Numbers 15 · Verse 32

Numbers 15:32

And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
Numbers 15:32, King James Version

Numbers 15:32 in other translations

BSBWhile the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
WEBWhile the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
ASVAnd while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.
YLTAnd the sons of Israel are in the wilderness, and they find a man gathering wood on the sabbath-day,
DARBYAnd while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.
BBENow while the children of Israel were in the waste land, they saw a man who was getting sticks on the Sabbath day.
WebsterAnd while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath-day.

What does Numbers 15:32 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 15:32-34
32-34. 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 (Ex 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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 32 They found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath - This was in all likelihood a case of that kind supposed above: the man despised the word of the Lord, and therefore broke his commandment; see Num 15:31. On this ground he was punished with the utmost rigor of the law.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 15:30-36

Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners, who sin designedly against God's will and glory. Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment reproaches the Lord. He also despises the word of the Lord. Presumptuous sinners despise it, thinking themselves too great, too good, and too wise, to be ruled by it. A particular instance of presumption in the sin of sabbath-breaking is…

Read the full comment on Numbers 15:30-36 →

Numbers 15:32 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּהְי֥וּvai.yih.Yuand they wereH1961
בְנֵֽי\־ve.nei-[the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רba.mid.Barin the wildernessH4057
וַֽיִּמְצְא֗וּvai.yim.tze.'Uand they foundH4672
אִ֛ישׁ'isha manH376
מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁme.ko.SheshgatheringH7197
עֵצִ֖ים'e.Tzimwood<s>H6086
בְּי֥וֹםbe.Yomon [the] day ofH3117
הַשַּׁבָּֽת\׃ha.sha.Batthe sabbathH7676

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 15:32

  • Exodus 35:2-3

    Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

  • Exodus 16:27-28

    And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

  • Exodus 20:8-10

    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

  • Exodus 16:23

    And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

  • Exodus 31:14-15

    Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
they found a man.This example seems to have been evidently introduced to illustrate the foregoing law. The man despised the word of the Lord, presumptuously broke his commandment, and on this ground was punished with death.
Ex 16:23,27,28; 20:8-10; 35:2,3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 15:31

    Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

  • Numbers 15:32

    And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

  • Numbers 15:33

    And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

Read all of Numbers 15

Numbers 15:32 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y estando los hijos de Israel en el desierto, hallaron un hombre que recogía leña en día de sábado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et comme les fils d’Israël étaient au désert, ils trouvèrent un homme qui ramassait du bois le jour du sabbat.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und als die Kinder Israel in der Wüste waren, da fanden sie einen Mann, der am Sabbathtage Holz auflas.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Factum est autem, cum essent filii Israël in solitudine, et invenissent hominem colligentem ligna in die sabbati,