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Numbers 15

Numbers 15 orders Israel’s worship and obedience around God’s commands, providing atonement for error while confronting defiance with judgment.

YHWH tells Moses how Israel is to bring offerings when they enter the land he is giving them. Grain, oil, and wine accompany animal sacrifices, and the same rules apply to native Israelites and resident foreigners. Instructions for atonement distinguish unintentional sin from defiant rejection of God’s word. In the wilderness, a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is executed at God’s command. The chapter closes with garment fringes meant to keep God’s commands before Israel’s eyes.

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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 the LORD—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock—
4then he who offers his offering shall offer to the LORD a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of oil.
5You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
6“‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil;
7and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD.
8When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD,
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 the LORD.
15For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before the LORD.
16One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’”
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 heave it.
22“‘When you err, and don’t observe all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses—
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 the LORD, 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 the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.
27“‘If a 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 the LORD. He shall 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 as a foreigner among them.
30“‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.
31Because he has despised the LORD’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.
35The LORD said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
36All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.
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 see it, and remember all the LORD’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow 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 the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Numbers 15:30Sin committed with a high hand is treated as defiance against YHWH, with the same consequence for native and foreigner.
Numbers 15:31This verse identifies contempt for God’s word as the reason for exclusion, leaving the offender accountable for his guilt.
Numbers 15:39The fringes make remembrance visible, linking obedience to God’s commands with resistance to the heart’s and eyes’ wandering desires.
Where this chapter reaches

Leviticus shares the chapter’s laws about offerings and atonement for unintentional sin, while Exodus shares its Sabbath command and account of deliverance from Egypt. Deuteronomy also commands garment fringes, and Hebrews shares the distinction between sins of ignorance and defiant rejection of God.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about foreigners sharing Israel’s rules for worship and atonement?

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What helps you remember God’s commands when your desires pull you elsewhere?

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Questions people ask about Numbers 15

What does sinning with a high hand mean in Numbers 15?

The phrase describes defiant contempt for YHWH. Verse 31 explains it as despising his word and breaking his commandment. The passage contrasts this stance with unintentional sin, for which it provides sacrifices and forgiveness. It prescribes being cut off from the people without explaining the precise form that takes here.

Why was the man gathering sticks put to death in Numbers 15?

He was gathering sticks on the Sabbath, violating its command. The people held him in custody because what should be done had not been declared. God then commanded death by stoning outside the camp. The account follows the warning about defiant sin, though it does not describe the man’s motives.

What do the fringes and blue cord mean in Numbers 15?

YHWH commands Israel to put fringes on their garment borders, each with a blue cord. Seeing them is meant to prompt remembrance and obedience, guarding against following their own hearts and eyes. The chapter explains this purpose but does not explain why the cord must be blue.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).