Numbers 16:22

New Century Version

But Moses and Aaron bowed facedown and cried out, "God, you are the God over the spirits of all people. Please don't be angry with this whole group. Only one man has really sinned."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
They fell on their faces, and said, God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?

King James Version
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Lexham English Bible
And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?"

New English Translation
Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?"

Amplified Bible
But they fell on their faces [before the LORD], and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

New American Standard Bible
But they fell on their faces and said, "God, the God of the spirits of humanity, when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they fell vpon their faces and saide, O God the God of the spirits, of all fleshe, hath not one man onely sinned, and wilt thou bee wroth with all the Congregation?

Legacy Standard Bible
But they fell on their faces and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

Contemporary English Version
But the two men bowed down and prayed, "Our God, you gave these people life. Why would you punish everyone here when only one man has sinned?"

Complete Jewish Bible
They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?"

Darby Translation
And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh! shall *one* man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with the whole assembly?

Easy-to-Read Version
But Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground and cried out, "God, you know what people are thinking. Please don't be angry with all these people. Only one man really sinned."

English Standard Version
And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"

George Lamsa Translation
And they fell upon their faces and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and shall the wrath come upon all the congregation?

Good News Translation
But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?"

Christian Standard Bible®
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God who gives breath to all, when one man sins, will you vent your wrath on the whole community?”

Literal Translation
And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, God of the spirits of all flesh; shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And they fell vpon their faces, & sayde: O God, thou God of the spretes of all flesh, yf one man haue synned, wilt thou therfore be wroth ouer the whole congregacion?

American Standard Version
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Bible in Basic English
Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they fell vpon their faces, and sayde: O God, the God of spirites of all fleshe, hath not one man sinned? Wilt thou be wroth with all the multitude?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they fell upon their faces, and said: 'O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?'

King James Version (1611)
And they fell vpon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shal one man sinne, and wilt thou be wroth with all the Congregation?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of spirits and of all flesh, if one man has sinned, shall the wrath of the Lord be upon the whole congregation?

English Revised Version
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Berean Standard Bible
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You vent Your wrath on the whole congregation?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whiche felden lowe on the face, and seiden, Strongeste God of the spiritis of al fleisch, whethir `thin yre schal be fers ayens alle men, for o man synneth?

Young's Literal Translation
and they fall on their faces, and say, `God, God of the spirits of all flesh -- the one man sinneth, and against all the company Thou art wroth!'

Update Bible Version
And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?

Webster's Bible Translation
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

World English Bible
They fell on their faces, and said, God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?

New King James Version
Then they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?"

New Living Translation
But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God," they pleaded, "you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?"

New Life Bible
But they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with all the people?"

New Revised Standard
They fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they fell upon their faces and said, O GOD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, - shall, one man, sin, and against all the assembly, wilt thou he wroth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They fell flat on their face, and said: O most mighty, the God of the spirits of all flesh, for one man’s sin shall thy wrath rage against all?

Revised Standard Version
And they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?"

THE MESSAGE
They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But they fell on their faces and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

Contextual Overview

¹² Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come! ¹³ You have brought us out of a fertile land to this desert to kill us, and now you want to order us around. ¹⁴ You haven't brought us into a fertile land; you haven't given us any land with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!" ¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord , "Don't accept their gifts. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them." ¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them. ¹⁷ Each of you must take your pan and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty pans before the Lord . You and Aaron must also present your pans." ¹⁸ So each man got his pan and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹⁹ Korah gathered all his followers who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to everyone. ²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ "Move away from these men so I can destroy them quickly."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they fell: Numbers 16:4, Numbers 16:45, Numbers 14:5

the God: Numbers 27:16, Job 12:10, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Isaiah 57:16, Zechariah 12:1, Hebrews 12:9

one man sin: Genesis 18:23-25, Genesis 18:32, Joshua 7:1-26, 2 Samuel 24:1, 2 Samuel 24:17, Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 13:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 2:7 - a living Genesis 17:3 - General Genesis 17:17 - fell Exodus 32:10 - let me alone Exodus 32:11 - why doth Leviticus 9:24 - they shouted Leviticus 10:6 - lest wrath Numbers 20:6 - they fell Joshua 5:14 - fell on his Joshua 7:6 - fell Joshua 22:18 - he will be 1 Samuel 8:6 - prayed 1 Chronicles 21:16 - fell upon 2 Chronicles 7:3 - they bowed Job 42:10 - when Psalms 99:6 - they called Jeremiah 32:27 - God Jeremiah 38:16 - that made Ezekiel 9:8 - that I Ezekiel 13:5 - have not Ezekiel 18:4 - all souls Matthew 26:39 - and fell Luke 11:40 - did Luke 24:39 - for Acts 17:25 - seeing Ephesians 4:6 - God

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they fell upon their faces,.... That is, Moses and Aaron, in order to deprecate the wrath of God, and beseech him to avert the threatened judgment; and so the Targum of Jonathan has it,

"they bowed themselves in prayer upon their faces;''

and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh; the Maker of all men, as of their bodies, which are flesh, so of their souls or spirits, which are immaterial and immortal; hence he is called "the Father of spirits", Hebrews 12:9, who, as the Targum, puts the spirit in the bodies of men; or, as others, who knows the spirits of men; their thoughts, as Jarchi, the inward frames and dispositions of their minds; who knows who have sinned, and who not; and whether their sins proceed from weakness, and being misled, or whether from a malevolent disposition, presumption, and self-will:

shall one man sin: meaning Korah, who was the ringleader:

and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? who, through ignorance and weakness, and by artifice and imposition, are drawn in to join with him; the plea is much the same with that of Abraham,

Genesis 18:25.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 16:22. O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh — אל אלהי הרוחת לכל בשר El Elohey haruchoth lechol basar. This address sufficiently proves that these holy men believed that man is a being compounded of flesh and spirit, and that these principles are perfectly distinct. Either the materiality of the human soul is a human fable, or, if it be a true doctrine, these men did not pray under the influence of the Divine Spirit. In Numbers 27:16 there is a similar form of expression: Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh. And in Job 12:10: In whose hand is the soul (נפש nephesh) of all living; and the spirit (רוח ruach) of all flesh of man. Are not these decisive proofs that the Old Testament teaches that there is an immortal spirit in man? "But does not רוח ruach signify wind or breath?" Sometimes it does, but certainly not here; for how absurd would it be to say, O God, the God of the breaths of all flesh!