Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.”
Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv46–48 For it was not lawful to take any other…
For it was not lawful to take any other fire, but of the altar of burnt offering, Lev. 10:1.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv46–48 Num 16:46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a…
Num 16:46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
Ver. 46. For there is wrath.] Moses is quick sighted, and spies it at first setting out. By how much more faithful and familiar men are with God, so much earlier do they discern his wrath.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv43, 45, 46, 47, 48 To hear what God, who now appeared, would say…
To hear what God, who now appeared, would say to him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv43–48 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of…
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. Whose tent was not far from it, about which the people of Israel were gathered; and from whence they came to the tabernacle, both for shelter and safety, and for advice and instruction how to behave in this crisis; they did not go into it, but stood before it; the Lord being in the cloud over it, they stood in the door of it, Num 16:50; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and Moses and Aaron came from the congregation to the door of the tabernacle.''
; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and Moses and Aaron came from the congregation to the door of the tabernacle.''
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Numbers 16:44
num 16:44
num 16:44
num 16:44And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of the cloud:
saying; as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv43, 45, 46, 48 Moses and Aaron came - To hear what God,…
Moses and Aaron came - To hear what God, who now appeared, would say to them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv46, 48 Verse 46. The plague is begun.] God now punished…
Verse 46. The plague is begun.] God now punished them by a secret blast, so as to put the matter beyond all dispute; his hand, and his alone, was seen, not only in the plague, but in the manner in which the mortality was arrested. It was necessary that this should be done in this way, that the whole congregation might see that those men who had perished were not the people of the Lord; and that GOD, not Moses and Aaron, had destroyed them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv45, 48 Num 16:45-46. They fell upon their faces — To…
Num 16:45-46. They fell upon their faces — To beg mercy for the people; thus rendering good for evil. Put on incense — Which was a sign of intercession, and was to be accompanied with it. Go unto the congregation — He went with the incense to stir up the people to repentance and prayer, to prevent their utter ruin. This he might do upon this extraordinary occasion, having God’s command for his warrant, though ordinarily incense was to be offered only in the tabernacle.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv45–47 They fell upon their faces - In intercession for…
They fell upon their faces - In intercession for the people; compare Num 16:22; Num 14:5.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv45–46 Get ye out. Moses and Aaron complied with the…
Get ye out. Moses and Aaron complied with the spirit, though not with the letter of this injunction. They lay prostrate on their faces, with all humility and earnestness, begging that the Lord would preserve them, and at the same time take pity on the frailty of the multitude, who had been deluded, and had, in words at least, approved the conduct of the rebels. (Haydock) --- God encourages them inwardly to persevere in prayer, in the same manner as when he said to Moses, (Exodus xxxii. 20,) Let me alone, that my wrath may be enkindled, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v48 he stood between the living and the dead--The plague…
he stood between the living and the dead--The plague seems to have begun in the extremities of the camp. Aaron, in this remarkable act, was a type of Christ.
Next: Numbers Chapter 17
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv45–48 45. They fell upon their faces — This was…
45. They fell upon their faces — This was an act of heroic self-sacrifice equal to any in history. Only yesterday, after a similar command to the people to stand aloof from the tents of the chief rebels lest they perish with them, the yawning earth devoured the guilty. But now, in the face of a similar order, Moses and Aaron remain among the doomed people, in the attitude of most earnest intercession, determined to avert consuming wrath or perish in the attempt.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v46 46. make atonement for them] The offering of incense…
46. make atonement for them] The offering of incense was an unusual way of making atonement; the shedding of blood was generally required. But since the sin had been the burning of incense, the means for its atonement was similar. Cf. the bronze serpent (Num_21:6-9). A converse application of the same principle is seen in the laws of retaliation—‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
there is wrath gone out] lit. the wrath has gone out. The divine wrath is thought of almost as an emanation; it has, so to speak, an existence independent of Jehovah, as soon as it proceeds from Him. Cf. 2Ch_19:2, where, however, ‘wrath’ is without the article.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv46–48 (46) Take a censer.—Better, the censer. The reference appears…
(46) Take a censer.—Better, the censer. The reference appears to be to the golden censer of the high priest. Incense was an emblem of prayer, and a figure of the intercession and mediation of Christ. (See Psa_141:2; Rev_8:3-4.)
And go quickly.—Or, and carry it quickly.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv45, 46, 48 Get you up. WMrohe, from The command is substantially…
Get you up. WMrohe, from The command is substantially the same as that in verse 21. Since it was not obeyed, we must conclude (as before) that it was not intended to be obeyed. They fell on their faces.
In horror and dismay. No doubt they would have interceded (as in verse 22), but that Moses perceived through some Divine intimation that wrath had gone forth, and that some more prevailing form of mediation than mere words must be sought.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v47 (See Scofield "Exo 29:33")
atonement
(See Scofield "Exo 29:33")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv44, 47 so that I may consume them
so that I may consume them
God speaks of destroying them as if he would eat them. AT: "so that I may destroy them" or "and I will destroy them" (See: Metaphor)
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lay down with their faces to the ground
This indicates that Moses and Aaron are humbling themselves before God. (See: Symbolic Action)
anger is coming from Yahweh
Anger coming from God represents God showing his anger. AT: "Yahweh is showing us his anger" or "Yahweh is very angry and is acting according to his anger" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
consume
Aaron
fire
altar
incense
atonement
anger
plague
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v46 16:46-50 Moses and Aaron acted quickly to rescue the…
16:46-50 Moses and Aaron acted quickly to rescue the Israelites from God’s wrath. In an unusual procedure, Aaron carried an incense burner with burning coals among the people and thus stopped the plague.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.