Numbers 16:22

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”

Numbers 16:22 in Other Translations

KJV
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
ESV
22 And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"
NLT
22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?”
MSG
22 They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"
CSB
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will you vent Your wrath on the whole community?"

Numbers 16:22 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:22

And they fell upon their faces
That is, Moses and Aaron, in order to deprecate the wrath of God, and beseech him to avert the threatened judgment; and so the Targum of Jonathan has it,

``they bowed themselves in prayer upon their faces;''
and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh;
the Maker of all men, as of their bodies, which are flesh, so of their souls or spirits, which are immaterial and immortal; hence he is called "the Father of spirits", ( Hebrews 12:9 ) , who, as the Targum, puts the spirit in the bodies of men; or, as others, who knows the spirits of men; their thoughts, as Jarchi, the inward frames and dispositions of their minds; who knows who have sinned, and who not; and whether their sins proceed from weakness, and being misled, or whether from a malevolent disposition, presumption, and self-will: shall one man sin:
meaning Korah, who was the ringleader: and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
who, through ignorance and weakness, and by artifice and imposition, are drawn in to join with him; the plea is much the same with that of Abraham, ( Genesis 18:25 ) .

Numbers 16:22 In-Context

20 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
21 “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”
23 Then the LORD said to Moses,
24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

Cross References 4

  • 1. S Numbers 14:5
  • 2. Numbers 27:16; Job 12:10; Job 27:8; Job 33:4; Job 34:14; Jeremiah 32:27; Ezekiel 18:4; Hebrews 12:9
  • 3. S Leviticus 10:6
  • 4. S Genesis 18:23; S Job 21:20
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