Bilangan 1:1-54
Konteks1:1 1 Now the Lord 2 spoke 3 to Moses in the tent of meeting 4 in the wilderness 5 of Sinai 6 on the first day of the second month of the second year after 7 the Israelites 8 departed from the land of Egypt. 9 He said: 10 1:2 “Take a census 11 of the entire 12 Israelite community 13 by their clans and families, 14 counting the name of every individual male. 15 1:3 You and Aaron are to number 16 all in Israel who can serve in the army, 17 those who are 18 twenty years old or older, 19 by their divisions. 20 1:4 And to help you 21 there is to be a man from each 22 tribe, each man 23 the head 24 of his family. 25 1:5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help 26 you:
from 27 Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;
1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; 28
1:7 from Judah, Nahshon 29 son of Amminadab;
1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;
1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;
1:10 from the sons of Joseph:
from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;
from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;
1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
1:13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;
1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; 30
1:15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
1:16 These were the ones chosen 31 from the community, leaders 32 of their ancestral tribes. 33 They were the heads of the thousands 34 of Israel.
1:17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned specifically by name, 1:18 and they assembled 35 the entire community together on the first day of the second month. 36 Then the people recorded their ancestry 37 by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed 38 by name individually, 1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
1:20 And they were as follows:
The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 1:21 Those of them who were numbered 39 from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. 40
1:22 From the descendants of Simeon: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them 41 twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 1:23 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
1:24 42 From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:25 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
1:26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:27 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:29 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:31 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
1:32 From the sons of Joseph:
From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:33 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. 1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:35 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:37 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
1:38 From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:39 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
1:40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:41 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
1:42 From 43 the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:43 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
1:44 These were the men whom Moses and Aaron numbered 44 along with the twelve leaders of Israel, each of whom 45 was from his own family. 1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered 46 according to their families. 1:46 And all those numbered totaled 603,550.
1:47 But 47 the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, 48 were not numbered 49 among them. 1:48 The Lord had said to Moses, 50 1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi 51 you must not number 52 or count 53 with 54 the other Israelites. 1:50 But appoint 55 the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, 56 over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry 57 the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they 58 must attend to it and camp around it. 59 1:51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, 60 the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, 61 the Levites must set it up. 62 Any unauthorized person 63 who approaches it must be killed.
1:52 “The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard. 1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger 64 will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care 65 of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
1:54 The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses 66 – that is what they did.
Hakim-hakim 6:1-40
Konteks6:1 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, 67 so the Lord turned them over to 68 Midian for seven years. 6:2 The Midianites 69 overwhelmed Israel. 70 Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters 71 for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds. 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, 72 the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 73 6:4 They invaded the land 74 and devoured 75 its crops 76 all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, 77 and they took away 78 the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. 6:5 When they invaded 79 with their cattle and tents, they were as thick 80 as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. 81 They came to devour 82 the land. 6:6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
6:7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian, 6:8 he 83 sent a prophet 84 to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt 85 and took you out of that place of slavery. 86 6:9 I rescued you from Egypt’s power 87 and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you. 6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship 88 the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’” 89
6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 90 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 91 was threshing 92 wheat in a winepress 93 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 94 6:12 The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” 6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, 95 but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster 96 overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, 97 ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 6:14 Then the Lord himself 98 turned to him and said, “You have the strength. 99 Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! 100 Have I not sent you?” 6:15 Gideon 101 said to him, “But Lord, 102 how 103 can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” 104 6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but 105 I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” 106 6:17 Gideon 107 said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, 108 then give me 109 a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back 110 with a gift 111 and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, 112 along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food 113 to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, 114 and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. 115 6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. 116 Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. 117
6:22 When Gideon realized 118 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 119 said, “Oh no! 120 Master, Lord! 121 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! 122 Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!” 6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” 123 To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. 124 Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole. 6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. 125 Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.” 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants 126 and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family 127 and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. 128
6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw 129 the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar. 6:29 They said to one another, 130 “Who did this?” 131 They investigated the matter thoroughly 132 and concluded 133 that Gideon son of Joash had done it. 6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! 134 He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.” 6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, 135 “Must you fight Baal’s battles? 136 Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause 137 will die by morning! 138 If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! 139 After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” 140 6:32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, 141 because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”
6:33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east 142 assembled. They crossed the Jordan River 143 and camped in the Jezreel Valley. 6:34 The Lord’s spirit took control of 144 Gideon. He blew a trumpet, 145 summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 146 6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. 147 He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, 148 as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 149 6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it 150 is dry, then I will be sure 151 that you will use me to deliver Israel, 152 as you promised.” 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. 153 When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. 154 6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. 155 Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” 156 6:40 That night God did as he asked. 157 Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
[1:1] 1 sn The book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Pentateuch, traditionally called the Law of Moses. It provides a record of the experience of the Israelites during the wilderness wanderings, and records the laws for the camp as they traveled from place to place. The book focuses on the difficulties of the Israelites due to their lack of faith, rebellion, and apostasy. It also records God’s protection of his people from opposition from without. The book makes a fitting contribution to the collection of holy writings as it shows the spiritual and physical progression of the company of the redeemed toward the promised land. The book has to be studied in conjunction with the other books of the Pentateuch. It builds on the promises made to Abraham in Genesis and the redemption from bondage in Exodus; it completes the cultic instructions for Israel that were laid down in Leviticus, and it concerns the worship in and the movement of the tabernacle that was built in Exodus. But the information here, both legal and historical, was not the major concern in those books. The book gets its title in English (following the Greek tradition) from the two censuses taken of the people, one at the beginning of the wanderings and the other at the end (although the Hebrew title is taken from the beginning of the book, בַּמִּדְבַּר [bammidbar], “in the wilderness”). In these lists particular emphasis is given to the leaders of the clans, a theme that will continue in the book as the focus is on how the leaders function in all the trials and temptations of the journey. The material in this book is essentially a theological interpretation of historical events, and as such it stands as an integral part of the revelation of God. In the study of the book of Numbers, when these issues of the nature of the text are significant to the interpretation and acceptance of the text, the notes will comment on them briefly. The indication at the outset of the book is that Moses had a good number of people who were able to help him compile the statistics and the facts of the wandering community. In Num 11:16-18 there is a group of leaders known as שֹׁטְּרִים(shottÿrim). This term was used in Exod 5:16-19 to describe the officers or foremen of the Israelites. They were appointed supervisors of the clans by Moses, and by the time of Joshua (Josh 1:10) they were a literary guild. The Hebrew word, cognate with Akkadian sataru, means “to write.” These people were to Israel what the scribes and chroniclers were to the pagan nations. They assisted Moses and the priests in their keeping of records. So no matter what they were called from time to time, there was a group of literate people who could keep the records and preserve the information from the very beginning. Their work matches the activities of scribes in the ancient world who used all the literary devices to preserve the material. There is no reason to doubt that the events recorded were attested to and preserved by such eyewitnesses. But their work would have been essentially to serve the leader, Moses. The book essentially follows the order of the events chronologically, more or less. Where it departs from that order it does so for literary or theological reasons. At the center of the theological concern is the tabernacle, its significance to the faith, and therefore the care in using it and in moving it. Its importance explains the presence and the arrangement of the ritual laws. With the records and statistics provided for him, Moses could then introduce into the record the great events in the wilderness experience of Israel, which were to become warnings and encouragements for all time. Most of this material comes from the two years at the beginning of the experience and the two years at the end. But this itself may be a literary device (merism) to show the nature of the wanderings throughout. The Hebrew text of the book of Numbers has been preserved fairly well. It has not been preserved as well as Leviticus, which was most important to the ministry of the priests and Levites. But in comparison with some of the prophetic writings, Numbers represents a well-preserved text. The problems will be discussed in the relevant passages. So Numbers is essentially a part of the unfolding revelation of the Torah, the Law. It shows God’s faithfulness to his covenant plan and to his covenant people, but it also shows the problems incurred by the people’s lack of faith and obedience. The book focuses frequently on the nature of the holy
[1:1] 2 sn The holy name is “Yahweh.” This is the ancient name for the God of the covenant community. The name was explained or interpreted by Moses for the Israelites by the etymological connection to the verb “to be.” God said that its significance was “
[1:1] 3 tn The book begins with the vav (ו) consecutive and the preterite, “and he spoke.” This does not indicate that the book is a continuation of the previous material, for in that case certain other books in the canon would have to be linked with the writings of other people just because they followed them. This form is simply the narrative verb; the conjunction need not be translated. The verb should not be limited to a literary formula, but does indicate the divine source of the command for Moses. God was speaking to Moses throughout the wilderness wanderings from the tent, and so the ideas are from him, and not from the “will of man.”
[1:1] 4 sn This was one of several names by which the tabernacle was known. This was the tent with its furnishings that the Israelites built according to the book of Exodus. While that tabernacle was being built, the
[1:1] 5 sn The English word “wilderness” is workable for the Hebrew term, because it describes land that is wild. The term “desert” works if one thinks of land deserted by people. But to many modern readers “desert” suggests the idea of an arid land without growth. The word must not be pressed to mean only sand dunes; it describes land that has rocks, canyons, oases, shrubs and trees occasionally, some animal life, and of course sand.
[1:1] 6 sn The exact location of Mount Sinai has been debated for some time. The traditional view from very early times is that it is located in the south, Jebel Musa, south of the monastery of St. Catherine. The other plausible suggestion is Ras es-Safsafeh, which is on the other end of the valley near the monastery. The mountain is also called Horeb in the Bible. The wilderness of Sinai would refer to the large plain that is at the base of the mountain. See further G. E. Wright, IDB 4:376-78; and G. I. Davies, The Way of the Wilderness.
[1:1] 7 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct of יָצַא (yatsa’, “to go out”), with a suffix serving as the subjective genitive, and the lamed preposition providing the temporal indication: “according to the going out of them.” The Israelites are clearly intended as the subject.
[1:1] 8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:1] 9 sn This means that the Israelites had spent nine months at Sinai, because they had arrived there in the third month following the exodus. This account does not follow a strict chronology (see Num 9:1). The difference of one month in the narrative is not a critical difference, but a literary general reference. Here begins a new section of major importance to the future of the nation – the numbering for war and for settlement.
[1:1] 10 tn Heb “saying.” A new sentence was started here in the English translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:2] 11 tn The construction is literally “lift up the head[s],” (שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ, sÿ’u ’et-ro’sh). This idiom for taking a census occurs elsewhere (Exod 30:12; Lev 5:24; Num 1:24; etc.). The idea is simply that of counting heads to arrive at the base for the standing army. This is a different event than the one recorded in Exod 30:11-16, which was taken for a different purpose altogether. The verb is plural, indicating that Moses had help in taking the census.
[1:2] 12 tc Smr lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.
[1:2] 13 tn Heb “the congregation of Israel.”
[1:2] 14 tn The tribe (מַטֶּה, matteh or שֵׁבֶט, shevet) is the main category. The family groups or clans (מִשְׁפְּחֹת, mishpÿkhot) and the households or families (בֵּית אֲבֹת, bet ’avot) were sub-divisions of the tribe.
[1:2] 15 tn This clause simply has “in/with the number of the names of every male with respect to their skulls [individually].” Counting heads, or every skull, simply meant that each person was to be numbered in the census. Except for the Levites, no male was exempt from the count.
[1:3] 16 tn The verb (פָּקַד, paqad) means “to visit, appoint, muster, number.” The word is a common one in scripture. It has as its basic meaning the idea of “determining the destiny” of someone, by appointing, mustering, or visiting. When God “visits,” it is a divine intervention for either blessing or cursing. Here it is the taking of a census for war (see G. André, Determining the Destiny [ConBOT], 16).
[1:3] 17 tn The construction uses the participle “going out” followed by the noun “army.” It describes everyone “going out in a military group,” meaning serving in the army. It was the duty of every able-bodied Israelite to serve in this “peoples” army. There were probably exemptions for the infirm or the crippled, but every male over twenty was chosen. For a discussion of warfare, see P. C. Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, and P. D. Miller, “The Divine Council and the Prophetic Call to War,” VT 18 (1968): 100-107.
[1:3] 18 tn The text simply has “from twenty years old and higher.”
[1:3] 20 tn The noun (צָבָא, tsava’) means “army” or “military group.” But the word can also be used for nonmilitary divisions of labor (Num 4:3).
[1:4] 21 tn Heb “and with you.”
[1:4] 22 tn The construction uses the noun in a distributive sense: “a man, a man for a tribe,” meaning a man for each tribe.
[1:4] 23 tn The clause expresses a distributive function, “a man” means “each man.”
[1:4] 24 sn See J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word ראשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.
[1:4] 25 tn Heb “the house of his fathers.”
[1:5] 26 tn The verb is עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”). It literally then is, “who will stand with you.” They will help in the count, but they will also serve as leaders as the camp moves from place to place.
[1:5] 27 tn The preposition lamed (ל) prefixed to the name could be taken in the sense of “from,” but could also be “with regard to” (specification).
[1:6] 28 sn This name and the name Ammishaddai below have the theophoric element (שַׁדַּי, shadday, “the Almighty”). It would mean “the Almighty is my rock”; the later name means “the Almighty is my kinsman.” Other theophoric elements in the passage are “father,” “brother,” and “God.”
[1:7] 29 sn Nahshon was an ancestor of Boaz and David, and therefore of Christ (Luke 3:32-33).
[1:14] 30 tc There is a textual difficulty with this verb. The Greek form uses r and not d, giving the name Ra‘oul. There is even some variation in the Hebrew traditions, but BHS (following the Leningrad codex of
[1:16] 31 tc The form has a Kethib-Qere problem, but the sentence calls for the Qere, the passive participle in the construct – “the called of….” These men were God’s choice, and not Moses’, or their own choice. He announced who they would be, and then named them. So they were truly “called” (קָרָא, qara’). The other reading is probably due to a copyist’s error.
[1:16] 32 tn The word is נָשִׂיא (nasi’, “exalted one, prince, leader”). Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “princes.” These were men apparently revered or respected in their tribes, and so the clear choice to assist Moses with the leadership. See further, E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical na„sÃþá,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
[1:16] 33 tn Heb “exalted ones of the tribes of their fathers.” The earlier group of elders was chosen by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law. This group represents the few leaders of the tribes that were chosen by God, a more literate group apparently, who were the forerunners of the שֹׁטְּרִים (shottÿrim).
[1:16] 34 tc The Hebrew text has אַלְפֵי (’alfey, “thousands of”). There is some question over this reading in the MT, however. The community groups that have these leaders were larger tribes, but there is little certainty about the size of the divisions.
[1:18] 35 tn The verb is the Hiphil of the root קָהַל (qahal), meaning “to call, assemble”; the related noun is an “assembly.”
[1:18] 36 tc The LXX adds “of the second year.”
[1:18] 37 tn The verb is the Hitpael preterite form וַיִּתְיַלְדוּ (vayyityaldu). The cognate noun תּוֹלְדוֹת (tolÿdot) is the word that means “genealogies, family records, records of ancestry.” The root is יָלַד (yalad, “to bear, give birth to”). Here they were recording their family connections, and not, of course, producing children. The verbal stem seems to be both declarative and reflexive.
[1:18] 38 tn The verb is supplied. The Hebrew text simply has “in/with the number of names of those who are twenty years old and higher according to their skulls.”
[1:21] 39 tn Heb “those numbered of them.” The form is פְּקֻדֵיהֶם (pÿqudehem), the passive participle with the pronominal suffix. This indicates that the number came to 46,500, but it specifically refers to “those numbered.” This expression occurs frequently throughout the book of Numbers.
[1:21] 40 sn There has been much discussion about the numbers in the Israelite wilderness experience. The immediate difficulty for even the casual reader is the enormous number of the population. If indeed there were 603,550 men twenty years of age and older who could fight, the total population of the exodus community counting women and children would have been well over a million, or even two million as calculated by some. This is not a figure that the Bible ever gives, but given the sizes of families the estimate would not be far off. This is a staggering number to have cross the Sea, drink from the oases, or assemble in the plain by Sinai. It is not a question of whether or not God could provide for such a number; it is rather a problem of logistics for a population of that size in that period of time. The problem is not with the text itself, but with the interpretation of the word אֶלֶף (’elef), traditionally translated “thousand.” The word certainly can be taken as “thousand,” and most often is. But in view of the problem of the large number here, some scholars have chosen one of the other meanings attested in literature for this word, perhaps “troop,” or “family,” or “tent group,” even though a word for “family” has already been used (see A. H. McNeile, Numbers, 7; J. Garstang, Joshua-Judges, 120; J. Bright, History of Israel, 144). Another suggestion is to take the word as a “chief” or “captain” based on Ugaritic usage (see R. E. D. Clarke, “The Large Numbers of the Old Testament,” JTVI 87 [1955]: 82-92; and J. W. Wenham, “Large Numbers in the Old Testament,” TynBul 18 [1967]: 19-53). This interpretation would reduce the size of the Israelite army to about 18,000 men from a population of about 72,000 people. That is a radical change from the traditional reading and may be too arbitrary an estimate. A more unlikely calculation following the idea of a new meaning would attempt to divide the numbers and use the first part to refer to the units and the second the measurement (e.g., 65 thousand and four hundred would become 65 units of four hundred). Another approach has been to study the numbers rhetorically, analyzing the numerical values of letters and words. But this method, known as gematria, came in much later than the biblical period (see for it G. Fohrer, Introduction to the Old Testament, 184; and A. Noordtzij, Numbers [BSC], 24). On this system the numbers for “the sons of Israel” would be 603. But the number of the people in the MT is 603,550. Another rhetorical approach is that which says the text used exaggerations in the numbers on an epic scale to make the point of God’s blessing. R. B. Allen’s view that the numbers have been magnified by a factor of ten (“Numbers,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 2:688-91), which would mean the army was only 60,000 men, seems every bit as arbitrary as Wenham’s view to get down to 18,000. Moreover, such views cannot be harmonized with the instructions in the chapter for them to count every individual skull – that seems very clear. This is not the same kind of general expression one finds in “Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten thousands” (1 Sam 18:7). There one expects the bragging and the exaggerations. But in a text of numbering each male, to argue that the numbers have been inflated ten-fold to form the rhetoric of praise for the way God has blessed the nation demands a much more convincing argument than has typically been given. On the surface it seems satisfactory, but it raises a lot of questions. Everything in Exodus and Numbers attests to the fact that the Israelites were in a population explosion, that their numbers were greater than their Egyptian overlords. Pharaoh had attempted to counter their growth by killing males from the ranks. That only two midwives are named must be taken to mean that they were heads of the guilds, for two could not service a population – even of the smaller estimate given above. But even though the size had to have been great and seen as a threat, we are at a loss to know exactly how to determine it. There is clearly a problem with the word “thousand” here and in many places in the OT, as the literature will show, but the problem cannot really be solved without additional information. The suggestions proposed so far seem to be rather arbitrary attempts to reduce the number to a less-embarrassing total, one that would seem more workable in the light of contemporary populations and armies, as well as space and time for the people’s movement in the wilderness. An army of 10,000 or 20,000 men in those days would have been a large army; an army of 600,000 (albeit a people’s army, which may mean that only a portion of the males would actually fight at any time – as was true at Ai) is large even by today’s standards. But the count appears to have been literal, and the totals calculated accordingly, totals which match other passages in the text. If some formula is used to reduce the thousands in this army, then there is the problem of knowing what to do when a battle has only five thousand, or three thousand men. One can only conclude that on the basis of what we know the word should be left with the translation “thousand,” no matter what difficulties this might suggest to the reader. One should be cautious, though, in speaking of a population of two million, knowing that there are serious problems with the calculation of that number, if not with the word “thousand” itself. It is very doubtful that the population of the wilderness community was in the neighborhood of two million. Nevertheless, until a more convincing explanation of the word “thousand” or the calculation of the numbers is provided, one should retain the reading of the MT but note the difficulty with the large numbers.
[1:22] 41 tc Some witnesses have omitted “those that were numbered of them,” to preserve the literary pattern of the text. The omission is supported by the absence of the expression in the Greek as well as in some MT
[1:24] 42 tc The LXX has vv. 24-35 after v. 37.
[1:42] 43 tc The verse does not have the preposition, only “the descendants of Naphtali.”
[1:44] 44 tn The construction uses both the passive participle הַפְּקֻדִים (happÿqudim) and the verb פָּקַד (paqad), giving a literal translation of “these were the numbered ones, whom Moses and Aaron numbered.”
[1:44] 45 tn Heb “they were one man for the house of his fathers.”
[1:45] 46 tn Literally the text has, “and all the numbered of the Israelites were according to their families.” The verb in the sentence is actually without a complement (see v. 46).
[1:47] 47 tn The vav (ו) on this word indicates a disjunction with the previous sequence of reports. It may be taken as a contrastive clause, translated “but” or “however.”
[1:47] 48 tn The construction is unexpected, for Levites would be from the tribe of Levi. The note seems more likely to express that all these people were organized by tribal lineage, and so too the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers – individual families of Levites.
[1:47] 49 tc The form in the text is הָתְפָּקְדוּ (hotpaqÿdu); if this is correct, then it is an isolated instance of the reflexive of the Qal of פָּקַד (paqad). Some, however, explain the form as the Hitpael without the doubling of the middle letter and with a compensatory lengthening of the vowel before it (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 10).
[1:48] 50 tn Heb “had spoken to Moses, saying.” The infinitive construct of אָמַר (’amar), sometimes rendered “saying” in older English translations, does not need to be translated, but can be taken simply as the indicator of direct discourse. Most recent English translations, including the present one, leave the form untranslated for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[1:49] 51 sn From the giving of the Law on the priesthood comes the prerogative of the tribe of Levi. There were, however, members of other tribes who served as priests from time to time (see Judg 17:5).
[1:49] 52 tn The construction has literally, “only the tribe of Levi you shall not number.” The Greek text rendered the particle אַךְ (’akh) forcefully with “see to it that” or “take care that.” For the uses of this form, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 65, §388-89.
[1:49] 53 tn Heb “lift up their head.”
[1:49] 54 tn Heb “in the midst of the sons of Israel.”
[1:50] 55 tn The same verb translated “number” (פָּקַד, paqad) is now used to mean “appoint” (הַפְקֵד, hafqed), which focuses more on the purpose of the verbal action of numbering people. Here the idea is that the Levites were appointed to take care of the tabernacle. On the use of this verb with the Levites’ appointment, see M. Gertner, “The Masorah and the Levites,” VT 10 (1960): 252.
[1:50] 56 tn The Hebrew name used here is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan ha’edut). The tabernacle or dwelling place of the
[1:50] 57 tn The imperfect tense here is an obligatory imperfect telling that they are bound to do this since they are appointed for this specific task.
[1:50] 58 tn The addition of the pronoun before the verb is emphatic – they are the ones who are to attend to the tabernacle. The verb used is שָׁרַת (sharat) in the Piel, indicating that they are to serve, minister to, attend to all the details about this shrine.
[1:50] 59 tn Heb “the tabernacle.” The pronoun (“it”) was used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.
[1:51] 60 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the temporal preposition; the “tabernacle” is then the following genitive. Literally it is “and in the moving of the tabernacle,” meaning, “when the tabernacle is supposed to be moved,” i.e., when people are supposed to move it. The verb נָסָע (nasa’) means “pull up the tent pegs and move,” or more simply, “journey.”
[1:51] 61 tn Here we have the parallel construction using the infinitive construct in a temporal adverbial clause.
[1:51] 62 tn Heb “raise it up.”
[1:51] 63 tn The word used here is זָר (zar), normally translated “stranger” or “outsider.” It is most often used for a foreigner, an outsider, who does not belong in Israel, or who, although allowed in the land, may be viewed with suspicion. But here it seems to include even Israelites other than the tribe of Levi.
[1:53] 64 tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.
[1:53] tn Heb “so that there be no wrath on.” In context this is clearly the divine anger, so “the
[1:53] 65 tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.
[1:54] 66 tc The LXX adds “and Aaron.”
[6:1] 67 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[6:1] 68 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
[6:2] 69 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:2] 70 tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”
[6:2] 71 tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
[6:3] 72 tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”
[6:3] 73 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (vÿ’alu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ’alayv).
[6:4] 74 tn Heb “They encamped against them.”
[6:4] 76 tn Heb “the crops of the land.”
[6:4] 77 tn Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”
[6:4] 78 tn The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:5] 81 tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
[6:5] 82 tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
[6:8] 83 tn Heb “the
[6:8] 84 tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
[6:8] 85 tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).
[6:8] 86 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
[6:9] 87 tn Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).
[6:10] 88 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
[6:10] 89 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
[6:11] 90 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
[6:11] sn The
[6:11] 91 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
[6:11] 92 tn Heb “beating out.”
[6:11] 93 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
[6:13] 95 tn Heb “But my lord.”
[6:14] 98 sn Some interpreters equate the
[6:14] 99 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
[6:14] 100 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:15] 101 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:15] 102 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.
[6:15] 103 tn Heb “with what.”
[6:15] 104 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
[6:16] 106 tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”
[6:17] 107 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:17] 108 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
[6:17] 109 tn Heb “perform for me.”
[6:18] 110 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:18] 111 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
[6:19] 112 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
[6:19] 113 tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[6:20] 114 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
[6:20] 115 tn Heb “and he did so.”
[6:21] 116 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
[6:21] 117 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
[6:22] 119 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:22] 121 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
[6:23] 122 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
[6:24] 123 tn Heb “The
[6:25] 124 tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.
[6:26] 125 tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.
[6:27] 126 tn Heb “men from among his servants.”
[6:27] 128 tn Heb “so he did it at night.”
[6:28] 129 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
[6:29] 130 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
[6:29] 131 tn Heb “this thing.”
[6:29] 132 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
[6:29] 133 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
[6:30] 134 tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.
[6:31] 135 tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”
[6:31] 136 tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”
[6:31] 137 tn Heb “fights for him.”
[6:31] 138 sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.
[6:31] 139 tn Heb “fight for himself.”
[6:31] 140 tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
[6:32] 141 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
[6:33] 142 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”
[6:33] 143 tn The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:34] 145 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
[6:34] 146 tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”
[6:35] 147 tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”
[6:36] 148 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:36] 149 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:37] 150 tn Heb “all the ground.”
[6:37] 152 tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:38] 153 tn Heb “And it was so.”
[6:38] 154 tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”
[6:39] 155 tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”
[6:39] 156 tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”
