How does Leviticus 24 move from a man’s blasphemy to the judgment carried out by Israel?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The man is brought to Moses and held in prison until the Lord’s command is known. The Lord orders stoning outside the camp, states the blasphemy rule for native and stranger, and requires equal judgment. Israel then carries out the command.

Chapter breakdown

Leviticus 24 covers oil for the lamps, the loaves of proposition, and punishment for blasphemy. The Lord tells Moses to command Israel to bring the finest and clearest olive oil so the lamps can be supplied continually. The lamps are outside the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the covenant. Aaron must set them before the Lord from evening until morning as a continuing service and rite through their generations. They must be set on the most pure candlestick before the Lord continually.

Moses is to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, with two tenths in each loaf. He must set them six and six, one group opposite the other, on the most clean table before the Lord. The clearest frankincense must be placed on them so the bread is a memorial of the Lord’s offering. The loaves must be changed before the Lord every sabbath, received from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. They belong to Aaron and his sons to eat in the holy place because they are most holy among the Lord’s sacrifices, by a perpetual right.

The son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian father goes out among the children of Israel and has a quarrel of words in the camp with an Israelite man. He blasphemes the name and curses it, and is brought to Moses. His mother is Salumith, daughter of Dabri, of the tribe of Dan. They put him in prison until they can know what the Lord will command.

The Lord tells Moses to bring the blasphemer outside the camp. Those who heard him must put their hands on his head, and all the people must stone him. Moses must tell Israel that a man who curses his God will bear his sin. Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must die; the whole multitude must stone him, whether he is a native or a stranger. The text repeats that whoever blasphemes the Lord’s name must die.

A person who strikes and kills a man must die. A person who kills a beast must make it good by giving beast for beast. If someone gives a blemish to a neighbour, what he did must be done to him: breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. He must suffer the same blemish he gave. The next verse separately states that a person who strikes a beast must give another, and a person who strikes a man must be punished.

There must be equal judgment whether the offender is a stranger or a native, because the Lord is their God. Moses speaks to the children of Israel. They bring the man who blasphemed outside the camp and stone him. The children of Israel do as the Lord commanded Moses.

The story inside

The account keeps the wait for God’s command separate from the sentence and its execution. After the quarrel of words and the blasphemy, the man is brought to Moses and put in prison. The stated reason for the wait is to learn what the Lord will command. Only then does the Lord give the instructions about taking him outside the camp, placing the hearers’ hands on his head, and stoning him. Moses speaks to Israel, and the people carry out the command. The chapter records that sequence without giving a reason for the hand-laying or saying how long the imprisonment lasted.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The lamp and bread service has continuing requirements. Oil is supplied continually, Aaron sets the lamps from evening until morning, and the loaves change each sabbath; the chapter states the daily and weekly actions separately.
2
The punishment follows the command given after the imprisonment. The source records the wait, the Lord’s instructions and the action carried out, so each stage can be kept in its stated order.
3
Equal judgment includes native and stranger. The blasphemy rule names both, and the closing command repeats equality for offenders; the man’s Egyptian father does not make the stated rule a separate one.

Test your recall

Why is the man put in prison before the Lord gives the instructions for his punishment?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 13327–13342
Leviticus Chapter 24 The oil for the lamps. The loaves of proposition. The punishment of blasphemy. 24:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 24:2. Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee the finest and clearest oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually, 24:3. Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the covenant. And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before the Lord, by a perpetual service and rite in your generations. 24:4. They shall be set upon the most pure candlestick before the Lord continually.
Lines 13344–13358
24:5. Thou shalt take also fine flour, and shalt bake twelve loaves thereof, two tenths shall be in every loaf. 24:6. And thou shalt set them six and six, one against another, upon the most clean table before the Lord. 24:7. And thou shalt put upon them the clearest frankincense, that the bread may be for a memorial of the oblation of the Lord. 24:8. Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord: being received of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 24:9. And they shall be Aaron’s and his sons’, that they may eat them in the holy place: because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord by a perpetual right.
Lines 13360–13369
24:10. And behold there went out the son of a woman of Israel, whom she had of an Egyptian, among the children of Israel: and fell at words in the camp with a man of Israel. 24:11. And when he had blasphemed the name, and had cursed it, he was brought to Moses. (Now his mother was called Salumith, the daughter of Dabri, of the tribe of Dan.) 24:12. And they put him into prison, till they might know what the Lord would command.
Lines 13371–13382
24:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses, 24:14. Saying: Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp: and let them that heard him, put their hands upon his head: and let all the people stone him. 24:15. And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel: The man that curseth his God, shall bear his sin: 24:16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die. All the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a stranger. He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.
Lines 13384–13397
24:17. He that striketh and killeth a man: dying let him die. 24:18. He that killeth a beast, shall make it good that is to say, shall give beast for beast. 24:19. He that giveth a blemish to any of his neighbours: as he hath done, so shall it be done to him: 24:20. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, shall he restore. What blemish he gave, the like shall he be compelled to suffer. 24:21. He that striketh a beast, shall render another. He that striketh a man shall be punished.
Lines 13399–13406
24:22. Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger, or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God. 24:23. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel. And they brought forth him that had blasphemed, without the camp: and they stoned him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.