Numbers 22:30

22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted ¹  to treat you this way?” ²  And he said, “No.”

Numbers 16:15

16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect ³  for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”

Numbers 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ⁴  the Israelites to bring ⁵  you a red ⁶  heifer ⁷  without blemish, which has no defect ⁸  and has never carried a yoke.

Numbers 31:17

31:17 Now therefore kill every boy, ⁹  and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 31:35

31:35 and 32,000 young women who had never had sexual intercourse with a man. ¹¹ 

Numbers 31:18

31:18 But all the young women ¹²  who have not had sexual intercourse with a man ¹³  will be yours. ¹⁴ 

Numbers 14:15

14:15 If you kill ¹⁵  this entire people at once, ¹⁶  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,

Numbers 19:1

The Red Heifer Ritual

19:1 ¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 21:26-27

21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, ¹⁸  as far as the Arnon. 21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs ¹⁹  say,

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.

Let the city of Sihon be established! ²⁰ 

Numbers 32:8

32:8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

Numbers 16:30

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ²¹  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ²²  along with all that they have, and they ²³  go down alive to the grave, ²⁴  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

Numbers 18:5

18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be ²⁵  no more wrath on the Israelites.

Numbers 21:16

21:16 And from there they traveled ²⁶  to Beer; ²⁷  that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”

Numbers 21:25

21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ²⁸ 

Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ²⁹  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ³⁰ 

[22:30]  ¹ tn Here the Hiphil perfect is preceded by the Hiphil infinitive absolute for emphasis in the sentence.

[22:30]  ² tn Heb “to do thus to you.”

[16:15]  ³ tn The verb means “to turn toward”; it is a figurative expression that means “to pay attention to” or “to have regard for.” So this is a prayer against Dathan and Abiram.

[19:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ⁶ tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ⁷ tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ⁸ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[31:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “every male among the little ones.”

[31:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “every woman who has known [a] man by lying with a man.”

[31:35]  ⁹ sn Here again we encounter one of the difficulties of the book, the use of the large numbers. Only twelve thousand soldiers fought the Midianites, but they brought back this amount of plunder, including 32,000 girls. Until a solution for numbers in the book can be found, or the current translation confirmed, one must remain cautious in interpretation.

[31:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “girls.” The Hebrew indicates they would be female children, making the selection easy.

[31:18]  ¹² tn Heb “who have not known [a] man by lying with a man.”

[31:18]  ¹³ sn Many contemporary scholars see this story as fictitious, composed by the Jews during the captivity. According to this interpretation, the spoils of war here indicate the wealth of the Jews in captivity, which was to be given to the Levites and priests for the restoration of the sanctuary in Jerusalem. The conclusion drawn from this interpretation is that returning Jews had the same problem as the earlier ones: to gain a foothold in the land. Against this interpretation of the account is a lack of hard evidence, a lack which makes this interpretation appear contrived and subjective. If this was the intent of a later writer, he surely could have stated this more clearly than by making up such a story.

[14:15]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as one man.”

[19:1]  ¹⁵ sn In the last chapter the needs of the priests and Levites were addressed. Now the concern is for the people. This provision from the sacrifice of the red heifer is a precaution to ensure that the purity of the tabernacle was not violated by pollutions of impurity or death. This chapter has two main parts, both dealing with ceremonial purity: the ritual of the red heifer (vv. 1-10), and the purification from uncleanness (vv. 11-22). For further study see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[21:26]  ¹⁷ sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose – conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads – “those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.

[21:27]  ¹⁹ sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.

[21:27]  ²⁰ tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

[16:30]  ²¹ tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.

[16:30]  ²² tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

[16:30]  ²³ tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.

[16:30]  ²⁴ tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

[18:5]  ²³ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.

[21:16]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

[21:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “its daughters.”

[23:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ³⁰ tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.