Bilangan 3:4

3:4 Nadab and Abihu died ¹  before the Lord ²  when they offered ³  strange ⁴  fire ⁵  before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. ⁶  So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests ⁷  in the presence of ⁸  Aaron their father.

Bilangan 11:8

11:8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil. ⁹ 

Bilangan 11:18

11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves ¹⁰  for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing ¹¹  of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, ¹²  for life ¹³  was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

Bilangan 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ¹⁴  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ¹⁵  because you have despised ¹⁶  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ¹⁷  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Bilangan 13:3

13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command ¹⁸  of the Lord. All of them were leaders ¹⁹  of the Israelites.

Bilangan 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ²⁰  Their protection ²¹  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

Bilangan 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ²²  me now these ten times, ²³  and have not obeyed me, ²⁴ 

Bilangan 18:23-24

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ²⁵  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ²⁶  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ²⁷  have no inheritance. ²⁸  18:24 But I have given ²⁹  to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered ³⁰  to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”

Bilangan 20:5

20:5 Why ³¹  have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to ³²  this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Bilangan 20:12

The Lord’s Judgment

20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ³³  to show me as holy ³⁴  before ³⁵  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ³⁶ 

Bilangan 20:19

20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ³⁷  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

Bilangan 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ³⁸  detest this worthless ³⁹  food.”

Bilangan 21:22

21:22 “Let us ⁴⁰  pass through your land; ⁴¹  we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

Bilangan 21:34

21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

Bilangan 22:6

22:6 So ⁴²  now, please come and curse this nation ⁴³  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ⁴⁴  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ⁴⁵  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Bilangan 27:11

27:11 and if his father has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his relative nearest to him from his family, and he will possess it. This will be for the Israelites a legal requirement, ⁴⁶  as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Bilangan 35:8

35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

Bilangan 36:1

Women and Land Inheritance

36:1 Then the heads of the family groups ⁴⁷  of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses ⁴⁸  and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. ⁴⁹ 

[3:4]  ¹ tn The verb form is the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, literally “and Nadab died.” Some commentators wish to make the verb a past perfect, rendering it “and Nadab had died,” but this is not necessary. In tracing through the line from Aaron it simply reports that the first two sons died. The reference is to the event recorded in Lev 10 where the sons brought “strange” or foreign” fire to the sanctuary.

[3:4]  ² tc This initial clause is omitted in one Hebrew ms, Smr, and the Vulgate.

[3:4]  ³ tn The form בְּהַקְרִבָם (bÿhaqrivam) is the Hiphil infinitive construct functioning as a temporal clause: “when they brought near,” meaning, “when they offered.” The verb קָרַב (qarav) is familiar to students of the NT because of “corban” in Mark 7:11.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Or “prohibited.” See HALOT 279 s.v. זָר 3.

[3:4]  ⁵ tn The expression אֵשׁ זָרָה (’esh zarah, “strange fire”) seems imprecise and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC 4], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from some place other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” [אִישׁ זָר, ’ish zar] in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” [קְטֹרֶת זָרָה, qÿtoret zarah] on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

[3:4]  sn This event is narrated in Lev 10:1-7.

[3:4]  ⁶ sn The two young priests had been cut down before they had children; the ranks of the family of Aaron were thereby cut in half in one judgment from God. The significance of the act of judgment was to show that the priests had to sanctify the Lord before the people – they were to be examples that the sanctuary and its contents were distinct.

[3:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Piel preterite from the root כָּהַן (kahan): “to function as a priest” or “to minister.”

[3:4]  ⁸ tn The expression “in the presence of” can also mean “during the lifetime of” (see Gen 11:28; see also BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֶה II.7.a; cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “And its taste was like the taste of fresh olive oil.”

[11:18]  ¹⁰ tn The Hitpael is used to stress that they are to prepare for a holy appearance. The day was going to be special and so required their being set apart for it. But it is a holy day in the sense of the judgment that was to follow.

[11:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the ears.”

[11:18]  ¹² tn Possibly this could be given an optative translation, to reflect the earlier one: “O that someone would give….” But the verb is not the same; here it is the Hiphil of the verb “to eat” – “who will make us eat” (i.e., provide meat for us to eat).

[11:18]  ¹³ tn The word “life” is not in the text. The expression is simply “it was for us,” or “we had good,” meaning “we had it good,” or “life was good.”

[11:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

[11:20]  ¹⁵ tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

[11:20]  ¹⁶ sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

[11:20]  ¹⁷ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”

[13:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “mouth.”

[13:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “heads.”

[14:9]  ²⁰ sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

[14:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.

[14:22]  ²² tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ²³ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[18:23]  ²⁵ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

[18:23]  ²⁶ sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

[18:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[18:23]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.

[18:24]  ²⁹ tn The classification of the perfect tense here too could be the perfect of resolve, since this law is declaring what will be their portion – “I have decided to give.”

[18:24]  ³⁰ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject (although the “Israelites” is certainly intended), and so it can be rendered as a passive.

[20:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “and why.”

[20:5]  ³² tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.

[20:12]  ³³ tn Or “to sanctify me.”

[20:12]  sn The verb is the main word for “believe, trust.” It is the verb that describes the faith in the Word of the Lord that leads to an appropriate action. Here God says that Moses did not believe him, meaning that what he did showed more of Moses than of what God said. Moses had taken a hostile stance toward the people, and then hit the rock twice. This showed that Moses was not satisfied with what God said, but made it more forceful and terrifying, thus giving the wrong picture of God to the people. By doing this the full power and might of the Lord was not displayed to the people. It was a momentary lack of faith, but it had to be dealt with.

[20:12]  ³⁴ 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.

[20:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:12]  ³⁶ tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience – disobedience.

[20:19]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

[21:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ³⁹ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[21:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”

[21:22]  ⁴¹ tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”

[22:6]  ⁴² tn The two lines before this verse begin with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), and so they lay the foundation for these imperatives. In view of those circumstances, this is what should happen.

[22:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 10, 17, 41.

[22:6]  ⁴⁴ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense אוּכַל (’ukhal, “I will be able”) followed by the imperfect tense נַכֶּה (nakkeh, “we will smite/attack/defeat”). The second verb is clearly the purpose or the result of the first, even though there is no conjunction or particle.

[22:6]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of בָּרַךְ (barakh), with the nuance of possibility: “whomever you may bless.” The Pual participle מְבֹרָךְ (mÿvorakh) serves as the predicate.

[27:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The expression is חֻקַּת מִשְׁפָּט (khuqqat mishpat, “a statute of judgment”), which means it is a fixed enactment that determines justice. It is one which is established by God.

[36:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The expression is “the heads of the fathers by the family of the Gileadites.”

[36:1]  ⁴⁸ tn The Greek and the Syriac add “and before Eleazar the priest.”

[36:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “heads of the fathers.”