Bilangan 11:16

The Response of God

11:16 ¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ²  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Bilangan 19:12

19:12 He must purify himself ³  with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.

Bilangan 27:14

27:14 For ⁴  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ⁵  rebelled against my command ⁶  to show me as holy ⁷  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

Bilangan 32:17

32:17 but we will maintain ourselves in armed readiness ⁸  and go before the Israelites until whenever we have brought them to their place. Our descendants will be living in fortified towns as a protection against ⁹  the inhabitants of the land.

[11:16]  ¹ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ² tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[19:12]  ³ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[27:14]  ⁴ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ⁵ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ⁷ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.

[32:17]  ⁸ tn The MT has חֻשִׁים (khushim); the verbal root is חוּשׁ (khush, “to make haste” or “hurry”). But in light of the Greek and Latin Vulgate the Hebrew should probably be emended to חֲמֻשִׁים (hamushim), a qal passive participle meaning “in battle array.” See further BDB 301 s.v. I חוּשׁ, BDB 332 s.v. חֲמֻשִׁים; HALOT 300 s.v. I חושׁ, חישׁ; HALOT 331 s.v. I חמשׁ.

[32:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “from before.”