Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionAnd he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
F.O.G.Secondary
The F.O.GHe stood between the dead and the living—and the plague was stopped.
F.O.G.M.
F.O.G MessageHe stood in the gap between the dead and the living—and the plague was halted.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
Footnotes
This single verse is one of the most theologically charged in the entire Torah. Aaron, the high priest, physically positions himself on the boundary of death—*bein ha-meitim u-vein ha-chayyim*—and through atoning incense, halts divine judgment. The image is priestly mediation at its most visceral: a human body standing where wrath ends and life begins. FOG Message renders 'stood in the gap'—an allusion to Ezek. 22:30, where YHWH seeks someone to 'stand in the gap' before Him on behalf of the land. Typologically, Aaron's act anticipates the high priestly intercession of Yeshua/Jesus, who stands between the dead and the living not with incense but with His own life (Heb. 7:25; 9:24). The verse's brevity magnifies its power.
