Numbers 14:10

14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. ¹  But ²  the glory ³  of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent ⁴  of meeting.

Numbers 15:35

15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone ⁵  him with stones outside the camp.”

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¹ tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.

² tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.

³ sn The glory of the Lord refers to the reality of the Lord’s presence in a manifestation of his power and splendor. It showed to all that God was a living God. The appearance of the glory indicated blessing for the obedient, but disaster for the disobedient.

⁴ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”

⁵ tn The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם (ragom) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.