Hebrews 2:2

2:2 For if the message spoken through angels ¹  proved to be so firm that every violation ²  or disobedience received its just penalty,

Numbers 15:30-31

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ³  who acts defiantly, ⁴  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ⁵  the Lord. ⁶  That person ⁷  must be cut off ⁸  from among his people. 15:31 Because he has despised ⁹  the word of the Lord and has broken ¹⁰  his commandment, that person ¹¹  must be completely cut off. ¹²  His iniquity will be on him.’” ¹³ 

Numbers 15:36

15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, ¹⁴  just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 13:6-10

False Prophets in the Family

13:6 Suppose your own full brother, ¹⁵  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ¹⁶  that neither you nor your ancestors ¹⁷  have previously known, ¹⁸  13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth ¹⁹  to the other). 13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! ²⁰  Your own hand must be the first to strike him, ²¹  and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death ²²  because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 17:2-13

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ²³  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ²⁴  and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, ²⁵  moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. ²⁶  17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing ²⁷  is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates ²⁸  that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. ²⁹  17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses ³⁰  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ³¹  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Appeal to a Higher Court

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, ³²  legal claim, ³³  or assault ³⁴  – matters of controversy in your villages ³⁵  – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. ³⁶  17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention ³⁷  to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.

Deuteronomy 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ³⁸  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ³⁹  and breaks his covenant

Deuteronomy 12:9

12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop ⁴⁰  and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 12:13

12:13 Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish,

[2:2]  ¹ sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

[2:2]  ² tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”

[15:30]  ³ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁴ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ⁵ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ⁶ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁸ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[15:31]  ⁹ tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.

[15:31]  ¹⁰ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ¹² tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.

[15:31]  ¹³ sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.

[15:36]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”

[13:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.

[13:6]  ¹⁶ tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”

[13:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).

[13:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).

[13:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “land” (so NIV, NCV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “land” or “earth.”

[13:9]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.

[13:10]  ²² sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).

[17:2]  ²³ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[17:3]  ²⁵ tc The MT reads “and to the sun,” thus including the sun, the moon, and other heavenly spheres among the gods. However, Theodotion and Lucian read “or to the sun,” suggesting perhaps that the sun and the other heavenly bodies are not in the category of actual deities.

[17:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.

[17:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”

[17:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[17:8]  ³² tn Heb “between blood and blood.”

[17:8]  ³³ tn Heb “between claim and claim.”

[17:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “between blow and blow.”

[17:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:8]  ³⁶ tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.

[17:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).

[17:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[12:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “rest.”