Bilangan 2:16

2:16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, are 151,450. They will travel second.

Bilangan 12:15

12:15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. ¹ 

Bilangan 20:2-3

20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended ²  with Moses, saying, ³  “If only ⁴  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Bilangan 20:6

Moses Responds

20:6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

Bilangan 22:2

22:2 Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites.

Bilangan 23:10

23:10 Who ⁵  can count ⁶  the dust ⁷  of Jacob,

Or number ⁸  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ⁹  die the death of the upright, ¹⁰ 

and let the end of my life ¹¹  be like theirs.” ¹² 

Bilangan 25:1

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1 ¹³ When ¹⁴  Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality ¹⁵  with the daughters of Moab.

Bilangan 31:27

31:27 Divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war – who went out to battle – and the other for all the community.

Bilangan 31:48

31:48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders over thousands and the commanders over hundreds, approached Moses

Bilangan 31:52

31:52 All the gold of the offering they offered up to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds weighed 16,750 shekels. ¹⁶ 

Bilangan 32:3

32:3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, ¹⁷  Nebo, and Beon, ¹⁸ 

Bilangan 36:5

Moses’ Decision

36:5 Then Moses gave a ruling ¹⁹  to the Israelites by the word ²⁰  of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right.

[12:15]  ¹ tn The clause has the Niphal infinitive construct after a temporal preposition.

[20:3]  ² tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

[20:3]  ³ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

[20:3]  ⁴ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

[23:10]  ⁵ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

[23:10]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

[23:10]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my latter end.”

[23:10]  ¹² tn Heb “his.”

[25:1]  ¹³ sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.

[25:1]  ¹⁴ tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.

[25:1]  ¹⁵ sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.

[31:52]  ¹⁶ sn Or about 420 imperial pounds.

[32:3]  ¹⁷ tc Smr and the LXX have Sibmah. Cf. v. 38.

[32:3]  ¹⁸ tn Cf. Baal-meon in v. 38.

[36:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[36:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “mouth.”