Numbers 15:31

Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:30-36 Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners, who sin designedly against God's will and glory. Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment reproaches the Lord. He also despises the word of the Lord. Presumptuous sinners despise it, thinking themselves too great, too good, and too wise, to be ruled by it. A particular instance of presumption in the sin of sabbath-breaking is related. The offence was gathering sticks on the sabbath day, to make a fire, whereas the people were to bake and seethe what they had occasion for, the day before, Ex 16:23. This was done as an affront both to the law and to the Lawgiver. God is jealous for the honour of his sabbaths, and will not hold him guiltless who profanes them, whatever men may do. God intended this punishment for a warning to all, to make conscience of keeping holy the sabbath. And we may be assured that no command was ever given for the punishment of sin, which, at the judgment day, shall not prove to have come from perfect love and justice. The right of God to a day of devotion to himself, will be disputed and denied only by such as listen to the pride and unbelief of their hearts, rather than to the teaching of the Spirit of truth and life. Wherein consists the difference between him who was detected gathering sticks in the wilderness on the day of God, and the man who turns his back upon the blessings of sabbath appointments, and the promises of sabbath mercies, to use his time, his cares, and his soul, in heaping up riches; and waste his hours, his property, and his strength in sinful pleasure? Wealth may come by the unhallowed effort, but it will not come alone; it will have its awful reward. Sinful pursuits lead to ruin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Presumptuously - The original (compare the margin, and Exodus 14:8) imports something done willfully and openly; in the case of a sin against God it implies that the act is committed ostentatiously and in bravado.

Reproacheth the Lord - Rather, revileth or blasphemeth the Lord: compare Ezekiel 20:27.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31. his iniquity shall be upon him—The punishment of his sins shall fall on himself individually; no guilt shall be incurred by the nation, unless there be a criminal carelessness in overlooking the offense.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. The punishment shall be confined to himself, and not fall upon the congregation, as it will do, if they neglect to cut him off.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment,.... That is, has broken it through contempt of it, despising it as a command of God, paying no regard to it as a law of his; otherwise such who sin ignorantly break the commandment of God:

that soul shall be utterly cut off; or "in cutting off shall be cut off" (u); most certainly cut off and entirely ruined and destroyed in this world and in that to come, as the Targum of Jonathan; and Maimonides (w) understands it of such a cutting off, that the soul itself perishes and is no more; but such annihilation the Scripture nowhere gives us any reason to believe:

his iniquity shall be upon him; the punishment of it, no atonement being made for it by sacrifice; it shall be upon him and him only, or be "in him" (x), not repented of and not forgiven.

(u) "excidendo excidetur", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius. (w) In Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.((x) "in ea", Montanus, Junins & Tremellius, Drusius; "in ipso", Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his {h} iniquity shall be upon him.

(h) He shall sustain the punishment of his sin.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. his iniquity shall be upon him] with his iniquity upon him. The sinner shall be ‘cut off’ (see on Numbers 9:13) with the burden of his sin still attaching to him, and unatoned for. In the Christian dispensation the one great Sacrifice has procured atonement for all sinners who repent, even though, like the crucified robber, they have sinned with an high hand.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 31. - His iniquity... upon him. עַונָה בָהּ, "its crime upon it," i.e., the sin of that soul must come upon it in punishment.

CHAPTER 15:32-36 THE SABBATH-BREAKER (verses 32-36). Numbers 15:31

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But it was only sins committed by mistake (see at Leviticus 4:2) that could be expiated by sin-offerings. Whoever, on the other hand, whether a native or a foreigner, committed a sin "with a high hand," - i.e., so that he raised his hand, as it were, against Jehovah, or acted in open rebellion against Him, - blasphemed God, and was to be cut off (see Genesis 17:14); for he had despised the word of Jehovah, and broken His commandment, and was to atone for it with his life. בהּ עונה, "its crime upon it;" i.e., it shall come upon such a soul in the punishment which it shall endure.