Bilangan 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ¹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ²  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Bilangan 2:10

The Tribes on the South

2:10 “On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. ³  The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur.

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 4:3

4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company ⁴  to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 5:7

5:7 then he must confess ⁵  his sin that he has committed and must make full reparation, ⁶  add one fifth to it, and give it to whomever he wronged. ⁷ 

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 11:15

11:15 But if you are going to deal ⁸  with me like this, then kill me immediately. ⁹  If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” ¹⁰ 

Bilangan 11:23

11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? ¹¹  Now you will see whether my word to you will come true ¹²  or not!”

Bilangan 14:10

14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. ¹³  But ¹⁴  the glory ¹⁵  of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent ¹⁶  of meeting.

Bilangan 14:19

14:19 Please forgive ¹⁷  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ¹⁸  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

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 15:29

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.

Bilangan 15:35

15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone ¹⁹  him with stones outside the camp.”

Bilangan 18:6

18:6 I myself have chosen ²⁰  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²¹  of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 18:13

18:13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

Bilangan 19:17

19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take ²²  some of the ashes of the heifer ²³  burnt for purification from sin and pour ²⁴  fresh running ²⁵  water over them in a vessel.

Bilangan 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ²⁶  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ²⁷  this people into our ²⁸  hand, then we will utterly destroy ²⁹  their cities.”

Bilangan 21:4

Fiery Serpents

21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, ³⁰  to go around the land of Edom, but the people ³¹  became impatient along the way.

Bilangan 21:16

21:16 And from there they traveled ³²  to Beer; ³³  that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”

Bilangan 22:8

22:8 He replied to them, “Stay ³⁴  here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the Lord may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

Bilangan 22:32

22:32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing ³⁵  is perverse before me. ³⁶ 

Bilangan 22:36-38

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. 22:37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again ³⁷  to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ³⁸  22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ³⁹  to speak ⁴⁰  just anything? I must speak ⁴¹  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Bilangan 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ⁴²  uttered ⁴³  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁴⁴  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁴⁵ 

Bilangan 23:13

23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

Bilangan 24:6

24:6 They are like ⁴⁶  valleys ⁴⁷  stretched forth,

like gardens by the river’s side,

like aloes ⁴⁸  that the Lord has planted,

and like cedar trees beside the waters.

Bilangan 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ⁴⁹  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁵⁰ 

Bilangan 24:20

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam ⁵¹  looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: ⁵² 

“Amalek was the first ⁵³  of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

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 ⁵⁴  for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. ⁵⁵ 

Bilangan 28:7

28:7 “‘And its drink offering must be one quarter of a hin for each lamb. ⁵⁶  You must pour out the strong drink ⁵⁷  as a drink offering to the Lord in the holy place.

Bilangan 30:2

30:2 If a man ⁵⁸  makes a vow ⁵⁹  to the Lord or takes an oath ⁶⁰  of binding obligation on himself, ⁶¹  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ⁶² 

Bilangan 35:12

35:12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

Bilangan 35:30

35:30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony ⁶³  of witnesses; but one witness cannot ⁶⁴  testify against any person to cause him to be put to death.

Bilangan 36:6

36:6 This is what ⁶⁵  the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry ⁶⁶  whomever they think best, ⁶⁷  only they must marry within the family of their father’s tribe.

Bilangan 36:8

36:8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father’s tribe, so that every Israelite ⁶⁸  may retain the inheritance of his fathers.

[1:53]  ¹ tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.

[1:53]  tn Heb “so that there be no wrath on.” In context this is clearly the divine anger, so “the Lord’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:53]  ² tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.

[2:10]  ³ tn Here and throughout the line is literally “[under] the standard of the camp of Reuben…according to their divisions.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsava’). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”

[5:7]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive from the verb יָדָה (yadah), which in this stem means “acknowledge, confess sin,” but in the Hiphil (primarily) it means “praise, give thanks.” In both cases one is acknowledging something, either the sin, or the person and work of the Lord. Here the verb comes in the apodosis: “when…then he must confess.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”). Here it has the sense of “repay” with the word “reparation” (traditionally rendered “guilt offering,” but now is understood to refer to what was defrauded). The Levitical rulings called for the guilty to restore what was taken, if it could be made right, and pay a fifth more as a surcharge.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn This is now the third use of אָשָׁם (’asham); the first referred to “guilt,” the second to “reparation,” and now “wronged.” The idea of “guilt” lies behind the second two uses as well as the first. In the second “he must repay his guilt” (meaning what he is guilty of); and here it can also mean “the one against whom he is guilty of sinning.”

[11:15]  ⁸ tn The participle expresses the future idea of what God is doing, or what he is going to be doing. Moses would rather be killed than be given a totally impossible duty over a people that were not his.

[11:15]  ⁹ tn The imperative of הָרַג (harag) is followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The point is more that the infinitive adds to the emphasis of the imperative mood, which would be immediate compliance.

[11:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “my own ruin” (NIV). The word “trouble” here probably refers to the stress and difficulty of caring for a complaining group of people. The suffix on the noun would be objective, perhaps stressing the indirect object of the noun – trouble for me. The expression “on my trouble” (בְּרָעָתִי, bÿra’ati) is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the original reading in v. 15 was [to look] “on your evil” (בְּרָעָתֶךָ, bÿra’atekha), meaning “the calamity that you bring about” for Israel. However, since such an expression could be mistakenly thought to attribute evil to the Lord, the ancient scribes changed it to the reading found in the MT.

[11:23]  ¹¹ sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the Lord” is idiomatic for his power, what he is able to do. The question is rhetorical; it is affirming that his hand is not shortened, i.e., that his power is not limited. Moses should have known this, and so this is a rebuke for him at this point. God had provided the manna, among all the other powerful acts they had witnessed. Meat would be no problem. But the lack of faith by the people was infectious.

[11:23]  ¹² tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”

[14:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.

[14:10]  ¹⁴ tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.

[14:10]  ¹⁵ sn The glory of the Lord refers to the reality of the Lord’s presence in a manifestation of his power and splendor. It showed to all that God was a living God. The appearance of the glory indicated blessing for the obedient, but disaster for the disobedient.

[14:10]  ¹⁶ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”

[14:19]  ¹⁷ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

[14:19]  ¹⁸ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

[15:35]  ¹⁹ tn The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם (ragom) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.

[18:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “taken.”

[18:6]  ²¹ 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.

[19:17]  ²² tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.

[19:17]  ²³ tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.

[19:17]  ²⁴ tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.

[19:17]  ²⁵ tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.

[21:2]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ²⁹ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[21:4]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.

[21:16]  ³² tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.

[21:16]  ³³ sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

[22:8]  ³⁴ tn The verb לִין (lin) means “to lodge, spend the night.” The related noun is “a lodge” – a hotel of sorts. Balaam needed to consider the offer. And after darkness was considered the best time for diviners to consult with their deities. Balaam apparently knows of the Lord; he testifies to this effect in 22:18.

[22:32]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your way.”

[22:32]  ³⁶ tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.

[22:37]  ³⁷ tn The emphatic construction is made of the infinitive absolute and the perfect tense from the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “to send”). The idea must be more intense than something like, “Did I not certainly send.” Balak is showing frustration with Balaam for refusing him.

[22:37]  ³⁸ sn Balak again refers to his ability to “honor” the seer. This certainly meant payment for his service, usually gold ornaments, rings and jewelry, as well as some animals.

[22:38]  ³⁹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ⁴⁰ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ⁴¹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[23:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁴⁴ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁴⁵ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[24:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “as valleys they spread forth.”

[24:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “rows of palms.”

[24:6]  ⁴⁸ 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).

[24:14]  ⁴⁹ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

[24:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:20]  ⁵² tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

[24:20]  ⁵³ sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

[25:11]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ 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.

[28:7]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the one lamb,” but it is meant to indicate for “each lamb.”

[28:7]  ⁵⁷ tn The word שֵׁכָר (shekhar) is often translated “strong drink.” It can mean “barley beer” in the Akkadian cognate, and also in the Hebrew Bible when joined with the word for wine. English versions here read “wine” (NAB, TEV, CEV); “strong wine” (KJV); “fermented drink” (NIV, NLT); “strong drink” (ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[30:2]  ⁵⁸ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

[30:2]  ⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

[30:2]  ⁶⁰ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

[30:2]  ⁶¹ tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

[30:2]  ⁶² tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”

[35:30]  ⁶³ tn Heb “ at the mouth of”; the metonymy stresses it is at their report.

[35:30]  ⁶⁴ tn The verb should be given the nuance of imperfect of potentiality.

[36:6]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “the word that.”

[36:6]  ⁶⁶ tn The idiom again is “let them be for wives for….”

[36:6]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “to the one who is good in their eyes.”

[36:8]  ⁶⁸ tn The subject is “Israelites” and the verb is plural to agree with it, but the idea is collective as the word for “man” indicates: “so that the Israelites may possess – [each] man the inheritance of his fathers.”