpose described, was covered with a riband of blue or rather purple color; the other term signifies strings with tassels at the end, fastened to the corners of the garment. Both of these are seen on the Egyptian and Assyrian frocks; and as the Jewish people were commanded by express and repeated ordinances to have them, the fashion was rendered subservient, in their case, to awaken high and religious associations--to keep them in habitual remembrance of the divine commandments.
41 I am the Lord your God--The import of this solemn conclusion is, that though He was displeased with them for their frequent rebellions, for which they would be doomed to forty years' wanderings, He would not abandon them but continue His divine protection and care of them till they were brought into the land of promise.