Reference

Numbers 16:46

And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.
44

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

45

Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

46

And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.

47

And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

48

And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

Why This Verse Was Tagged

Punishment Language
Multi-Signal Classification
90% relevance

This verse was identified by multiple independent signals: structural patterns, prophetic context, and vocabulary — then validated by a probability model (Snorkel).

Atonement Process
Keyword Match
85% relevance

This verse contains specific terms directly associated with this theme.

Counter-Arguments

The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.

Fire Imagery

The verse mentions "fire" as an element used in a ritual for atonement, not as a direct image of judgment or punishment itself. The "wrath" and "plague" are the judgment, while the fire is a tool in the response to it.

Punishment Language

The verse describes a situation where a plague has begun and an atonement is needed, but it does not explicitly state that the plague is a punishment from God, only that "wrath has gone out from the Lord."

Atonement Process

While the verse describes an action to avert divine wrath, it does not explicitly detail the mechanics of forgiveness, cleansing, substitution, or reconciliation, which are core components of the theme definition.