Bible Strands
Numbers 15:31
He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly regarding the penalty for a person who commits a defiant sin. The passage occurs within wilderness regulations establishing boundaries for covenant obedience.
The words — בָּזָ֔ה (ba.Zah) translates to “he has despised,” and הִכָּרֵ֧ת (hi.ka.Ret) means “certainly cut off.” These terms anchor the verse’s declaration of divine judgment.
The thread — The connection between despising divine instruction and facing direct consequences appears in 2 Samuel 12:9, Proverbs 13:13, and Ezekiel 18:20. Each reference tracks the pattern of individual responsibility for covenant violation.
Why it lands — The text states that deliberate rejection of God’s word and commandment leaves guilt permanently on the offender. It requires readers to treat divine instruction as non-negotiable and to recognize that willful disobedience carries irreversible consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
- Proverbs 13:13 He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
- Ezekiel 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
- Leviticus 5:1 “If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
- Psalms 119:126 It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:8 Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
- Leviticus 26:15 and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
- Leviticus 26:43 For the land will be abandoned by them, and it will enjoy its Sabbaths by lying desolate without them. And they will pay the penalty for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes.
- Psalms 38:4 For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
- Isaiah 30:12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,