Numbers 15:34

34 They held the man under guard, because they did not know what to do 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 When the Israelites were still in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the people.

34 They held the man under guard, because they did not know what to do with him.

35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must surely die. All the people must kill him by throwing stones at him outside the camp."

36 So all the people took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.