Bilangan 2:34

2:34 So the Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way ¹  they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.

Bilangan 8:20

8:20 So Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the Israelites did this with the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, this is what the Israelites did with them.

Bilangan 8:22

8:22 After this, the Levites went in to do their work in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did.

Bilangan 9:5

9:5 And they observed the Passover ²  on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

Bilangan 12:1

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12:1 ³ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against ⁴  Moses because of the Cushite ⁵  woman he had married ⁶  (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).

Bilangan 14:35

14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’”

Bilangan 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ⁷  the word that I will speak to you.” ⁸  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Bilangan 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁹  to speak ¹⁰  just anything? I must speak ¹¹  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Bilangan 27:22

27:22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and set ¹²  him before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community.

Bilangan 32:10

32:10 So the anger of the Lord was kindled that day, and he swore,

[2:34]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word is כֵּן (ken, “thus, so”).

[9:5]  ² tc The LXX omits this first clause; it also omits “at twilight.”

[12:1]  ³ sn In this short chapter we find a prime example of jealousy among leaders and how God dealt with it. Miriam and Aaron are envious of Moses’ leadership, but they use an occasion – his marriage – to criticize him. Often the immediate criticism is simply a surface issue for a deeper matter. God indicates very clearly he will speak through many people, including them, but Moses is different. Moses is the mediator of the covenant. The chapter is a lesson of what not to do. They should have fulfilled their duties before God and not tried to compete or challenge the leader in this way. There is a touch of divine irony here, for Miriam is turned white with leprosy. The chapter falls easily into the sections of the story: the accusation (vv. 1-3), the Lord’s response (vv. 4-10), the intercession of Moses (vv. 11-16). For further information, see J. S. Kselman, “A Note on Numbers 12:6-8,” VT 26 (1976): 500-504.

[12:1]  ⁴ tn The preposition bet (בְּ) has the adversative sense here, “[speak] against” (see also its use for hostile speech in 21:5, 7). Speaking against is equal to the murmuring throughout the wilderness period. The verb of the sentence is וַתְּדַבֵּר (vattÿdabber), the feminine form of the verb. This indicates that Miriam was the main speaker for the two, the verb agreeing with the first of the compound subject.

[12:1]  sn It may be that Miriam was envious of the Cushite woman Moses married. And, in view of the previous chapter’s content about others being given a portion of the Spirit to share in the leadership role, she may have seen this as her chance finally to become just as important in the nation as her younger brother. After all, she safeguarded his birth and early years (Exod 2). But there are two issues here – the reason she gives (“does the Lord only speak through Moses?”), and the reason the text gives (the Cushite woman).

[12:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has הַכֻּשִׁית (hakkushit, “the Cushite”) as the modifier of “woman.” The Greek text interpreted this correctly as “Ethiopian.” The word Cush in the Bible can describe the Cassites, east of Babylon of the later period (Gen 10:18), or Ethiopia (Isa 20:3; Nah 3:5; et al). Another suggestion is that it would refer to Cushan of Hab 3:7, perhaps close to Midian, and so the area Moses had been. This would suggest it could be Zipporah – but the Bible does not identify the Cushite as Zipporah. The most natural understanding would be that it refers to an Egyptian/Ethiopian woman. The text does not say when Moses married this woman, or what Miriam’s problem with her was. It is clear that it was a racial issue, by virtue of the use of “Cushite.” Whether she was of darker skin than the Hebrews would be hard to say, since the Bible gives no further detail. Neither does it say if this is a second wife, or a woman Moses married since Zipporah went home (Exod 18:2). These do not seem to be the issues the text wishes to elaborate on; it is simply stating that this woman was the occasion for a deeper challenge.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “taken.”

[22:35]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[22:38]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[27:22]  ¹² tn Heb “stood.”