Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 15:34
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
34. It had been declared in Exo 31:14 f., Num 35:2 (both P ) that Sabbath-breaking must be punished with death, but the method of execution had not been laid down. If, however, the meaning is that they did not know what the man’s punishment should be, the present passage is independent of those in Exodus. The Jews who laid down this law in the period after the exile were sternly acting in accordance with the dictates of their conscience. But (though in early days stern punishments may have been salutary) no Christian is compelled to believe that because the law stands in the Bible it is now in accordance with the mind of God. One effect of Christian civilization has been to confine the death penalty to murderers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Death had indeed been assigned as the penalty Exo 31:14; Exo 35:2; but it had not been determined how that death was to be inflicted.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
i.e. Moses and Aaron, and the seventy rulers last mentioned.
What should be done to him, i.e. in what manner he was to be cut off, or by what kind of death he was to die, which therefore God here particularly determines; otherwise it was known in general that sabbath-breakers were to be put to death, from Exo 31:14; 35:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they put him in ward,…. In a certain prison in the camp; perhaps the same in which the blasphemer was put, Le 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, Ex 31:15; 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
34. In ward In custody as a prisoner.
It was not declared The boundary line between remissible and irremissible sins is too narrow for the unaided eye of man to discover, hence God’s verdict is sought.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
declared. Hebrew. parash, make known. This is the meaning of Greek. sunkrino, rendered “comparing” in 1Co 2:13.
what should be done to him: i.e. what death he should die. It had been made known that he was to die, but not in what manner. Exo 31:15; Exo 35:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 24:12
Reciprocal: Exo 18:15 – to inquire Num 27:2 – General Num 27:5 – General Act 12:10 – the first