Numbers 15:30

30 "But the person who acts defiantly,[a] whether native or foreign resident, blasphemes the Lord.[b] That person is to be cut off from his people.

Numbers 15:30 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 15:30

But the soul that doeth [ought] presumptuously
Or with "an high hand" F20, or through pride, as the Targum of Jonathan; in an haughty, insolent, bold and daring manner; in an obstinate, stubborn, self-willed way, with purpose and design, openly and publicly, neither fearing God nor regarding man:

[whether he be] born in the land, or a stranger;
here a stranger as well signifies a proselyte of the gate as a proselyte of righteousness; seeing this presumptuous sinning may respect idolatry and blasphemy, which sins were punishable in proselytes of the gate by the magistrates of Israel as well as by the immediate hand of God:

the same reproacheth the Lord;
by denying him to be the true Jehovah, by worshipping other gods, and by speaking in a blaspheming manner of him the true God; and indeed every presumptuous sin, which is committed in a bold and audacious manner, in contempt of God and defiance of his law, is a reproaching him the lawgiver, and a trampling upon his legislative power and authority:

and that soul shall be cut off from among his people,
either by the hand of the civil magistrate, upon conviction of him, or by the immediate hand of God; no sacrifice was to be offered for such, no atonement to be made or forgiveness to be had; see ( Matthew 12:31 Matthew 12:32 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F20 (hmr dyb) "in manu excelsa", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

Numbers 15:30 In-Context

28 The priest must then make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the person who acts in error sinning unintentionally, and when he makes atonement for him, he will be forgiven.
29 You are to have the same law for the person who acts in error, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner who lives among you.
30 "But the person who acts defiantly, whether native or foreign resident, blasphemes the Lord. That person is to be cut off from his people.
31 He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the Lord's word and broken His command; his guilt remains on him."
32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Lit with a high hand
  • [b]. 2 Kg 19:6,22; Isa 37:6,23; Ezk 20:27
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