🔢WEB · Numbers 15:31
What does Numbers 15:31 mean?
"Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”"
— Numbers 15:31 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.
“‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Explanation
Numbers 15:31 comes at the end of a passage that distinguishes between unintentional sins and deliberate, defiant sin. In plain language, this verse says that a person who despises the word of the Lord and knowingly breaks his commandment—not by accident or ignorance, but through willful contempt—will be completely cut off from the community, and that person alone will bear the guilt of what they did.
The context is essential to understanding this verse rightly. Numbers 15 is part of the wilderness legislation given to Moses for the Israelites, addressing how to handle sin within the covenant community. Earlier in the chapter (verses 22-29), the text describes provisions for sins committed unintentionally—whether by an individual or the whole congregation—where atonement through sacrifice is available. But verses 30-31 shift to address a different category: someone who sins "presumptously" or "high-handedly," meaning they knew God's command and chose to violate it anyway, essentially treating God's word with scorn. This is not a slip or an oversight but a deliberate act of rebellion against Yahweh's authority.
Theologically, this verse highlights the seriousness with which God's covenant treats willful defiance versus unintentional failure. The sacrificial system provided grace and restoration for sins of weakness, ignorance, or accident—situations common to human frailty. But someone who "despises" God's word is doing something different: they are rejecting the relationship and authority behind the command, not merely failing to keep it. The phrase "his iniquity shall be on him" underscores personal responsib
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