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. Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah. Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.
Parallel Translations
-
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.
Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah.
Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.
-
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
Show all 3 translations
-
(17-12) And Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
(17-13) And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
(17-14) Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah.
(17-15) And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed.
Cross-references (27)
- Numbers 16:32-35 (v49) The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods. So they, and all that…
- Numbers 25:9 (v49) Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
- 2 Samuel 24:25 (v48) David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So Yahweh was entreated for the land, and the plague…
- Numbers 16:18 (v48) They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.
- Numbers 16:35 (v48) Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
Show all 27 cross-references
- Numbers 16:43 (v50) Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 16:46 (v47) 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…
- Numbers 25:6-8 (v47) Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the…
- Numbers 25:8-11 (v48) He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So…
- Deuteronomy 33:10-11 (v47) They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.…
- 2 Samuel 24:16-17 (v48) When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed…
- 1 Chronicles 21:14 (v49) So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
- 1 Chronicles 21:26-27 (v48) David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the…
- 1 Chronicles 21:26-30 (v50) David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the…
- Psalms 106:29 (v47) Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.
- Psalms 106:30 (v48) Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.
- Isaiah 53:10-12 (v47) Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He…
- Matthew 5:44 (v47) But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and…
- John 5:14 (v48) Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
- Romans 12:21 (v47) Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (v48) and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (v48) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony in…
- Hebrews 2:1-3 (v49) Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. For if the word spoken through…
- Hebrews 7:24-25 (v48) But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near…
- Hebrews 10:28-29 (v49) A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think he…
- Hebrews 12:25 (v49) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
- James 5:16 (v48) Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv47–48 God had begun to punish the people.
God had begun to punish the people.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv47–48 Num 16:47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and…
Num 16:47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
Ver. 47. The plague.] Which ran as a fire in a grain field.
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 vv47–48 Ran into the midst of the congregation; hazarding his…
Ran into the midst of the congregation; hazarding his own life to obey God, and to do this wicked people good.
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 vv47–49 And he stood between the dead and the living,....…
And he stood between the dead and the living,.... The plague beginning at one end of the camp, and so proceeded on, Aaron placed himself between that part of it wherein it had made havoc, and that wherein yet it was not come; the Targum of Jonathan is,"he stood in prayer in the middle, and made a partition, with his censer, between the dead and living;''in this he was a type of Christ, the Mediator between God and man, the living God and dead sinners; for though his atonement and intercession are not made for the dead in a corporeal sense, nor for those who have sinned, and sin unto death, the unpardonable sin, nor for men appointed unto death, but for the living in Jerusalem, or for those who are written in the Lamb's book of life; yet for those who are dead in sin, and as deserving of eternal death as others, whereby they are saved from everlasting ruin:
and the plague was stayed; it proceeded no further than where Aaron stood and offered his incense, and made atonement: so the consequence of the atonement and intercession of Christ is, that the wrath of God sin deserves comes not upon those that have a share therein, the second death shall not seize upon them, nor they be hurt with it; for, being justified by the blood of Christ, and atonement for their sins being made by his sacrifice, they are saved from wrath to come.
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 v48 The living - Whereby it may seem that this…
The living - Whereby it may seem that this plague, like that fire, chap. xi, 1, began in the uttermost parts of the congregation, and so proceeded destroying one after another in an orderly manner, which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself, as a mediator to God on their behalf.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v48 Verse 48. He stood between the dead and the…
Verse 48. He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague, c.] What the plague was we know not, but it seems to have begun at one part of the camp, and to have proceeded regularly onward and Aaron went to the quarter where it was then prevailing, and stood with his atonement where it was now making its ravages, and the plague was stayed; but not before 14,700 had fallen victims to it, Nu 16:49.
IF Aaron the high priest, with his censer and incense, could disarm the wrath of an insulted, angry Deity, so that a guilty people, who deserved nothing but destruction, should be spared; how much more effectual may we expect the great atonement to be which was made by the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was only the type! The sacrifices of living animals pointed out the death of Christ on the cross; the incense, his intercession. Through his death salvation is purchased for the world; by his intercession the offending children of men are spared. Hence St. Paul, Ro 5:10, says: If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved THROUGH HIS LIFE, i. e., by the prevalence of his continual intercession. 2Co 5:18-19: "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
Read full note →
By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter, we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them. Reader, forget not the Lord who bought thee.
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 v48 Num 16:48. Between the dead and the living —…
Num 16:48. Between the dead and the living — Whereby it may seem that this plague, like that fire, (Num 11:1,) began in the uttermost parts of the congregation, and so proceeded destroying one after another in an orderly manner, which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself as a mediator with God on their behalf. In this action Aaron was a most eminent type of Christ, and the effect of Aaron’s oblation of incense an expressive emblem of the efficacy and happy fruits of the interposition of our great High-Priest.
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 v47 A striking proof of the efficacy of that very…
A striking proof of the efficacy of that very Aaronic priesthood which the rebels had presumed to reject. The incense offering which had brought down destruction when presented by unauthorised hands, now in the hand of the true priest is the medium of instant salvation to the whole people. Aaron by his acceptable ministration and his personal self-devotion foreshadows emphatically in this transaction the perfect mediation and sacrifice of Himself made by Christ.
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 v49 Core. We cannot reckon less than 15,000, who perished…
Core. We cannot reckon less than 15,000, who perished in consequence of their adherence to this innovator. Behold the first-fruits of ambition and of rebellion. (Haydock)
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 vv47–48 47. Aaron… ran — Here the spirit of forgiveness…
47. Aaron… ran — Here the spirit of forgiveness shines forth resplendently. Against these great leaders a double wrong had been done — a conspiracy against their authority and a wicked slander of their fair fame. Num_16:41. Yet they both evince the most intense desire for the salvation of their enemies. The cloud of incense was a mute prayer symbolizing the priestly intercession that came between the divine wrath and the people, and by covering them arrests the plague.
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 v49 49. them that died about the matter of Korah]…
49. them that died about the matter of Korah] i.e. the 250 princes. It should be noticed that the death of Korah himself is nowhere related in the chapter, Num_16:24; Num_16:27 a might seem to imply that Korah was about to be swallowed up in the earth with Dathan and Abiram; and this supposition is adopted by the writer of Num_26:10. But apart from the critical reasons for distinguishing the narratives, and for reading ‘the tabernacle of Jehovah’ in Num_16:24; Num_16:27, it would be very strange that Korah should have been separated from his adherents in their punishment. In the fusing of the two stories by the compiler, a statement of the personal fate of Korah fell out of the chapter.
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 vv47–48 (47) And ran into the midst of the congregation.—The…
(47) And ran into the midst of the congregation.—The whole occasion was an extraordinary one. On ordinary occasions incense might only be offered on the golden altar within the holy place in which the priests ministered.
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 vv48–50 And he stood between the dead and the living.…
And he stood between the dead and the living. If this is to be understood literally, as seems most consistent with the character of the narrative, then the plague must have been strictly local in its character; striking down its victims in one quarter before passing on to another; only thus could it be arrested by tile actual interposition of Aaron with the smoking censer. And the plague was stayed. Thus was given to the people the most striking and public proof of the saving efficacy of that mediatorial and intercessory office which they had been ready to invade and to reject. Thus also was it shown that what in profane hands was a savour of death unto death, became when rightly and lawfully used a savour of life unto life.
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 vv47, 49 he put in the incense
he put in the incense
Putting the incense in the censer here represents burning it. AT: "he burned the incense" (See: Metonymy)
Read full note →
the plague was stopped
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the plague stopped spreading" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
die
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.