Bilangan 2:2

2:2 “Every one ¹  of the Israelites must camp ²  under his standard with the emblems of his family; ³  they must camp at some distance ⁴  around the tent of meeting. ⁵ 

Bilangan 10:28

10:28 These were the traveling arrangements ⁶  of the Israelites according to their companies when they traveled. ⁷ 

Bilangan 23:9-10

23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; ⁸ 

from the hills I watch them. ⁹ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ¹⁰  among the nations.

23:10 Who ¹¹  can count ¹²  the dust ¹³  of Jacob,

Or number ¹⁴  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ¹⁵  die the death of the upright, ¹⁶ 

and let the end of my life ¹⁷  be like theirs.” ¹⁸ 

Bilangan 23:21

23:21 He ¹⁹  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ²⁰ 

nor has he seen trouble ²¹  in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them;

his acclamation ²²  as king is among them.

Bilangan 24:2

24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; ²³  and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Bilangan 24:5-6

24:5 ‘How ²⁴  beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,

and your dwelling places, O Israel!

24:6 They are like ²⁵  valleys ²⁶  stretched forth,

like gardens by the river’s side,

like aloes ²⁷  that the Lord has planted,

and like cedar trees beside the waters.

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “a man by his own standard.”

[2:2]  ² tn The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction.

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew expression מִנֶּגֶד (minneged) means “from before” or “opposite; facing” and “at some distance” or “away from the front of” (see BDB 617 s.v. נֶגֶד 2.c.a; DCH 5:603-4 s.v. 3.b).

[2:2]  ⁵ sn The Israelites were camping as a military camp, each tribe with the standards and emblems of the family. The standard was the symbol fastened to the end of a pole and carried to battle. It served to rally the tribe to the battle. The Bible nowhere describes these, although the serpent emblem of Numbers 21:8-9 may give a clue. But they probably did not have shapes of animals in view of the prohibition in the Decalogue. The standards may have been smaller for the families than the ones for the tribes. See further K. A. Kitchen, “Some Egyptian Background to the Old Testament,” TynBul 5 (1960): 11; and T. W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Tradition, 169-73.

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Or “journeyings of.”

[10:28]  ⁷ tn The verb is the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. But in this sentence it should be subordinated as a temporal clause to the preceding statement, even though it follows it.

[23:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ⁹ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ¹⁰ tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.

[23:10]  ¹¹ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

[23:10]  ¹² tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.

[23:10]  ¹³ sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.

[23:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.

[23:10]  ¹⁵ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

[23:10]  ¹⁶ sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.

[23:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my latter end.”

[23:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his.”

[23:21]  ¹⁹ tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”

[23:21]  ²⁰ sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.

[23:21]  ²¹ tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.

[23:21]  ²² tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the Lord God as their king. The word is used normally for the sound of the trumpet, but also of battle shouts, and then here acclamation. This would represent their conviction that Yahweh is king. On the usage of this Hebrew word see further BDB 929-30 s.v. תְּרוּעָה; HALOT 1790-91 s.v.

[24:2]  ²³ tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”

[24:5]  ²⁴ tn Here מָה (mah) has an exclamatory sense: “How!” (see Gen 28:17).

[24:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “as valleys they spread forth.”

[24:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “rows of palms.”

[24:6]  ²⁷ sn The language seems to be more poetic than precise. N. H. Snaith notes that cedars do not grow beside water; he also connects “aloes” to the eaglewood that is more exotic, and capable of giving off an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 298).