Numbers 15 in the early church
33 passages quote, allude to, or echo Numbers 15, grouped by verse; passages on the same verse are in date order. Verse text from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References use the Protestant English Bible's numbering, with a writer's own numbering in brackets where it differs.
Verses: 18 · 30 · 32 · 35 · 36 · 38 · 39
Numbers 15:18
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land to which I am bringing you
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:18–21 | On Cain and Abel 2.6 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 375-378 |
Numbers 15:30
But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:30 | Miscellanies 2.19.97 · Clement of Alexandria | quotation, high confidence | ca. 198–203 |
Numbers 15:32
While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
Numbers 15:35
And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:35 | Homilies on Leviticus 16.2 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) |
| Num 15:35 | Homilies on Jeremiah 19.15 · Origen | quotation, medium confidence | ca. 240 |
| Num 15:35–36 | Sermon 136.4 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 391-430 |
| Num 15:35 | Against Faustus the Manichaean 32.5 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 398–400 |
Numbers 15:36
So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:36 | Against Marcion 2.21 · Tertullian | allusion, high confidence | 207/208 (third edition, completed later) |
| Num 15:36 | Eclogae on Exodus-Judges, column 817 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Num 15:36 | On the Governance of God 6.55 · Salvian of Marseilles | allusion, high confidence | ca. 439-451 |
Numbers 15:38
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout the generations to come they are to make for themselves tassels for the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:38 | Dialogue with Trypho 46.5 · Justin Martyr | allusion, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Num 15:38 | Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 9 · Origen | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) |
| Num 15:38 | Preparation for the Gospel 8.9.27 · Eusebius of Caesarea | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 313–324 |
| Num 15:38 | Letter 148.13 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Num 15:38 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 15.1.7 · Epiphanius of Salamis | allusion, medium confidence | 374-377 |
| Num 15:38 | Homilies on Matthew 72.2 · John Chrysostom | allusion, high confidence | ca. 390 |
Numbers 15:39
These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 15:39 | Canonical Epistle, canon 1 · Gregory Thaumaturgus | quotation, medium confidence | ca. 254–264 |
| Num 15:39 | Letter 148.13 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Num 15:39 | Homilies on Matthew 72.2 · John Chrysostom | allusion, high confidence | ca. 390 |