Bilangan 9:20

9:20 When ¹  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ²  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ³  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.

Bilangan 14:30

14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where ⁴  I swore ⁵  to settle ⁶  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Bilangan 18:1

Responsibilities of the Priests

18:1 ⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ⁸  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ⁹  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Bilangan 18:5

18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be ¹⁰  no more wrath on the Israelites.

[9:20]  ¹ tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (vÿyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (’asher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”

[9:20]  ² tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.

[9:20]  ³ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[14:30]  ⁴ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

[14:30]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

[14:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

[18:1]  ⁷ sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).

[18:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “your father’s house.”

[18:1]  ⁹ sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.

[18:5]  ¹⁰ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.