Numbers 15 · WEB
Offerings, Sabbath-Breaking, and Tassels
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,
3and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, in performing a vow or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, from the herd or from the flock,
4then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one quarter of a hin of oil.
5You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one quarter of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
6Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one third of a hin of oil;
7and for the drink offering you shall offer one third of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
8When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, in performing a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh;
9then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;
10and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
11Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs or of the young goats.
12According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number.
13All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
14If a stranger lives with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, as you do, so he shall do.
15For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so shall the foreigner be before Yahweh.
16One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives with you.' "
17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
18"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land where I bring you,
19then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh.
20Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up.
21Of the first of your dough you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.
22When you err and don't observe all these commandments which Yahweh has spoken to Moses—
23even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—
24then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error.
26All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who lives among them; for in respect of all the people, it was done unwittingly.
27If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
28The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
29You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who lives among them.
30But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a stranger, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.
31Because he has despised Yahweh's word and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him."
32While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
33Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
34They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
35Yahweh said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
36All the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
37Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
38"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue.
39It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of Yahweh and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute;
40so that you may remember and do all my commandments and be holy to your God.
41I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh your God."
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Summary
Following the devastating judgment of chapter 14, God gives instructions looking ahead to life in Canaan — sacrifice offerings with their proper grain and drink accompaniments — as a remarkable sign of grace: the wilderness generation's failure has not cancelled God's plan. The chapter distinguishes between unintentional sins (which have a remedy through sacrifice) and deliberate, defiant sins (which have no sacrifice and result in being cut off). The sabbath-breaker provides a sobering illustration of defiant sin. The chapter closes with the command to wear blue-corded tassels as a daily physical reminder of God's commandments.
Themes
- God's grace persists even after judgment — the forward-looking promises
- The distinction between sins of ignorance and sins of defiance
- Equal standing of native-born and foreigner before God
- Physical reminders as aids to spiritual faithfulness
- The seriousness of deliberate rebellion against God
Key verses
- Num 15:15 — “For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so shall the foreigner be before Yahweh.”
- Num 15:30 — “But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a stranger, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.”
- Num 15:39 — “It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of Yahweh and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes.”
Context & background
This chapter is set in the wilderness but looks forward to life in Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine), marked by the repeated phrase "when you come into the land." After the catastrophic judgment of chapter 14, these laws function as a sign of continued covenant commitment — God has not abandoned his people or his promises. The sabbath-breaker narrative (vv. 32-36) appears as an immediate, concrete example of the "high-handed" (defiant) sin described in verse 30. The tassels (tzitzit in Hebrew) became one of the most distinctive marks of Jewish identity and are still worn today by observant Jewish men. Jesus himself wore such tassels (Matt 9:20, 14:36).
Cross-references
- Deut 22:12 — The tassel command repeated for life in the land
- Ex 31:14-15 — The original death penalty for sabbath-breaking, which the wilderness incident enforces
- Heb 10:26-27 — "If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins" — echoes the distinction between unintentional and high-handed sin
- Matt 9:20 — The woman who touched the hem (tassel) of Jesus's garment — he wore the fringes commanded here
- Rom 3:25 — God's passing over sins done in ignorance, pointing to the distinction between unintentional and deliberate sin