Números 15

BLIVRE · Chapter 15/36

1E o SENHOR falou a Moisés, dizendo:

2Fala aos filhos de Israel, e dize-lhes: Quando houverdes entrado na terra de vossas habitações, que eu vos dou,

3E fizerdes oferta queimada ao SENHOR, holocausto, ou sacrifício, por especial voto, ou de vossa vontade, ou para fazer em vossas solenidades cheiro suave ao SENHOR, de vacas ou de ovelhas;

4Então o que oferecer sua oferta ao SENHOR, trará por oferta de cereais um décimo de um efa de boa farinha, amassada com a quarta parte de um him de azeite;

5E de veio para a libação oferecerás a quarta parte de um him, além do holocausto ou do sacrifício, por cada cordeiro.

6E para cada carneiro farás oferta de cereais de dois décimos [de efa] de boa farinha, amassada com o terço de um him de azeite.

7e de vinho para a libação oferecerás o terço de um him, em cheiro suave ao SENHOR.

8E quando oferecerdes novilho em holocausto ou sacrifício, por especial voto, ou pacífico ao SENHOR,

9Oferecerás com o novilho uma oferta de cereais de três décimos [de efa] de boa farinha, amassada com a metade de um him de azeite:

10E de vinho para a libação oferecerás a metade de um him, em oferta queimada de cheiro suave ao SENHOR.

11Assim se fará com cada um boi, ou carneiro, ou cordeiro, o mesmo de ovelhas que de cabras.

12Conforme o número assim fareis com cada um segundo o número deles.

13Todo natural fará estas coisas assim, para apresentar oferta queimada de cheiro suave ao SENHOR.

14E quando habitar convosco estrangeiro, ou qualquer um que estiver entre vós nas vossas gerações, se apresentar uma oferta queimada de cheiro suave ao SENHOR, como vós fizerdes, assim fará ele.

15Um mesmo estatuto tereis, vós da congregação e o estrangeiro que convosco mora; estatuto que será perpétuo por vossas gerações: como vós, assim será o peregrino diante do SENHOR.

16Uma mesma lei e um mesmo regulamento tereis, vós e o peregrino que convosco mora.

17E falou o SENHOR a Moisés, dizendo:

18Fala aos filhos de Israel, e dize-lhes: Quando houverdes entrado na terra à qual eu vos levo,

19Será que quando começardes a comer o pão da terra, oferecereis oferta ao SENHOR.

20Da primeira parte que amassardes, oferecereis um bolo como oferta; como a oferta da eira, assim o oferecereis.

21Das primícias de vossas massas dareis ao SENHOR oferta por vossas gerações.

22E quando errardes, e não fizerdes todos estes mandamentos que o SENHOR disse a Moisés,

23Todas as coisas que o SENHOR vos mandou pela mão de Moisés, desde o dia que o SENHOR o mandou, e daí em diante por vossas gerações,

24Será que, se o pecado foi feito involuntariamente por ignorância da congregação, toda a congregação oferecerá um novilho por holocausto, em cheiro suave ao SENHOR, com sua oferta de cereais e sua libação, conforme a lei; e um bode macho por expiação.

25E o sacerdote fará expiação por toda a congregação dos filhos de Israel; e lhes será perdoado, porque foi erro por ignorância; eles trarão sua oferta, oferta queimada ao SENHOR, e sua expiação diante do SENHOR, por causa do seu erro;

26E será perdoado a toda a congregação dos filhos de Israel, e ao estrangeiro que peregrina entre eles, porque foi erro por ignorância de todo o povo.

27E se uma pessoa pecar por ignorância, oferecerá uma cabra de um ano por expiação.

28E o sacerdote fará expiação pela pessoa que houver pecado, quando pecar por ignorância diante do SENHOR, e a reconciliará, e lhe será perdoado.

29O natural entre os filhos de Israel, e o peregrino que habitar entre eles, uma mesma lei tereis para o que fizer algo por acidente.

30Mas a pessoa que fizer algo com mão soberba, tanto o natural como o estrangeiro, ao SENHOR blasfemou; e a tal pessoa será eliminada do meio de seu povo.

31Porquanto teve em pouco a palavra do SENHOR, e deu por nulo seu mandamento, inteiramente será eliminada a tal pessoa: sua iniquidade será sobre ela.

32E estando os filhos de Israel no deserto, acharam um homem que recolhia lenha em dia de sábado.

33E os que lhe acharam recolhendo lenha trouxeram-lhe a Moisés e a Arão, e a toda a congregação:

34E puseram-no no cárcere, porque não estava declarado que lhe haviam de fazer.

35E o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Invariavelmente morra aquele homem; apedreje-o com pedras toda a congregação fora do acampamento.

36Então o tirou a congregação fora do acampamento, e apedrejaram-no com pedras, e morreu; como o SENHOR mandou a Moisés.

37E o SENHOR falou a Moisés, dizendo:

38Fala aos filhos de Israel, e dize-lhes que se façam franjas) nos arremates de suas roupas, por suas gerações; e ponham em cada franja dos arremates um cordão de azul:

39E vos servirá de franja, para que quando o virdes, vos lembreis de todos os mandamentos do SENHOR, para praticá-los; e não olheis segundo vosso coração e vossos olhos, atrás dos quais prostituís:

40Para que vos lembreis, e façais todos meus mandamentos, e sejais santos a vosso Deus.

41Eu sou o SENHOR vosso Deus, que vos tirei da terra do Egito, para ser vosso Deus: Eu sou o SENHOR vosso Deus.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Despite the announced judgment, God gives detailed instructions about offerings for when the people finally enter the land, distinguishes sins of error from deliberate sins, recounts the case of a man stoned for working on the Sabbath, and institutes the wearing of tassels on garments as a reminder of the commandments.

Explanation

It is remarkable that, right after announcing 40 years of discipline, God continues giving instructions about life in the promised land — a clear sign that the discipline did not cancel the promise itself, only postponed its fulfillment to the next generation. The distinction between sin committed in error (which had a sacrifice of forgiveness) and sin done 'with a high hand' (deliberate and defiant, with no sacrifice available) shows that the attitude of the heart mattered as much as the act itself. The case of the man executed for gathering wood on the Sabbath concretely illustrates the seriousness with which the intentional, public violation of a clear commandment was treated. The tassels on the garments ('tzitzit', still worn by observant Jews today) served as constant visual reminders of God's commandments in daily life.

Fun facts

  • The tassels with a 'blue cord' (tekhelet) mentioned here are the origin of the Jewish prayer shawl (tallit) still used today, and the hem of Jesus' garment touched by the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20) was likely one of these same ritual tassels.
  • The case of the Sabbath violator is one of the few examples in the Bible where the penalty for a specific crime had not been previously defined and had to be revealed directly by God through Moses, showing how the law was also developed through concrete cases, not only abstract principles.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 15:1Right after the sentence of the forty years, the Lord speaks to Moses again — but now with laws about a future the current generation will not live to see: entering the promised land.
  2. Números 15:2The instruction already assumes the arrival in the land: “When ye be come into the land” is the phrase that opens these laws, a sign of hope right after the announcement of the punishment.
  3. Números 15:3The law deals with offerings made by fire to the Lord — burnt offerings or sacrifices, whether to fulfill a vow, as a freewill offering, or at a feast — made with sheep or oxen.
  4. Números 15:4Along with the animal, whoever made the offering also had to bring a grain offering: a tenth part of an ephah mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil.
  5. Números 15:5To complete the offering of a lamb, wine for a drink offering was also added, in the same measure of a quarter of a hin.
  6. Números 15:6If the animal was a ram, the amount of flour for the offering rose to two tenth parts, mixed with a third of a hin of oil.
  7. Números 15:7And the wine for the drink offering, in the case of the ram, also rose to a third of a hin.
  8. Números 15:8If the animal offered was a young bull, whether for a burnt offering, to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering,
  9. Números 15:9The amount of flour rose even further: three tenth parts, mixed with half a hin of oil.
  10. Números 15:10And the wine for the drink offering, in that case, came to half a hin — the proportions grew along with the size of the animal.
  11. Números 15:11This same growing proportion applied to any ox, ram, lamb, or kid offered.
  12. Números 15:12If someone offered more than one animal, the same proportion of flour, oil, and wine had to be multiplied for each one.
  13. Números 15:13Every native-born Israelite had to follow exactly these proportions when making an offering by fire to the Lord.
  14. Números 15:14The same rule applied equally to the stranger living among the people who wanted to make a similar offering.
  15. Números 15:15There was no separate law for native and stranger: the same rule would apply forever, generation after generation, before the Lord.
  16. Números 15:16The text repeats this for emphasis: one single law and one single right applied both to the people of Israel and to those living among them.
  17. Números 15:17The Lord speaks once more to Moses, now to introduce a different law about dough.
  18. Números 15:18Again the law is tied to the arrival in the promised land: “when ye come into the land whither I bring you.”
  19. Números 15:19As soon as the people began eating bread made from that land’s produce, they were to set apart a portion as an offering to the Lord.
  20. Números 15:20From the first batches of dough prepared, a cake was to be set apart as an offering, the same way a portion of the harvest was set apart at the threshing floor.
  21. Números 15:21This offering of the first dough was to continue being made to the Lord throughout all the generations to come.
  22. Números 15:22The text shifts subject to deal with what to do when the people, without meaning to, failed to keep one of these commands.
  23. Números 15:23The rule applies to anything the Lord had commanded through Moses, from the beginning and for all future generations.
  24. Números 15:24If the mistake was made without the congregation noticing, the whole community was to offer a young bull as a burnt offering and a goat as a sin offering for the wrongdoing, in addition to the regular offerings.
  25. Números 15:25The priest would make atonement for the whole congregation, and the people would be forgiven, since the wrong had not been intentional.
  26. Números 15:26This collective forgiveness applied both to the Israelites and to the strangers living among them, since the mistake had affected everyone alike.
  27. Números 15:27But if it was only one person who made the mistake unintentionally, that person was to offer a one-year-old goat as a sin offering.
  28. Números 15:28The priest would make atonement for that person individually, and they would be forgiven.
  29. Números 15:29This same law, for unintentional wrongs, applied equally to the native-born Israelite and to the stranger.
  30. Números 15:30But whoever sinned defiantly, openly challenging the law, whether native or stranger, was insulting the Lord Himself and was to be cut off from among the people.
  31. Números 15:31The justification is clear: that person despised the word of God and knowingly broke His commandment, and so would bear that consequence alone.
  32. Números 15:32A man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath, a day when any work was forbidden, and the case was brought to Moses because it was not yet clear what the punishment should be. The penalty God sets shows just how seriously keeping the Sabbath was taken at that particular moment, right after the great rebellion of the previous chapter.
  33. Números 15:33Those who found the man gathering wood on the Sabbath brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, not yet knowing what to do with him.
  34. Números 15:34He is kept in custody because the punishment for this particular case had not yet been defined.
  35. Números 15:35The Lord tells Moses that the man was to die, stoned by the whole congregation, outside the camp.
  36. Números 15:36The congregation carries out the sentence: they take the man outside the camp and stone him to death, exactly as the Lord had commanded.
  37. Números 15:37The Lord speaks once more to Moses, this time about a permanent sign to remind the people of the commandments.
  38. Números 15:38God commands the people to put fringes with a blue cord on the borders of their garments, to serve as a constant visual reminder of the commandments. It was a practical way to keep the law always in view, day to day, without needing a book nearby.
  39. Números 15:39The fringes were meant to work as a constant visual reminder, keeping the people from following their own desires and straying from God.
  40. Números 15:40The practical purpose was simple: to remember all the commandments and put them into practice, keeping the people set apart for God.
  41. Números 15:41The chapter closes with God presenting Himself once again as the One who brought the people out of Egypt precisely to be their God.

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