Numbers 15:24 (KJV)

What does Numbers 15:24 mean?

Numbers 15:24 gives Israel a way to address a wrong committed without the community’s knowledge. The whole community is to bring specified animals as offerings to the LORD, along with the grain and drink that accompany one of them.

The verse describes a shared response rather than leaving the matter to one person. The bull is given as a burnt offering, described as “a sweet savour unto the LORD.” In the KJV, “meat offering” means a grain offering, not an offering of animal flesh.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 15:24

• “ignorance” — שְׁגָגָה (shegagah): This word refers to an unintentional error. The phrase helps distinguish the act from a deliberate refusal to obey.
• “knowledge” — עַיִן (ʿayin): This word usually means “eye.” The Hebrew pictures the act as being hidden from the community’s eyes.
• “manner” — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat): This word can refer to an established rule or prescribed way of doing something. Here it points to the instructions for preparing the accompanying offerings.

Why Numbers 15:24 matters

• The verse treats an unintentional wrong seriously, even when the community did not know about it. The required offerings provide a way to deal with the wrong once it becomes known.
• The animals have distinct purposes. The bull is for a “burnt offering,” while the young male goat is for a “sin offering,” an offering connected with the wrong.
• The wider passage distinguishes accidental wrong from deliberate defiance. Numbers 15:27–31 gives instructions for an individual’s unintentional wrong and then describes a different response to a person who acts defiantly.