Numbers 15-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 15
Secondary Offerings. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 [a]Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you for your settlements, 3 if you make to the Lord an oblation from the herd or from the flock—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a voluntary offering, or for one of your festivals—to produce a pleasing aroma for the Lord, 4 the one presenting the offering shall also present to the Lord a grain offering, a tenth of a measure[b] of bran flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil, 5 as well as wine for a libation, a fourth of a hin. You will do this with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6 Alternatively for a ram you shall make a grain offering of two tenths of a measure of bran flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil, 7 and for a libation, a third of a hin of wine, thereby presenting a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 8 If you make an offering from the herd—either a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a communion offering to the Lord, 9 with it a grain offering of three tenths of a measure of bran flour mixed with half a hin of oil will be presented; 10 and you will present for a libation, half a hin of wine—a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. 11 The same is to be done for each ox, ram, lamb or goat. 12 Whatever the number you offer, do the same for each of them.
13 All the native-born shall make these offerings in this way, whenever they present a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. 14 Likewise, in any future generation, any alien residing with you or anyone else in your midst, who presents an oblation of pleasing aroma to the Lord, must do as you do. 15 There is but one statute for you and for the resident alien, a perpetual statute throughout your generations. You and the resident alien will be alike before the Lord; 16 you and the alien residing with you will have the same rule and the same application of it.
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land into which I am bringing you 19 and eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer the Lord a contribution. 20 A round loaf from your first batch of dough[c] you shall offer as a contribution. Just like a contribution from the threshing floor you shall offer it.(A) 21 Throughout your generations you shall give a contribution to the Lord from your first batch of dough.
Purification Offerings.[d] 22 If through inadvertence you fail to do any of these commandments which the Lord has given to Moses—(B) 23 anything the Lord commanded you through Moses from the time the Lord first gave the command down through your generations— 24 if it was done inadvertently without the community’s knowledge, the whole community shall sacrifice one bull from the herd as a burnt offering of pleasing aroma to the Lord, along with its prescribed grain offering and libation, as well as one he-goat as a purification offering. 25 (C)Then the priest shall make atonement for the whole Israelite community; and they will be forgiven, since it was inadvertence, and for their inadvertence they have brought their offering: an oblation to the Lord as well as their purification offering before the Lord. 26 Not only the whole Israelite community but also the aliens residing among you shall be forgiven, since the inadvertent fault affects all the people.
27 If it is an individual who sins inadvertently,(D) this person shall bring a yearling she-goat as a purification offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred, since the sin was inadvertent, making atonement for the person to secure forgiveness. 29 You shall have but one rule for the person who sins inadvertently, whether a native-born Israelite or an alien residing among you.
30 But anyone who acts defiantly,(E) whether a native or an alien, reviles the Lord, and shall be cut off from among the people. 31 (F)For having despised the word of the Lord and broken his commandment, he must be cut off entirely and bear the punishment.
The Sabbath-breaker. 32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was discovered gathering wood on the sabbath day. 33 Those who caught him at it brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community. 34 But they put him in custody, for there was no clear decision[e] as to what should be done with him.(G) 35 Then the Lord said to Moses: This man shall be put to death; let the whole community stone him outside the camp. 36 So the whole community led him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Tassels on the Cloak. 37 The Lord said to Moses: 38 Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels[f] for the corners of their garments, fastening a violet cord to each corner.(H) 39 When you use these tassels, the sight of the cord will remind you of all the commandments of the Lord and you will do them, without prostituting yourself going after the desires of your hearts and your eyes. 40 Thus you will remember to do all my commandments and you will be holy to your God. 41 I, the Lord, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Lord your God.(I)
Chapter 16
Rebellion of Korah. 1 [g]Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth,[h] son of Reuben took 2 two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders in the community, members of the council and men of note, and confronted Moses. 3 Holding an assembly against Moses and Aaron, they said,(J) “You go too far! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord’s assembly?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell prostrate. 5 Then he said to Korah and to all his faction, “May the Lord make known tomorrow morning who belongs to him and who is the holy one and whom he will have draw near to him! The one whom he chooses, he will have draw near to him. 6 Do this: take your censers, Korah and all his faction, 7 and put fire in them and place incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. He whom the Lord then chooses is the holy one. You Levites go too far!”
8 Moses also said to Korah, “Hear, now, you Levites! 9 (K)Are you not satisfied that the God of Israel has singled you out from the community of Israel, to have you draw near him to maintain the Lord’s tabernacle, and to attend upon the community and to serve them? 10 He has allowed you and your Levite kinsmen with you to approach him, and yet you seek the priesthood too. 11 It is therefore against the Lord that you and all your faction are conspiring. As for Aaron, what has he done that you should grumble against him?”
Rebellion of Dathan and Abiram. 12 Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, but they answered, “We will not go.[i] 13 Are you not satisfied that you have brought us here from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us perish in the wilderness, that now you must also lord it over us? 14 Far from bringing us to a land flowing with milk and honey, or giving us fields and vineyards for our inheritance, will you gouge out our eyes?[j] No, we will not go.”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering. I have never taken a single donkey from them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”(L)
Korah. 16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your faction shall appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron too. 17 Then each of you take his own censer, put incense in it, and present it before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; and you and Aaron, each with his own censer, do the same.” 18 So each of them took their censers, and laying incense on the fire they had put in them, they took their stand by the entrance of the tent of meeting along with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then, when Korah had assembled all the community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 21 Stand apart from this community, that I may consume them at once. 22 But they fell prostrate and exclaimed, “O God, God of the spirits of all living creatures, if one man sins will you be angry with the whole community?” 23 The Lord answered Moses: 24 Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the area around the tent[k] of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Punishment of Dathan and Abiram. 25 Moses, followed by the elders of Israel, arose and went to Dathan and Abiram.[l] 26 Then he spoke to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything that is theirs: otherwise you too will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they withdrew from the area around the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. When Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents with their wives, their children, and their little ones, 28 Moses said, “This is how you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all I have done, and that it was not of my own devising: 29 if these die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all humanity, the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord makes a chasm, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with all belonging to them, and they go down alive to Sheol,[m] then you will know that these men have spurned the Lord.” 31 (M)No sooner had he finished saying all this than the ground beneath them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their families and all of Korah’s people[n] with all their possessions. 33 They went down alive to Sheol with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the assembly. 34 But all the Israelites near them fled at their shrieks, saying, “The earth might swallow us too!”
Punishment of Korah. 35 And fire from the Lord came forth which consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
Notas al pie
- 15:2–16 These laws on sacrifice are complementary to those of Lv 1–3. Since the food of the Israelites consisted not only of meat but also of bread, oil and wine, they offered flour, wine and oil in sacrifice to the Lord besides the animal oblations.
- 15:4 Measure: the word, supplied from the context, does not appear in the Hebrew (as also in vv. 6, 9; 28:9, 12, 20, 28; 29:3, 9, 14). Probably the ephah (which is named in 5:15; 28:5) is intended. Hin: see note on Ez 45:24.
- 15:20 Dough: the meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain; some render, “baking utensils.” This word is used elsewhere only in Ez 44:30 and Neh 10:33; a related Hebrew word is used in Lv 2:14.
- 15:22–31 See note on Lv 4:2. Although Lv 4–5 and Nm 15:22–31 both concern inadvertent sins, the emphasis here, as opposed to Lv 4–5, is on the failure of the community to perform “positive commands” rather than on doing what is prohibited.
- 15:34 No clear decision: either it was not clear that gathering wood constituted “work” and as such a willful violation of the sabbath and a capital offense; or they did not yet know how the death penalty was to be inflicted.
- 15:38 Tassels: at the time of Jesus these tassels were worn by all pious Jews, including Jesus (Mt 9:20–21; Mk 6:56); some Pharisees wore very large ones in a display of their zeal for the law (Mt 23:5).
- 16:1–3 The evidence seems to show that accounts of two, if not more, distinct rebellions have been combined in this chapter. The most obvious are the rebellions of Korah and his faction (Nm 27:3) and of Dathan and Abiram (Dt 11:6); cf. Ps 106. The present account combines both events into one narrative; but even here it is rather easy to separate the two. The rebellion of the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, was more political in character, against Moses alone as the civil leader (cf. v. 13); these rebels were punished by being swallowed alive in an earthquake. The rebellion of Korah was more religious in character, directed primarily against the religious leadership of Aaron (though in vv. 19–22 it is Korah and the whole community against both Moses and Aaron). About two hundred and fifty malcontents joined Korah’s faction, and they are punished by fire. The parts of the present section which refer to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram are vv. 12–15 and vv. 25–34 of chap. 16; the rest of chap. 16 and all of chap. 17 chiefly concern the rebellion of Korah.
- 16:1 The Reubenites…son of Peleth: some suggest on the basis of 26:5, 8 and Gn 46:9 reading instead of the traditional Hebrew text: “son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, son of Pallu, son of Reuben.”
- 16:12 We will not go: to appear before Moses’ “tribunal.”
- 16:14 Gouge out our eyes: blind us to the real state of affairs.
- 16:24 Withdraw from the area around the tent: the word for “tent,” mishkan, here and in v. 27, is otherwise used in the singular only for the tent of meeting, suggesting possibly the erection of a rival sanctuary by the rebels. Note further, as an indication of the fact that various accounts of rebellion have been fused here, that in v. 19 the entire community had been assembled by Korah at the tent of meeting.
- 16:25 Since Dathan and Abiram had refused to go to Moses (vv. 12–14), he, with the elders as witnesses, was obliged to go to their tents.
- 16:30 Sheol: see note on Ps 6:6.
- 16:32 And all of Korah’s people: the implication of this secondary addition to the text is, on the one hand, that Korah met his death elsewhere, presumably with the two hundred and fifty offering incense (vv. 16–17, 35); or, on the other hand, he died along with Dathan and Abiram in the splitting of the earth.
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