Numbers 15: Building a contextual narrative out of non-narrative units

Numbers 15: Various Offerings in the Promised Land / Penalty for Violating the Sabbath / Fringes on Garments

One way of viewing the bible is as an anthology - a collection of works by different authors. But anthologies generally contain all the same types of literature, whether it is poetry, prose, or songs. The bible as anthology is a postmodern treasure trove in which a statistical census is followed by commandments and prohibitions, which are then followed by narrative and poetry.

The bible contains a narrative that is mostly consistent, though it is interrupted by commandments and asides. These interruptions, however, generally serve a larger thematic purpose, or introduce material that will be necessary to understanding a later story. Today's reading contains commandments as well as narrative, all serving thematically to advance the biblical story.

Today's reading of Numbers 15 begins with commandments for offering sacrifice in the promised land. A section of narrative concerning obedience of the law follows. The reading concludes with a final commandment that is thematically connected with the story.

Various Offerings in the Promised Land: Numbers 15.1-31
Read separately from the surrounding narrative, verses 1 through 31 of Numbers 15 seem like any other set of non-contextual commandments. But their location within the biblical narrative and the language used make it so that the section is thick with irony. It is the context in which we find this passage that allows this irony to appear. Without the surrounding material, the irony would not be possible.

Yesterday's reading showed the Israelites again disobeying the Lord's commandments. Their punishment? No one over the age of twenty would survive to see the promised land. Only the children of the Israelites will see the land flowing with milk and honey. So there is irony when the Lord tells Moses in verse 2: "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you..." The people this is addressed towards actually will never see the promised land. A better reading might therefore be "When your children come into the land..."

This irony is no doubt caused by different traditions or a translation (the movement kind, not the into-another-language kind) of the passage from an earlier part of the narrative to here. But reading the bible as a piece of literature, a very nice irony may be observed.

Anyway.

This passage involves offerings made to the Lord once the Israelites enter the promised land. The proportions of oil and wine and grain used in animal offerings are made greater, perhaps because the Israelites will be in a more stable situation and able to cultivate grapes, olives, and grain more easily. Goats and lambs require less oil, grain and wine than a bull.

Israelites and aliens alike shall make sacrifices to God - a single statute applies to both.

God has already made statutes concerning the first fruits and the firstborn animals and humans, but here the law is extended. A loaf of the first batch of dough is to be dedicated to the Lord.

If the Israelites as a whole unintentionally fail to observe one of the Lord's commandments, the whole congregation shall offer a bull along with its grain and drink offerings as a burnt offering, and a goat along with its grain and drink offerings as a sin offering. All the Israelites and aliens residing with them will be forgiven.

If a single Israelite or alien among the Israelites sins unintentionally, a year-old female goat should be offered as a sin offering.

If a single person, Israelite or alien, sins intentionally, he or she shall be cut off from the people.

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath: Numbers 15.32-36
Generally the Lord gives commands that are obeyed, but occasionally a person will act in a way that requires new legislation (see Leviticus 24:10-23). These events merit a narrative to explain the problem, and are resolved with God as judge creating the new law and the Israelites enacting the law. This section logically follows the punishments for sins, which have gotten less lenient with every command.

A man is found gathering sticks on the sabbath and is brought before Moses, Aaron, and the congregation. He is put into custody because the Israelites are unsure of the punishment. The Lord tells Moses that the man should be stoned outside the camp. The man is stoned.

Fringes on Garments: Numbers 15.37-41
What follows the stoning story thematically links retribution for disobeying commands with a provision for remembering the commands.

The Lord tells Moses to tell the Israelites that they should have fringes on the corners of their garments, and that there should be a blue cord on the fringe. Says the Lord:

You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes.
(Num. 15.39)

Had the man had fringes on his garments, perhaps he would have remembered God's prohibition against doing work on the sabbath. [However, he might have disobeyed because he did not fear the Lord. If this is the case, there is really not too much that can be done.]

The fringe ensures that the Israelites constantly have YHWH on their minds. The Lord is omnipresent in the community and in the community's thoughts. Tangible displays of the Lord's presence reinforce this. Adherence to the commands of the Lord should override any of the worldly desires of the Israelites.

And so God is a centering force in Israelite society. If the people act as God commands, they are rewarded. If they act contrary to God, they are punished.