Bilangan 2:18

The Tribes on the West

2:18 “On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Amihud.

Bilangan 3:10

3:10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; ¹  but the unauthorized person ²  who comes near must be put to death.”

Bilangan 4:5

4:5 When it is time for the camp to journey, ³  Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

Bilangan 8:7

8:7 And do this ⁴  to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification ⁵  on them; then have them shave ⁶  all their body ⁷  and wash ⁸  their clothes, and so purify themselves. ⁹ 

Bilangan 8:26

8:26 They may assist ¹⁰  their colleagues ¹¹  in the tent of meeting, to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish ¹²  the Levites regarding their duties.”

Bilangan 9:18

9:18 At the commandment ¹³  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ¹⁴  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

Bilangan 9:20

9:20 When ¹⁵  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ¹⁶  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ¹⁷  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.

Bilangan 11:4

Complaints about Food

11:4 ¹⁸ Now the mixed multitude ¹⁹  who were among them craved more desirable foods, ²⁰  and so the Israelites wept again ²¹  and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ²² 

Bilangan 21:13

21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions ²³  of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Bilangan 21:18

21:18 The well which the princes ²⁴  dug,

which the leaders of the people opened

with their scepters and their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;

Bilangan 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ²⁵  gathered all his forces ²⁶  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ²⁷  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Bilangan 22:7

22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ²⁸  to him the words of Balak.

Bilangan 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Bilangan 22:36

Balaam Meets Balak

22:36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory.

Bilangan 31:3

31:3 So Moses spoke to the people: “Arm ²⁹  men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute ³⁰  the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.

Bilangan 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ³¹  not ³²  one of the men twenty years old and upward ³³  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ³⁴  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Bilangan 32:13

32:13 So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the Israelites, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all that generation that had done wickedly before ³⁵  the Lord was finished. ³⁶ 

[3:10]  ¹ tc The LXX includes the following words here: “and all things pertaining to the altar and within the veil.” Cf. Num 18:7.

[3:10]  ² tn The word is זָר (zar), usually rendered “stranger, foreigner, pagan.” But in this context it simply refers to anyone who is not a Levite or a priest, an unauthorized person or intruder in the tabernacle. That person would be put to death.

[4:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct in an adverbial clause of time; literally it says “in the journeying of the camp.” The genitive in such constructions is usually the subject. Here the implication is that people would be preparing to transport the camp and its equipment.

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Or, more literally, “and thus you shall do.” The verb is the imperfect tense of instruction or legislation. Here it introduces the procedures to be followed.

[8:7]  ⁵ tn The genitive in this expression indicates the purpose of the water – it is for their purification. The expression is literally “the waters of sin.” The word “purification” is the same as for the “sin/purification offering” – חַטָּאת (khatta’at). This water seems to have been taken from the main laver and is contrasted with the complete washing of the priests in Lev 8:6.

[8:7]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) of sequence. This verb, and those to follow, has the force of a jussive since it comes after the imperative. Here the instruction is for them to remove the hair from their bodies (“flesh”). There is no indication that this was repeated (as the Egyptian priests did every few days). It seems to have been for this special occasion only. A similar requirement was for the leper (Lev 14:7-9).

[8:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “flesh.”

[8:7]  ⁸ tn Or “let/have them wash”; the priests were given new clothes (Lev 8:13), but the Levites simply washed their own.

[8:7]  ⁹ tn The verb is a reflexive (or possibly passive) in this verse, indicating the summary of the process. The ritual steps that have been prescribed will lead to this conclusion. The verb could be treated as a final imperfect (being a perfect with vav [ו] consecutive), and so translated “that they may….” The major difference here is that the ritual made the Levites “clean,” whereas the ritual for the priests made them “holy” or “sanctified” (Lev 8:12).

[8:26]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of שָׁרַת (sharat, “to serve, minister”). Here the form has the vav (ו) consecutive, and so is equal to the imperfect tense stressing permission. After the Levites reached the age of retirement, they were permitted to assist the others, but were not permitted to do the work themselves.

[8:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers,” but the meaning in this context is “fellow Levites.”

[8:26]  ¹² tn Heb “you shall do, make.”

[9:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the days of – that the cloud settled over the tabernacle.” “All” is the adverbial accusative of time telling how long they camped in one spot – all. The word is then qualified by the genitive of the thing measured – “all of the days” – and this in turn is qualified by a noun clause functioning as a genitive after “days of.”

[9:20]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[11:4]  ¹⁸ sn The story of the sending of the quail is a good example of poetic justice, or talionic justice. God had provided for the people, but even in that provision they were not satisfied, for they remembered other foods they had in Egypt. No doubt there was not the variety of foods in the Sinai that might have been available in Egypt, but their life had been bitter bondage there as well. They had cried to the Lord for salvation, but now they forget, as they remember things they used to have. God will give them what they crave, but it will not do for them what they desire. For more information on this story, see B. J. Malina, The Palestinian Manna Tradition. For the attempt to explain manna and the other foods by natural phenomena, see F. W. Bodenheimer, “The Manna of Sinai,” BA 10 (1947): 1-6.

[11:4]  ¹⁹ tn The mixed multitude (or “rabble,” so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NLT “foreign rabble”) is the translation of an unusual word, הֲָאסַפְסֻף (ha’safsuf). It occurs in the Hebrew Bible only here. It may mean “a gathering of people” from the verb אָסַף (’asaf), yielding the idea of a mixed multitude (in line with Exod 12:38). But the root is different, and so no clear connection can be established. Many commentators therefore think the word is stronger, showing contempt through a word that would be equivalent to “riff-raff.”

[11:4]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew simply uses the cognate accusative, saying “they craved a craving” (הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה, hit’avvu ta’vah), but the context shows that they had this strong craving for food. The verb describes a strong desire, which is not always negative (Ps 132:13-14). But the word is a significant one in the Torah; it was used in the garden story for Eve’s desire for the tree, and it is used in the Decalogue in the warning against coveting (Deut 5:21).

[11:4]  ²¹ tc The Greek and the Latin versions read “and they sat down” for “and they returned,” involving just a change in vocalization (which they did not have). This may reflect the same expression in Judg 20:26. But the change does not improve this verse.

[11:4]  tn The Hebrew text uses a verbal hendiadys here, one word serving as an adverb for the other. It literally reads “and they returned and they wept,” which means they wept again. Here the weeping is put for the complaint, showing how emotionally stirred up the people had become by the craving. The words throughout here are metonymies. The craving is a metonymy of cause, for it would have then led to expressions (otherwise the desires would not have been known). And the weeping is either a metonymy of effect, or of adjunct, for the actual complaints follow.

[11:4]  ²² tn The Hebrew expresses the strong wish or longing idiomatically: “Who will give us flesh to eat?” It is a rhetorical expression not intended to be taken literally, but merely to give expression to the longing they had. See GKC 476 §151.a.1.

[21:13]  ²³ tn Or “border.”

[21:18]  ²⁴ sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

[21:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ²⁷ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[22:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “spoke.”

[31:3]  ²⁹ tn The Niphal imperative, literally “arm yourselves,” is the call to mobilize the nation for war. It is followed by the jussive, “and they will be,” which would then be subordinated to say “that they may be.” The versions changed the verb to a Hiphil, but that is unnecessary: “arm some of yourselves.”

[31:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “give.”

[32:11]  ³¹ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

[32:11]  ³² tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

[32:11]  ³³ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

[32:11]  ³⁴ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[32:13]  ³⁶ tn The verb is difficult to translate, since it has the idea of “complete, finish” (תָּמָם, tamam). It could be translated “consumed” in this passage (so KJV, ASV); NASB “was destroyed.”