Bilangan 2:32

Summary

2:32 These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. ¹  All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.

Bilangan 10:2

10:2 “Make ²  two trumpets of silver; you are to make ³  them from a single hammered piece. ⁴  You will use them ⁵  for assembling the community and for directing the traveling of the camps.

Bilangan 10:5-6

10:5 When you blow an alarm, ⁶  then the camps that are located ⁷  on the east side must begin to travel. ⁸  10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that are located on the south side must begin to travel. ⁹  An alarm must be sounded ¹⁰  for their journeys.

Bilangan 31:10

31:10 They burned ¹¹  all their towns ¹²  where they lived and all their encampments.

[2:32]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 34.

[10:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses what is called the “ethical dative” – “make [for] you two trumpets.” It need not be translated, but can simply be taken to underscore the direct imperative.

[10:2]  ³ tn The imperfect tense is again instruction or legislation.

[10:2]  ⁴ sn The instructions are not clearly spelled out here. But the trumpets were to be made of silver ingots beaten out into a sheet of silver and then bent to form a trumpet. There is archaeological evidence of silver smelting as early as 3000 b.c. Making silver trumpets would have been a fairly easy thing for the Israelites to do. The trumpet would have been straight, with a tapered form, very unlike the “ram’s horn” (שׁוֹפָר, shofar). The trumpets were used by the priests in Israel from the outset, but later were used more widely. The sound would be sharp and piercing, but limited in scope to a few notes. See further C. Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments.

[10:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they shall be for you for assembling,” which is the way of expressing possession. Here the intent concerns how Moses was to use them.

[10:5]  ⁶ tn The word for an alarm is תְּרוּעָה (tÿru’ah). The root verb of this word means “to give a blast on the trumpet.” It may also on occasion mean “give a shout” in battle (Josh 6:10). In this passage it must refer to the sound of the trumpet.

[10:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the camps that are camping.”

[10:5]  ⁸ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of the imperfect tense. Here the emphasis is on the start of the journey.

[10:6]  ⁹ tc The MT does not mention the departures of the northerly and westerly tribes. The Greek text completes the description by adding them, making a full schedule of the departure of the groups of tribes. The Greek is not likely to be original, however, since it carries all the signs of addition to complete the text, making a smooth, full reading. The MT is to be preferred; it apparently used two of the groups to give the idea.

[10:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has “they shall blow an alarm”; the sentence without a formal subject should be taken as a passive idea.

[31:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “burned with fire.”

[31:10]  ¹² tn The ban applied to the encampments and forts of this group of Midianite tribes living in the region of Moab.