Numbers 16:38

As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God commands Moses to instruct the Israelites to process the bronze censers used by Korah’s followers who died in the divine judgment.

The words — The Hebrew מַחְתּוֹת (mach.tOt) identifies the censers, while רִקֻּעֵי (ri.ku.'Ei) describes the physical act of hammering them into beaten sheets.

The thread — The preserved metal serves as a permanent sign to Israel, paralleling the thematic treatment of divine judgment and consecration in Numbers 26:10, Proverbs 20:2, and Ezekiel 14:8.

Why it lands — The text states that objects presented before God become holy and must be repurposed as a warning, requiring the reader to recognize that proximity to the divine demands irreversible reverence.

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

אֵ֡ת'et<obj.>מַחְתּוֹת֩mach.tOt[the] censers of הַֽחַטָּאִ֨יםha./cha.ta.'Imthe/ sinners הָאֵ֜לֶּהha./'E.leh<the>/ these בְּנַפְשֹׁתָ֗םbe./naf.sho.Ta/mby/ lives/ their וְעָשׂ֨וּve./'a.Suand/ people will make אֹתָ֜ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them רִקֻּעֵ֤יri.ku.'Eibeaten out of פַחִים֙fa.Chimthin plates צִפּ֣וּיtzi.Puioverlay לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַla./miz.Be.achfor the/ altar כִּֽי־ki-for הִקְרִיבֻ֥םhik.ri.Vu/mthey brought near/ them לִפְנֵֽי־li/f.nei-<to>/ before יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh וַיִּקְדָּ֑שׁוּva/i.yik.Da.shuand/ they became holy וְיִֽהְי֥וּve./yih.Yuand/ they may become לְא֖וֹתle./'ot<into>/ a sign לִבְנֵ֥יli/v.Neifor/ [the] people of יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Yis.ra.'ElIsrael

King James Version

The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.

Cross-references

Numbers 26:10 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.
Proverbs 20:2 The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
Ezekiel 14:8 I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
2 Peter 2:6 if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
Numbers 17:10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”
1 Kings 2:23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.
Habakkuk 2:10 You have plotted shame for your house by cutting off many peoples and forfeiting your life.
Numbers 16:40 just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.
Proverbs 1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
Proverbs 8:36 But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”