Bilangan 1:2

1:2 “Take a census ¹  of the entire ²  Israelite community ³  by their clans and families, ⁴  counting the name of every individual male. ⁵ 

Bilangan 31:17

31:17 Now therefore kill every boy, ⁶  and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. ⁷ 

Bilangan 32:5

32:5 So they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, ⁸  let this land be given to your servants for our inheritance. Do not have us cross ⁹  the Jordan River.” ¹⁰ 

Bilangan 32:9

32:9 When ¹¹  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ¹²  the land that the Lord had given ¹³  them.

Bilangan 32:23

32:23 “But if you do not do this, then look, you will have sinned ¹⁴  against the Lord. And know that your sin will find you out.

[1:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tc Smr lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “the congregation of Israel.”

[1:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[31:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “every male among the little ones.”

[31:17]  sn The command in holy war to kill women and children seems in modern times a terrible thing to do (and it was), and something they ought not to have done. But this criticism fails to understand the situation in the ancient world. The entire life of the ancient world was tribal warfare. God’s judgment is poured out on whole groups of people who act with moral abandonment and in sinful pursuits. See E. J. Young, My Servants, the Prophets, 24; and J. W. Wenham, The Enigma of Evil.

[31:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “every woman who has known [a] man by lying with a man.”

[32:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “eyes.”

[32:5]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive from עָבַר (’avar, “to cross over”). The idea of “cause to cross” or “make us cross” might be too harsh, but “take across” with the rest of the nation is what they are trying to avoid.

[32:5]  ¹⁰ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:9]  ¹¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

[32:9]  ¹² tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

[32:9]  ¹³ tn The Lord had not given it yet, but was going to give it. Hence, the perfect should be classified as a perfect of resolve.

[32:23]  ¹⁴ tn The nuance of the perfect tense here has to be the future perfect.