John Gill Bible Commentary

And they put him in ward,.... In a certain prison in the camp; perhaps the same in which the blasphemer was put, Lev 24:12; and for much the same reason: because it was not declared what should be done to him: that is, what kind of death he should die, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; it had been before declared that the sabbath breaker should die, but not what death he should die, Exo 31:15; though some think it was a matter of doubt whether gathering of sticks was a breach of the sabbath, or at least such a breach of it as required death; and the answer of the Lord seems to confirm this sense, as follows.