Numbers 16 · Verse 48

Numbers 16:48

And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Numbers 16:48, King James Version

Numbers 16:48 in other translations

BSBHe stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
WEBHe stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
ASVAnd he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
YLTand standeth between the dead and the living, and the plague is restrained;
DARBYAnd he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
BBEAnd he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
WebsterAnd he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

What does Numbers 16:48 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
48. he stood between the living and the dead--The plague seems to have begun in the extremities of the camp. Aaron, in this remarkable act, was a type of Christ.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 48 He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague, etc. - What the plague was we know not, but it seems to have begun at one part of the camp, and to have proceeded regularly onward; and Aaron went to the quarter where it was then prevailing, and stood with his atonement where it was now making its ravages, and the plague was stayed; but not before 14,700 had fallen victims to it, Num 16:49. If Aaron the high priest, with his censer and incense, could disarm the wrath of an insulted, angry Deity, so that a guilty people, who deserved nothing but destruction, should be spared; how much more effectual may we expect the great atonement to be which was made by the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was only the type! The sacrifices of living animals pointed out the death of Christ on the cross; the incense, his intercession. Through his death salvation is purchased for the world; by his intercession the offending children of men are spared. Hence St. Paul, Rom 5:10, says: If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved Through His Life, i. e., by the prevalence of his continual intercession. 2Cor 5:18, 2Cor 5:19 : "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter, we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them. Reader, forget not the Lord who bought thee.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 16:41-50

The gaping earth was scarcely closed, before the same sins are again committed, and all these warnings slighted. They called the rebels the people of the Lord; and find fault with Divine justice. The obstinacy of Israel notwithstanding the terrors of God's law, as given on mount Sinai, and the terrors of his judgments, shows how necessary the grace of God is to change men's hearts and lives. Love will do what fear…

Read the full comment on Numbers 16:41-50 →

Numbers 16:48 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.

וַיַּעֲמֹ֥דvai.ya.'a.Modand he stoodH5975
בֵּֽין\־bein-betweenH996
הַמֵּתִ֖יםha.me.Timthe deadH4191
וּבֵ֣יןu.Veinand betweenH996
הַֽחַיִּ֑יםha.chai.Yimthe livingH2416
וַתֵּעָצַ֖רva.te.'a.Tzarand it was restrainedH6113
הַמַּגֵּפָֽה\׃ha.ma.ge.Fahthe plagueH4046

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

Cross references for Numbers 16:48

  • Psalms 106:30

    Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

  • Numbers 25:8-11

    And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

  • 2 Samuel 24:25

    And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

  • Hebrews 7:24-25

    But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

  • 1 Chronicles 21:26-27

    And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

  • James 5:16

    Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

  • Numbers 16:18

    And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

  • 2 Samuel 24:16-17

    And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite. And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.

  • Numbers 16:35

    And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

  • 1 Timothy 2:5-6

    For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

  • John 5:14

    Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

  • 1 Thessalonians 1:10

    And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
What the plague was we know not; but it seems from this to have begun at one part of the camp, and to have proceeded regularly onward.
18,35; 25:8-11; 2Sa 24:16,17,25; 1Ch 21:26,27; 1Th 1:10
1Ti 2:5,6; Heb 7:24,25; Jas 5:16; Joh 5:14

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

Context

  • Numbers 16:47

    And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

  • Numbers 16:48

    And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

  • Numbers 16:49

    Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

Read all of Numbers 16

Numbers 16:48 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y púsose entre los muertos y los vivos; y cesó la mortandad.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und er stand zwischen den Toten und den Lebendigen, und der Plage ward gewehrt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et stans inter mortuos ac viventes, pro populo deprecatus est, et plaga cessavit.