“They kept the man in custody until the Lord’s will in the matter should become clear to them.” (Leviticus 24:12, NLT).
During their wilderness wandering, the Israelites took a man into custody who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father. He had been in a fight with an Israelite man and during the fight, the man with the Egyptian father blasphemed God.
When this happened, the Israelites took him into custody and brought him to Moses for judgment. While Moses was waiting to hear from the Lord about the matter, they held him in custody without harming him, not taking matters into their own hands.
Steve's Bible Meditations 