Numbers 15:34

34 They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to 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 While the people of Isra'el were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on Shabbat.

33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe, Aharon and the whole congregation.

34 They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to him.

35 Then ADONAI said to Moshe, "This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp."

36 So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.