Bilangan 12:5

12:5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.

Bilangan 13:31

13:31 But the men ¹  who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Bilangan 14:44

14:44 But they dared ²  to go up to the crest of the hill, although ³  neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

Bilangan 21:28

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ⁴  of the high places of Arnon.

Bilangan 31:4

31:4 You must send to the battle a thousand men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel.” ⁵ 

¹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.

² tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The wordעֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”

³ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

⁴ tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.

⁵ sn Some commentators argue that given the size of the nation (which they reject) the small number for the army is a sign of the unrealistic character of the story. The number is a round number, but it is also a holy war, and God would give them the victory. They are beginning to learn here, and at Jericho, and later against these Midianites under Gideon, that God does not want or need a large army in order to obtain victory.