Bilangan 14:5

14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground ¹  before the whole assembled community ²  of the Israelites.

Bilangan 16:31

16:31 When he had finished ³  speaking ⁴  all these words, the ground that was under them split open,

[14:5]  ¹ sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign Lord. They are not bowing before the people here, but in front of the people they bow before God. According to Num 17:6-15 this prostration is for the purpose of intercessory prayer. Here it prevents immediate wrath from God.

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”

[16:31]  ³ tn The initial temporal clause is standard: It begins with the temporal indicator “and it was,” followed here by the Piel infinitive construct with the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix. “And it happened when he finished.”

[16:31]  ⁴ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition lamed (ל) functions here as the direct object of the preceding infinitive. It tells what he finished.