Numbers 15:27-31

Numbers 15 distinguishes between unintentional sin (vv.27-29) and intentional, "high-handed" sin (vv.30-31). Unintentional sin can be atoned through sacrifice; high-handed sin results in being "cut off" because the sinner has "despised the word of the LORD." Eve's sin was unintentional — she was deceived (1 Tim 2:14), acting in ignorance. Adam's sin was high-handed — he was not deceived, he knew the truth, and he deliberately transgressed. This distinction explains why sin entered through Adam, not Eve (Rom 5:12): his was the more serious, deliberate violation. Paul himself parallels this pattern: he persecuted the church "ignorantly in unbelief" (1 Tim 1:13) — an unintentional sin that received mercy. The mercy-prototype pattern (1 Tim 1:16) applies equally to the deceived woman of 1 Tim 2:14.