Bilangan 3:4

3:4 Nadab and Abihu died ¹  before the Lord ²  when they offered ³  strange ⁴  fire ⁵  before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. ⁶  So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests ⁷  in the presence of ⁸  Aaron their father.

Bilangan 5:8

5:8 But if the individual has no close relative ⁹  to whom reparation can be made for the wrong, the reparation for the wrong must be paid to the Lord ¹⁰  for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him.

Bilangan 6:9

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly ¹¹  beside him and he defiles ¹²  his consecrated head, ¹³  then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.

Bilangan 6:12

6:12 He must rededicate ¹⁴  to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, ¹⁵  but the former days will not be counted ¹⁶  because his separation ¹⁷  was defiled.

Bilangan 11:17

11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ¹⁸  all by yourself.

Bilangan 13:20

13:20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, ¹⁹  and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year ²⁰  for the first ripe grapes. ²¹ 

Bilangan 16:30

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ²²  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ²³  along with all that they have, and they ²⁴  go down alive to the grave, ²⁵  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

Bilangan 18:23-24

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ²⁶  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ²⁷  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ²⁸  have no inheritance. ²⁹  18:24 But I have given ³⁰  to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered ³¹  to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”

Bilangan 20:19

20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ³²  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

Bilangan 32:22

32:22 and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be free of your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. This land will then be your possession in the Lord’s sight.

Bilangan 35:15

35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

Bilangan 35:21

35:21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.

[3:4]  ¹ tn The verb form is the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, literally “and Nadab died.” Some commentators wish to make the verb a past perfect, rendering it “and Nadab had died,” but this is not necessary. In tracing through the line from Aaron it simply reports that the first two sons died. The reference is to the event recorded in Lev 10 where the sons brought “strange” or foreign” fire to the sanctuary.

[3:4]  ² tc This initial clause is omitted in one Hebrew ms, Smr, and the Vulgate.

[3:4]  ³ tn The form בְּהַקְרִבָם (bÿhaqrivam) is the Hiphil infinitive construct functioning as a temporal clause: “when they brought near,” meaning, “when they offered.” The verb קָרַב (qarav) is familiar to students of the NT because of “corban” in Mark 7:11.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Or “prohibited.” See HALOT 279 s.v. זָר 3.

[3:4]  ⁵ tn The expression אֵשׁ זָרָה (’esh zarah, “strange fire”) seems imprecise and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC 4], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from some place other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” [אִישׁ זָר, ’ish zar] in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” [קְטֹרֶת זָרָה, qÿtoret zarah] on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

[3:4]  sn This event is narrated in Lev 10:1-7.

[3:4]  ⁶ sn The two young priests had been cut down before they had children; the ranks of the family of Aaron were thereby cut in half in one judgment from God. The significance of the act of judgment was to show that the priests had to sanctify the Lord before the people – they were to be examples that the sanctuary and its contents were distinct.

[3:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Piel preterite from the root כָּהַן (kahan): “to function as a priest” or “to minister.”

[3:4]  ⁸ tn The expression “in the presence of” can also mean “during the lifetime of” (see Gen 11:28; see also BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֶה II.7.a; cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[5:8]  ⁹ sn For more information on the word, see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of גאל,” VTSup 1 (1953): 67-77.

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tc The editors of BHS prefer to follow the Greek, Syriac, and Latin and not read “for the Lord” here, but read a form of the verb “to be” instead. But the text makes more sense as it stands: The payment is to be made to the Lord for the benefit of the priests.

[6:9]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.

[6:9]  ¹² tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.

[6:9]  ¹³ sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn The same idea is to be found now in the use of the word נָזַר (nazar), which refers to a recommitment after the vow was interrupted.

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn The necessity of bringing the reparation offering was due to the reinstatement into the vow that had been interrupted.

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will fall”; KJV “shall be lost”; ASV, NASB, NRSV “shall be void.”

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tc The similar expression in v. 9 includes the word “head” (i.e., “his consecrated head”). The LXX includes this word in v. 12 as well.

[11:17]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[13:20]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, from the root חָזַק (khazaq, “to be strong”). Here it could mean “strengthen yourselves” or “be courageous” or “determined.” See further uses in 2 Sam 10:12; 1 Kgs 20:22; 1 Chr 19:13.

[13:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Now the days were the days of.”

[13:20]  ²¹ sn The reference to the first ripe grapes would put the time somewhere at the end of July.

[16:30]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

[16:30]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.

[18:23]  ²⁶ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

[18:23]  ²⁷ sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

[18:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[18:23]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.

[18:24]  ³⁰ tn The classification of the perfect tense here too could be the perfect of resolve, since this law is declaring what will be their portion – “I have decided to give.”

[18:24]  ³¹ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject (although the “Israelites” is certainly intended), and so it can be rendered as a passive.

[20:19]  ³² tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”