Numbers 15:34

34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him.

Numbers 15:34 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 15:34

And they put him in ward
In a certain prison in the camp; perhaps the same in which the blasphemer was put, ( Leviticus 24:12 ) ; and for much the same reason:

because it was not declared what should be done to him:
that is, what kind of death he should die, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; it had been before declared that the sabbath breaker should die, but not what death he should die, ( Exodus 31:15 ) ( 35:2 ) ; though some think it was a matter of doubt whether gathering of sticks was a breach of the sabbath, or at least such a breach of it as required death; and the answer of the Lord seems to confirm this sense, as follows.

Numbers 15:34 In-Context

32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath.

33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community,

34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him.

35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp."

36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.