Bilangan 35:34

35:34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

Bilangan 4:18

4:18 “Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off ¹  from among the Levites;

Bilangan 8:6

8:6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify ²  them.

Bilangan 15:10

15:10 and you must present as the drink offering half a hin of wine with the fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Bilangan 12:12

12:12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its ³  mother’s womb!”

Bilangan 25:7

25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, ⁴  he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand,

Bilangan 34:15

34:15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, ⁵  toward the sunrise.”

Bilangan 15:9

15:9 then a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil must be presented ⁶  with the young bull,

Bilangan 19:6

19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, ⁷  and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. ⁸ 

Bilangan 18:20

Duties of the Levites

18:20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property ⁹  among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Bilangan 16:45

16:45 “Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant!” But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. ¹⁰ 

Bilangan 16:47

16:47 So Aaron did ¹¹  as Moses commanded ¹²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

Bilangan 32:30

32:30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must receive possessions among you in Canaan.”

Bilangan 2:17

The Tribe in the Center

2:17 “Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place ¹³  under his standard.

Bilangan 5:3

5:3 You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that ¹⁴  they will not defile their camps, among which I live.”

Bilangan 16:33

16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.

Bilangan 21:4

Fiery Serpents

21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, ¹⁵  to go around the land of Edom, but the people ¹⁶  became impatient along the way.

Bilangan 14:42

14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be ¹⁷  defeated before your enemies.

Bilangan 14:13

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ¹⁸  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –

Bilangan 8:14

8:14 And so ¹⁹  you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.

Bilangan 15:26

15:26 And the whole community ²⁰  of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.

Bilangan 34:13

34:13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land which you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given ²¹  to the nine and a half tribes,

Bilangan 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ²²  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ²³  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Bilangan 35:5

35:5 “You must measure ²⁴  from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, ²⁵  and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. ²⁶  This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns.

Bilangan 25:11

25:11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal ²⁷  for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. ²⁸ 

Bilangan 27:4

27:4 Why should the name of our father be lost from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession ²⁹  among the relatives ³⁰  of our father.”

Bilangan 33:4

33:4 Now the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them; the Lord also executed judgments on their gods.

Bilangan 28:14

28:14 For their drink offerings, include ³¹  half a hin of wine with each bull, one-third of a hin for the ram, and one-fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for each month ³²  throughout the months of the year.

Bilangan 9:7

9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

Bilangan 14:11

The Punishment from God

14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ³³  me, and how long will they not believe ³⁴  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Bilangan 15:29-30

15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ³⁵  who acts defiantly, ³⁶  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ³⁷  the Lord. ³⁸  That person ³⁹  must be cut off ⁴⁰  from among his people.

Bilangan 22:31

22:31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground. ⁴¹ 

Bilangan 5:21

5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse ⁴²  and will say ⁴³  to the her, “The Lord make you an attested curse ⁴⁴  among your people, ⁴⁵  if the Lord makes ⁴⁶  your thigh fall away ⁴⁷  and your abdomen swell; ⁴⁸ 

Bilangan 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ⁴⁹  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Bilangan 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ⁵⁰  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ⁵¹  because you have despised ⁵²  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ⁵³  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Bilangan 35:15

35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

Bilangan 8:16

8:16 For they are entirely given ⁵⁴  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ⁵⁵  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

Bilangan 11:21

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ⁵⁶  are 600,000 on foot; ⁵⁷  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ⁵⁸  that they may eat ⁵⁹  for a whole month.’

Bilangan 22:34

22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ⁶⁰  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ⁶¹  I will go back home.” ⁶² 

Bilangan 18:23-24

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ⁶³  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ⁶⁴  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ⁶⁵  have no inheritance. ⁶⁶  18:24 But I have given ⁶⁷  to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered ⁶⁸  to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”

Bilangan 19:20

19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

Bilangan 26:62

26:62 Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

Bilangan 14:14

14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ⁶⁹  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ⁷⁰  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

Bilangan 5:27

5:27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness – her abdomen will swell, her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Bilangan 4:2

4:2 “Take a census ⁷¹  of the Kohathites from among the Levites, by their families and by their clans,

Bilangan 3:12

3:12 “Look, ⁷²  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ⁷³  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

Bilangan 11:4

Complaints about Food

11:4 ⁷⁴ Now the mixed multitude ⁷⁵  who were among them craved more desirable foods, ⁷⁶  and so the Israelites wept again ⁷⁷  and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ⁷⁸ 

Bilangan 7:89

7:89 Now when Moses went into ⁷⁹  the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, ⁸⁰  he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid ⁸¹  that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. ⁸²  Thus he spoke to him.

Bilangan 15:14

15:14 If a resident foreigner is living ⁸³  with you – or whoever is among you ⁸⁴  in future generations ⁸⁵  – and prepares an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way you are to do it. ⁸⁶ 

Bilangan 22:23

22:23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with ⁸⁷  his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.

Bilangan 16:21

16:21 “Separate yourselves ⁸⁸  from among this community, ⁸⁹  that I may consume them in an instant.”

Bilangan 34:6

The Western Border of the Land

34:6 “‘And for a western border ⁹⁰  you will have the Great Sea. ⁹¹  This will be your western border.

Bilangan 34:14

34:14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families, ⁹²  the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

Bilangan 33:8

33:8 They traveled from Pi-hahiroth, ⁹³  and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped in Marah.

Bilangan 34:5

34:5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea. ⁹⁴ 

Bilangan 15:32-33

15:32 When the Israelites were ⁹⁵  in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ⁹⁶  15:33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community.

Bilangan 21:6

21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous ⁹⁷  snakes ⁹⁸  among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.

Bilangan 34:7

The Northern Border of the Land

34:7 “‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor;

Bilangan 26:28

Manasseh

26:28 The descendants of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim.

Bilangan 31:43

31:43 there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community,

Bilangan 25:8

25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent ⁹⁹  and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. ¹⁰⁰  So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. ¹⁰¹ 

Bilangan 2:1

The Arrangement of the Tribes

2:1 ¹⁰² The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron:

Bilangan 15:7

15:7 and for a drink offering you must offer one-third of a hin of wine as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Bilangan 31:29

31:29 You are to take it from their half-share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the Lord.

Bilangan 11:3

11:3 So he called the name of that place Taberah ¹⁰³  because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Bilangan 14:44

14:44 But they dared ¹⁰⁴  to go up to the crest of the hill, although ¹⁰⁵  neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

Bilangan 20:20

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ¹⁰⁶  with a large and powerful force. ¹⁰⁷ 

Bilangan 22:24

22:24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path ¹⁰⁸  among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side. ¹⁰⁹ 

Bilangan 34:10

The Eastern Border of the Land

34:10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.

Bilangan 19:10

19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Bilangan 31:36

31:36 The half-portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep;

Bilangan 32:33

Land Assignment

32:33 So Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the realm of King Sihon of the Amorites, and the realm of King Og of Bashan, the entire land with its cities and the territory surrounding them. ¹¹⁰ 

Bilangan 11:19

11:19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,

Bilangan 13:29

13:29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks ¹¹¹  of the Jordan.” ¹¹² 

Bilangan 15:6

15:6 Or for a ram, you must prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one-third of a hin of olive oil,

Bilangan 15:8

15:8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord,

Bilangan 18:6

18:6 I myself have chosen ¹¹³  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ¹¹⁴  of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 19:16

19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, ¹¹⁵  or the body of someone who died of natural causes, ¹¹⁶  or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. ¹¹⁷ 

Bilangan 25:6

25:6 Just then ¹¹⁸  one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers ¹¹⁹  a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of ¹²⁰  the whole community of the Israelites, while they ¹²¹  were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 27:7

27:7 “The daughters of Zelophehad have a valid claim. ¹²²  You must indeed ¹²³  give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s relatives, and you must transfer ¹²⁴  the inheritance of their father to them.

Bilangan 31:42

31:42 From the Israelites’ half-share that Moses had separated from the fighting men, ¹²⁵ 

Bilangan 8:19

8:19 I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary.” ¹²⁶ 

Bilangan 16:46

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!”

Bilangan 31:30

31:30 From the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

Bilangan 31:47

31:47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

[4:18]  ¹ sn The verb is simply the Qal, “do not cut off.” The context calls for a permissive nuance – “do not let them be cut off.” It was a difficult task to be handling the holy things correctly; Moses and Aaron were to see to it that they did it right and did not handle the objects, that is, Moses and Aaron were to safeguard their lives by making certain that proper procedures were followed.

[8:6]  ² tn The verb טָהַר (tahar) means that Moses was “to purify” or “to make ceremonially clean” the Levites so that they could enter the sanctuary and do the work prescribed for them. Whatever is “unclean” is not permitted in the sanctuary at all.

[12:12]  ³ tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.

[25:7]  ⁴ tn The first clause is subordinated to the second because both begin with the preterite verbal form, and there is clearly a logical and/or chronological sequence involved.

[34:15]  ⁵ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[15:9]  ⁶ tn The text changes from direct address here to the third person form of the verb. If the MT is correct, then to make a smooth translation it would need to be made a passive (in view of the fact that no subject is expressed).

[19:6]  ⁷ sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.

[19:6]  ⁸ sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).

[18:20]  ⁹ tn The phrase “of property” is supplied as a clarification.

[16:45]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they fell on their faces.”

[16:47]  ¹¹ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ¹² tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[2:17]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (’al-yado, “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect tense functions here as a final imperfect, expressing the purpose of putting such folks outside the camp. The two preceding imperfects (repeated for emphasis) are taken here as instruction or legislation.

[21:4]  ¹⁵ tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.

[21:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.

[14:42]  ¹⁷ tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”

[14:13]  ¹⁸ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[8:14]  ¹⁹ tn The vav (ו) consecutive on the perfect tense not only carries the nuance of instruction forward to this clause, but also marks this clause out as a summary of what has taken place, i.e., by doing all this ritual Moses will have separated the Levites from the people for God’s own possession.

[15:26]  ²⁰ tn Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.

[34:13]  ²¹ tn The infinitive forms the direct object of what the Lord commanded. It actually means “to give,” but without an expressed subject may be made passive.

[22:22]  ²² sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

[22:22]  ²³ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[35:5]  ²⁴ tn The verb is the Qal perfect of מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). With its vav (ו) consecutive it carries the same instructional force as the imperfect.

[35:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “two thousand cubits” (also three more times in this verse). This would be a distance of 3,000 feet or 1,000 yards (1,350 meters).

[35:5]  ²⁶ sn The precise nature of the layout described here is not altogether clear. V. 4 speaks of the distance from the wall as being 500 yards; v. 5, however, describes measurements of 1,000 yards. Various proposals have been made in order to harmonize vv. 4 and 5. P. J. Budd, Numbers (WBC), 376, makes the following suggestion: “It may be best to assume that the cubits of the Levitical pasture lands are cubit frontages of land – in other words on each side of the city there was a block of land with a frontage of two thousand cubits (v 5), and a depth of 1000 cubits (v 4).”

[25:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he was zealous with my zeal.” The repetition of forms for “zeal” in the line stresses the passion of Phinehas. The word “zeal” means a passionate intensity to protect or preserve divine or social institutions.

[25:11]  ²⁸ tn The word for “zeal” now occurs a third time. While some English versions translate this word here as “jealousy” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), it carries the force of God’s passionate determination to defend his rights and what is right about the covenant and the community and parallels the “zeal” that Phinehas had just demonstrated.

[27:4]  ²⁹ tn That is, the possession of land, or property, among the other families of their tribe.

[27:4]  ³⁰ tn The word is “brothers,” but this can be interpreted more loosely to relatives. So also in v. 7.

[28:14]  ³¹ tn The word “include” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied. It is supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

[28:14]  ³² tn Heb “a month in its month.”

[14:11]  ³³ tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.

[14:11]  ³⁴ tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.

[15:30]  ³⁵ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ³⁶ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ³⁷ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ³⁸ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ³⁹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁴⁰ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[22:31]  ⁴¹ tn The Hishtaphel verb חָוָה (khavah) – שָׁחָה (shakhah) with metathesis – has a basic idea of “bow oneself low to the ground,” and perhaps in some cases the idea of “coil up.” This is the normal posture of prayer and of deep humility in the ancient religious world.

[5:21]  ⁴² sn For information on such curses, see M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92; A. C. Thiselton, “The Supposed Power of Words in the Biblical Writings,” JTS 25 (1974): 283-99; and F. C. Fensham, “Malediction and Benediction in Ancient Vassal Treaties and the Old Testament,” ZAW 74 (1962): 1-9.

[5:21]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the priest will say.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁴ tn This interpretation takes the two nouns as a hendiadys. The literal wording is “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among the people.” In what sense would she be an oath? The point of the whole passage is that the priest is making her take an oath to see if she has been sinful and will be cursed.

[5:21]  ⁴⁵ sn The outcome of this would be that she would be quoted by people in such forms of expression as an oath or a curse (see Jer 29:22).

[5:21]  ⁴⁶ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition to form an adverbial clause: “in the giving of the Lord…,” meaning, “if and when the Lord makes such and such to happen.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁷ tn TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁸ sn Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”

[16:3]  ⁴⁹ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[11:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

[11:20]  ⁵¹ tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

[11:20]  ⁵² sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

[11:20]  ⁵³ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”

[8:16]  ⁵⁴ tn As before, the emphasis is obtained by repeating the passive participle: “given, given to me.”

[8:16]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “as substitutes” for all the firstborn of the Israelites.

[11:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ⁵⁸ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

[11:21]  ⁵⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

[22:34]  ⁶⁰ sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ⁶¹ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ⁶² tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[18:23]  ⁶³ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

[18:23]  ⁶⁴ sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

[18:23]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[18:23]  ⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.

[18:24]  ⁶⁷ tn The classification of the perfect tense here too could be the perfect of resolve, since this law is declaring what will be their portion – “I have decided to give.”

[18:24]  ⁶⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject (although the “Israelites” is certainly intended), and so it can be rendered as a passive.

[14:14]  ⁶⁹ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ⁷⁰ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[4:2]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “lift up the head.” The form נָשֹׂא (naso’) is the Qal infinitive absolute functioning here as a pure verb form. This serves to emphasize the basic verbal root idea (see GKC 346 §113.bb).

[4:2]  sn The census of chapter 3 was to register all male Levites from a month old and up. It arranged the general duties of each of the tribes. The second census of Levites now will focus on those between 30 and 50 years of age, those who were actually in service. These are the working Levites. The duties here will be more specific for each of the families. The Kohathites, although part of the ordinary ministry of Levites, were a special group chosen to handle the most holy furnishings. J. Milgrom shows three aspects of their service: (1) skilled labor (מְלָאכָה, mÿla’khah) or “work,” (2) physical labor (עֲבֹדָה, ‘avodah) or “service,” and (3) assisting the priests (שָׁרֵת, sharet) or “ministering” (see his Studies in Levitical Terminology, 1:60-70).

[3:12]  ⁷² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.

[3:12]  ⁷³ tn Literally “in the place of.”

[11:4]  ⁷⁴ 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]  ⁷⁵ 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]  ⁷⁶ 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]  ⁷⁷ 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]  ⁷⁸ 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.

[7:89]  ⁷⁹ tn The adverbial clause of time is constructed with the infinitive construct of the verb “to enter” (בּוֹא, bo’) with the preposition and with the subjective genitive that follows serving as the subject of the clause. The verse is strategic in the structure of the book: At the completion of the dedication with the offerings Moses received more revelation from the Lord in the tent. This verse therefore lays the foundation for what follows.

[7:89]  ⁸⁰ tc The MT is obscure here, simply giving the purpose infinitive and the prepositional phrase (“with him”). But the following clause using the Hitpael of the same verb, introducing a reflexive sense: “then he heard the voice speaking with him.” The Greek clarified it by inserting “Lord” after the word “voice.” The editor of BHS favors emendation of the form to a Piel participle rather than the Hitpael of the MT (reading מְדַבֵּר [mÿdabber] instead of מִדַּבֵּר [middabber], the Hitpael with assimilation). Most commentators agree with the change, assuming there was a mistaken pointing in the MT.

[7:89]  ⁸¹ tn The Hebrew word כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet) has been traditionally rendered “mercy seat,” but since the ark is the footstool (see Ps 132), this translation is somewhat misleading. The word is etymologically connected to the verb “to make atonement.” A technical translation would be “place of atonement” or “propitiatory”; a more common translation would be “cover, lid” – provided that the definition “to cover” does not get transferred to the verb “to atone,” for that idea belongs to a homonym. See also Exod 25:17.

[7:89]  ⁸² tn The cherubim are the carved forms of the angels attached to the ark. They indicate the guarding role of this order of angels in the holy of holies. They were also embroidered on the curtains. For basic material see ZPEB 1:788-90, and R. K. Harrison, ISBE 1:642-43.

[15:14]  ⁸³ tn The word גּוּר (gur) was traditionally translated “to sojourn,” i.e., to live temporarily in a land. Here the two words are from the root: “if a sojourner sojourns.”

[15:14]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “in your midst.”

[15:14]  ⁸⁵ tn The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.

[15:14]  ⁸⁶ tn The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.

[22:23]  ⁸⁷ tn The word has the conjunction “and” on the noun, indicating this is a disjunctive vav (ו), here serving as a circumstantial clause.

[16:21]  ⁸⁸ tn The verb is הִבָּדְלוּ (hibbadÿlu), the Niphal imperative of בָּדַל (badal). This is the same word that was just used when Moses reminded the Levites that they had been separated from the community to serve the Lord.

[16:21]  ⁸⁹ sn The group of people siding with Korah is meant, and not the entire community of the people of Israel. They are an assembly of rebels, their “community” consisting in their common plot.

[34:6]  ⁹⁰ tn The word for west is simply “sea,” because the sea is west of Israel.

[34:6]  ⁹¹ sn That is, the Mediterranean Sea (also in the following verse).

[34:14]  ⁹² tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also a little later in this verse.

[33:8]  ⁹³ tc So many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate. Other witnesses have “from before Hahiroth.”

[34:5]  ⁹⁴ sn That is, the Mediterranean.

[15:32]  ⁹⁵ tn The preterite of the verb “to be” is here subordinated to the next, parallel verb form, to form a temporal clause.

[15:32]  ⁹⁶ sn For this brief passage, see A. Phillips, “The Case of the Woodgatherer Reconsidered,” VT 19 (1969): 125-28; J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Woodgatherer (Numbers XV 32-36),” VT 16 (1966): 361-64; and B. J. Bamberger, “Revelations of Torah after Sinai,” HUCA 16 (1941): 97-113. Weingreen argues that there is something of the Rabbinic method of setting a fence around the Law here; in other words, if this sin were not punished, the Law would have been violated in greater ways. Gathering of wood, although seemingly harmless, is done with intent to kindle fire, and so reveals a culpable intent.

[21:6]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “fiery.”

[21:6]  ⁹⁸ tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.

[25:8]  ⁹⁹ tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).

[25:8]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.

[25:8]  ¹⁰¹ sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.

[2:1]  ¹⁰² sn For this chapter, see C. E. Douglas, “The Twelve Houses of Israel,” JTS 37 (1936): 49-56; C. C. Roach, “The Camp in the Wilderness: A Sermon on Numbers 2:2,” Int 13 (1959): 49-54; and G. St. Clair, “Israel in Camp: A Study,” JTS 8 (1907): 185-217.

[11:3]  ¹⁰³ tn The name תַּבְעֵרָה (tav’erah) is given to the spot as a commemorative of the wilderness experience. It is explained by the formula using the same verbal root, “to burn.” Such naming narratives are found dozens of times in the OT, and most frequently in the Pentateuch. The explanation is seldom an exact etymology, and so in the literature is called a popular etymology. It is best to explain the connection as a figure of speech, a paronomasia, which is a phonetic wordplay that may or may not be etymologically connected. Usually the name is connected to the explanation by a play on the verbal root – here the preterite explaining the noun. The significance of commemorating the place by such a device is to “burn” it into the memory of Israel. The narrative itself would be remembered more easily by the name and its motif. The namings in the wilderness wanderings remind the faithful of unbelief, and warn us all not to murmur as they murmured. See further A. P. Ross, “Paronomasia and Popular Etymologies in the Naming Narrative of the Old Testament,” Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1982.

[14:44]  ¹⁰⁴ 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.”

[14:44]  ¹⁰⁵ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

[20:20]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[22:24]  ¹⁰⁸ tn The word means a “narrow place,” having the root meaning “to be deep.” The Greek thought it was in a field in a narrow furrow.

[22:24]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “a wall on this side, and a wall on that side.”

[32:33]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “the land with its cities in the borders of the cities of the land all around.”

[13:29]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “by the side [hand] of.”

[13:29]  ¹¹² sn For more discussion on these people groups, see D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times.

[18:6]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “taken.”

[18:6]  ¹¹⁴ tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (’avad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.

[19:16]  ¹¹⁵ tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.

[19:16]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.

[19:16]  ¹¹⁷ sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.

[25:6]  ¹¹⁸ tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.

[25:6]  ¹¹⁹ tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”

[25:6]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”

[25:6]  ¹²¹ tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.

[27:7]  ¹²² tn Heb “[the daughters of Zelophehad] speak right” (using the participle דֹּבְרֹת [dovÿrot] with כֵּן [ken]).

[27:7]  ¹²³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense. The imperfect is functioning as the imperfect of instruction, and so the infinitive strengthens the force of the instruction.

[27:7]  ¹²⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive, from the root עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”). Here it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction: “and you shall cause to pass,” meaning, “transfer.”

[31:42]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “the men who were fighting.”

[8:19]  ¹²⁶ sn The firstborn were those that were essentially redeemed from death in Egypt when the blood was put on the doors. So in the very real sense they belonged to God (Exod 13:2,12). The firstborn was one who stood in special relationship to the father, being the successive offspring. Here, the Levites would stand in for the firstborn in that special role and special relationship. God also made it clear that the nation of Israel was his firstborn son (Exod 4:22-23), and so they stood in that relationship before all the nations. The tribe of Reuben was to have been the firstborn tribe, but in view of the presumptuous attempt to take over the leadership through pagan methods (Gen 35:22; 49:3-4), was passed over. The tribes of Levi and Simeon were also put down for their ancestors’ activities, but sanctuary service was still given to Levi.