The Interconnections between
Numbers 15 and Numbers 16
The mitzvot in Numbers 15 also has a role to play in the interpretation of the story that follows; namely, the revolts by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Chapter 16. The incident that caused the rebellion by Korah and his company is not immediately evident with the story itself. The rebel’s charge against Moshe involves his right to be the sole mediator of God’s words and mitzvot to the people (16:3, 13, 28-29). Throughout Chapter 15, the text notes repeatedly that YHVH speaks only through Moses (15:1, 17, 22-23, 35-37). This exclusive use of Moshe as the mouthpiece of Ha’Shem seems to be an unprovoked and unexplained revolt by Korah. In other words, while the interconnections with the rebellion stories in Numbers 11-14 suggested that the mitzvot in Chapter 15 functioned largely as words of promise and reassurance to the new generation, the following story of Korah and his cohorts suggests that these same words of Chapter 15 were heard as a burden and a threat to other hearers. One kind of hearing brought life to the wilderness generation. Another kind of hearing, however, brought threat and death to the Exodus generation eager to exalt themselves and not accept ADONAI’s chosen mediator and guide in Moses.
The mitzvot in Numbers 15 also include discussions of sins done intentionally (to see link click Cj – Unintentional Sin: When an individual commits an intentional sin). Unintentional sins could be atoned for by the priest through a female goat in its first year as a purification offering. But intentional and flagrant sins required that the person be cut off from his people, meaning that the entire community was to be stoned to death outside the camp. The mitzvah about the tzit-tzit and blue thread (see Cl – Tzit-tzit and Blue Thread) emphasize Isra’el’s need to remember and obey God’s word. The story of the rebellions of Korah and his followers clearly presents them as examples of the flagrant and intentional despising of God and His mediator, Moshe. The guilt of the rebels was obvious, and their actions required the severest penalty (see Cr – The Response of God). The thankful burnt offering by fire given to ADONAI in a spirit of gratitude in 15:3, 13-14 and 25 contrasts sharply with the rebels’ presumptuous desire to take over Aaron’s priestly role and to offer fire and incense before YHVH in a spirit promoting themselves in 16:18 and 35.
One of the final reminders in the series of mitzvot in Numbers 15 is directed to all the people, “Remember all of ADONAI’s mitzvot and be holy to your God” (15:40). Those who rebelled in Chapter 16 repeated this claim about the holiness of the whole community in their attack on Moses and Aaron, “The whole community is holy, every one of them, and ADONAI is with them” (16:3b). The rebels used the holiness of the whole community as the basis for arguing that anyone, layman or Levite, could offer incense and sacrifices on the bronze altar; it was not an exclusive right of Aaron and his sons. Their claim, however, was repudiated by Ha’Shem . Chapter 15 revealed the important function of the true priest, “The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community” (15:25 and 28). In Chapter 16, Aaron confirms his proper status as the high priest when he stood between the living and the dead, stopped the plague and made atonement for the people (16:47-48).
Thus, the collection of mitzvot in Numbers 15 is intimately and artfully interwoven in the words and themes with the rebellion stories that precede and follow it. The mitzvot were words of promise and hope for the Wilderness generation, but they became words of rejection and hopelessness for the defiant Exodus generation. Numbers 15 also shows its own internal cohesion and logic of development through its several interlocking themes. It is an artfully designed progression. The question at the end of Chapter 15 is whether the break in the narrative represented by the new mitzvot in this chapter will put an end to the series of rebellions that had begun in Chapters 11-14. The answer follows in Chapter 16.299
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