Bilangan 32:7

32:7 Why do you frustrate the intent ¹  of the Israelites to cross over into the land which the Lord has given them?

Bilangan 10:30

10:30 But Hobab ²  said to him, “I will not go, but I will go instead to my own land and to my kindred.”

Bilangan 14:41

14:41 But Moses said, “Why ³  are you now transgressing the commandment ⁴  of the Lord? It will not succeed!

Bilangan 22:14

22:14 So the princes of Moab departed ⁵  and went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

Bilangan 5:3

5:3 You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that ⁶  they will not defile their camps, among which I live.”

Bilangan 8:4

8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: ⁷  It was beaten work in gold; ⁸  from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Bilangan 15:29

15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Bilangan 9:14

9:14 If a resident foreigner lives ⁹  among you and wants to keep ¹⁰  the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have ¹¹  the same ¹²  statute for the resident foreigner ¹³  and for the one who was born in the land.’”

Bilangan 15:15

15:15 One statute must apply ¹⁴  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ¹⁵  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ¹⁶  before the Lord.

Bilangan 16:13

16:13 Is it a small thing ¹⁷  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ¹⁸  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ¹⁹  over us?

Bilangan 19:10

19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Bilangan 3:13

3:13 because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed ²⁰  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.” ²¹ 

Bilangan 8:17

8:17 For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed ²²  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.

Bilangan 18:15

18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, ²³  and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem.

Bilangan 30:12

30:12 But if her husband clearly nullifies ²⁴  them when he hears them, then whatever she says ²⁵  by way of vows or obligations will not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her from them.

Bilangan 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ²⁶  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ²⁷  of the Lord my God ²⁸  to do less or more.

Bilangan 6:3

6:3 he must separate ²⁹  himself from wine and strong drink, he must drink neither vinegar ³⁰  made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice ³¹  of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. ³² 

Bilangan 15:16

15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you.’”

Bilangan 30:13

30:13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her, ³³  her husband can confirm or nullify. ³⁴ 

Bilangan 31:11

31:11 They took all the plunder and all the spoils, both people and animals.

Bilangan 3:25

3:25 And ³⁵  the responsibilities of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the tent of meeting,

Bilangan 18:31

18:31 And you may ³⁶  eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 6:2

6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman ³⁷  takes a special vow, ³⁸  to take a vow ³⁹  as a Nazirite, ⁴⁰  to separate ⁴¹  himself to the Lord,

Bilangan 14:40

14:40 And early ⁴²  in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, ⁴³  saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, ⁴⁴  for we have sinned.” ⁴⁵ 

Bilangan 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ⁴⁶  who acts defiantly, ⁴⁷  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ⁴⁸  the Lord. ⁴⁹  That person ⁵⁰  must be cut off ⁵¹  from among his people.

Bilangan 31:26

31:26 “You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum ⁵²  of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals.

Bilangan 4:16

4:16 “The appointed responsibility of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is for the oil for the light, and the spiced incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil; he also has ⁵³  the appointed responsibility over all the tabernacle with ⁵⁴  all that is in it, over the sanctuary and over all its furnishings.” ⁵⁵ 

Bilangan 4:27

4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether ⁵⁶  carrying loads ⁵⁷  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ⁵⁸  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ⁵⁹  as their responsibility.

Bilangan 9:10

9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ⁶⁰  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ⁶¹  observe the Passover to the Lord.

Bilangan 20:19

20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ⁶²  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 25:8

25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent ⁶³  and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. ⁶⁴  So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. ⁶⁵ 

Bilangan 31:19

Purification After Battle

31:19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

Bilangan 31:47

31:47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

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 16:12

16:12 Then Moses summoned ⁶⁶  Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up. ⁶⁷ 

Bilangan 15:3

15:3 and you make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock (whether a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a freewill offering or in your solemn feasts) to create a pleasing aroma to the Lord,

Bilangan 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ⁶⁸  will seek counsel ⁶⁹  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ⁷⁰  At his command ⁷¹  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Bilangan 23:25

Balaam Relocates Yet Again

23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all ⁷²  nor bless them at all!” ⁷³ 

Bilangan 14:11

The Punishment from God

14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ⁷⁴  me, and how long will they not believe ⁷⁵  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Bilangan 16:14

16:14 Moreover, ⁷⁶  you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind ⁷⁷  these men? We will not come up.”

Bilangan 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ⁷⁸  me now these ten times, ⁷⁹  and have not obeyed me, ⁸⁰ 

Bilangan 32:19

32:19 For we will not accept any inheritance on the other side of the Jordan River ⁸¹  and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

Bilangan 20:21

20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.

Bilangan 21:30

21:30 We have overpowered them; ⁸² 

Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.

We have shattered them as far as Nophah,

which ⁸³  reaches to Medeba.”

Bilangan 22:19

22:19 Now therefore, please stay ⁸⁴  the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me.” ⁸⁵ 

Bilangan 32:6

Moses’ Response

32:6 Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Must your brothers go to war while you ⁸⁶  remain here?

Bilangan 32:20

32:20 Then Moses replied, ⁸⁷  “If you will do this thing, and if you will arm yourselves for battle before the Lord,

Bilangan 16:21

16:21 “Separate yourselves ⁸⁸  from among this community, ⁸⁹  that I may consume them in an instant.”

Bilangan 14:43

14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”

Bilangan 16:28

16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how ⁹⁰  you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. ⁹¹ 

Bilangan 18:3

18:3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

Bilangan 23:9

23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; ⁹² 

from the hills I watch them. ⁹³ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ⁹⁴  among the nations.

Bilangan 32:9

32:9 When ⁹⁵  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ⁹⁶  the land that the Lord had given ⁹⁷  them.

Bilangan 25:3

25:3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, ⁹⁸  the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

Bilangan 15:13

15:13 “‘Every native-born person must do these things in this way to present an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Bilangan 16:10

16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek ⁹⁹  the priesthood also?

Bilangan 19:22

19:22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Bilangan 30:15

30:15 But if he should nullify them after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.” ¹⁰⁰ 

Bilangan 32:12

32:12 except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’

Bilangan 32:23

32:23 “But if you do not do this, then look, you will have sinned ¹⁰¹  against the Lord. And know that your sin will find you out.

Bilangan 32:30

32:30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must receive possessions among you in Canaan.”

Bilangan 35:24

35:24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions.

Bilangan 9:13

9:13 But ¹⁰²  the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails ¹⁰³  to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. ¹⁰⁴  Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin. ¹⁰⁵ 

Bilangan 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ¹⁰⁶  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ¹⁰⁷  I will tell you.” ¹⁰⁸  Then he went to a deserted height. ¹⁰⁹ 

Bilangan 33:55

33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living.

Bilangan 14:10

14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. ¹¹⁰  But ¹¹¹  the glory ¹¹²  of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent ¹¹³  of meeting.

Bilangan 14:23

14:23 they will by no means ¹¹⁴  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

Bilangan 15:8

15:8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord,

Bilangan 16:11

16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?” ¹¹⁵ 

Bilangan 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ¹¹⁶  with you and minister to you while ¹¹⁷  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

Bilangan 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ¹¹⁸  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ¹¹⁹  this people into our ¹²⁰  hand, then we will utterly destroy ¹²¹  their cities.”

Bilangan 22:7

22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ¹²²  to him the words of Balak.

Bilangan 22:34

22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ¹²³  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ¹²⁴  I will go back home.” ¹²⁵ 

Bilangan 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ¹²⁶  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ¹²⁷ 

Bilangan 31:28

31:28 “You must exact ¹²⁸  a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep.

Bilangan 32:10

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

Bilangan 35:12

35:12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

Bilangan 18:11

18:11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

Bilangan 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ¹²⁹  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ¹³⁰  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Bilangan 24:13

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹³¹  the commandment ¹³²  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ¹³³  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Bilangan 27:14

27:14 For ¹³⁴  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ¹³⁵  rebelled against my command ¹³⁶  to show me as holy ¹³⁷  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

Bilangan 31:30

31:30 From the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

Bilangan 32:29

32:29 Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, ¹³⁸  then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession.

[32:7]  ¹ tn Heb “heart.” So also in v. 9.

[10:30]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hobab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:41]  ³ tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”

[14:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “rose up.”

[5:3]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense functions here as a final imperfect, expressing the purpose of putting such folks outside the camp. The two preceding imperfects (repeated for emphasis) are taken here as instruction or legislation.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text literally has “and this is the work of the lampstand,” but that rendering does not convey the sense that it is describing how it was made.

[8:4]  ⁸ sn The idea is that it was all hammered from a single plate of gold.

[9:14]  ⁹ tn The words translated “resident foreigner” and “live” are from the same Hebrew root, גּוּר (gur), traditionally translated “to sojourn.” The “sojourner” who “sojourns” is a foreigner, a resident alien, who lives in the land as a temporary resident with rights of land ownership.

[9:14]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the simple perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. It is therefore the equivalent to the imperfect that comes before it. The desiderative imperfect fits this usage well, since the alien is not required to keep the feast, but may indeed desire to do so.

[9:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has “there will be to you,” which is the way of expressing possession in Hebrew. Since this is legal instruction, the imperfect tense must be instruction or legislation.

[9:14]  ¹² tn Or “you must have one statute.”

[9:14]  ¹³ tn The conjunction is used here to specify the application of the law: “and for the resident foreigner, and for the one…” indicates “both for the resident foreigner and the one who….”

[15:15]  ¹⁴ tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.

[15:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a statute forever.”

[15:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”

[16:13]  ¹⁷ tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.

[16:13]  ¹⁸ tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.

[16:13]  ¹⁹ tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).

[3:13]  ²⁰ tn The form הַכֹּתִי (hakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of the verb נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike, smite, attack”). Here, after the idiomatic “in the day of,” the form functions in an adverbial clause of time – “when I destroyed.”

[3:13]  ²¹ sn In the Exodus event of the Passover night the principle of substitution was presented. The firstborn child was redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and so belonged to God, but then God chose the Levites to serve in the place of the firstborn. The ritual of consecrating the firstborn son to the Lord was nevertheless carried out, even with Jesus, the firstborn son of Mary (Luke 2:22-23).

[8:17]  ²² tn The idiomatic “on the day of” precedes the infinitive construct of נָכָה (nakhah) to form the temporal clause: “in the day of my striking…” becomes “when I struck.”

[18:15]  ²³ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point – they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (ga’al) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).

[30:12]  ²⁴ tn The verb is the imperfect tense in the conditional clause. It is intensified with the infinitive absolute, which would have the force of saying that he nullified them unequivocally, or he made them null and void.

[30:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb whatever proceeds from her lips.”

[22:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ²⁸ sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[6:3]  ²⁹ tn The operative verb now will be the Hiphil of נָזַר (nazar); the consecration to the Lord meant separation from certain things in the world. The first will be wine and strong drink – barley beer (from Akkadian sikaru, a fermented beer). But the second word may be somewhat wider in its application than beer. The Nazirite, then, was to avoid all intoxicants as a sign of his commitment to the Lord. The restriction may have proved a hardship in the daily diet of the one taking the vow, but it spoke a protest to the corrupt religious and social world that used alcohol to excess.

[6:3]  ³⁰ tn The “vinegar” (חֹמֶץ, homets) is some kind of drink preparation that has been allowed to go sour.

[6:3]  ³¹ tn This word occurs only here. It may come from the word “to water, to be moist,” and so refer to juice.

[6:3]  ³² tn Heb “dried” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[30:13]  ³³ tn The sentence uses the infinitive construct לְעַנֹּת (lÿ’annot, “to afflict”), which is the same word used in the instructions for the day of atonement in which people are to afflict themselves (their souls). The case here may be that the woman would take a religious vow on such an occasion to humble herself, to mortify her flesh, to abstain from certain things, perhaps even sexual relations within marriage.

[30:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “or her husband can nullify.”

[3:25]  ³⁵ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a new section, listing the various duties of the clan in the sanctuary. The Gershonites had a long tradition of service here. In the days of David Asaph and his family were prominent as musicians. Others in the clan controlled the Temple treasuries. But in the wilderness they had specific oversight concerning the tent structure, which included the holy place and the holy of holies.

[18:31]  ³⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of permission.

[6:2]  ³⁷ tn The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman – when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.

[6:2]  ³⁸ tn The vow is considered special in view of the use of the verb יַפְלִא (yafli’), the Hiphil imperfect of the verb “to be wonderful, extraordinary.”

[6:2]  ³⁹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the cognate accusative: “to vow a vow.” This intensifies the idea that the vow is being taken carefully.

[6:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The name of the vow is taken from the verb that follows; נָזַר (nazar) means “to consecrate oneself,” and so the Nazirite is a consecrated one. These are folks who would make a decision to take an oath for a time or for a lifetime to be committed to the Lord and show signs of separation from the world. Samuel was to be a Nazirite, as the fragment of the text from Qumran confirms – “he will be a נָזִיר (nazir) forever” (1 Sam 1:22).

[6:2]  ⁴¹ tn The form of the verb is an Hiphil infinitive construct, forming the wordplay and explanation for the name Nazirite. The Hiphil is here an internal causative, having the meaning of “consecrate oneself” or just “consecrate to the Lord.”

[14:40]  ⁴² tn The verb וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ (vayyashkimu) is often found in a verbal hendiadys construction: “They rose early…and they went up” means “they went up early.”

[14:40]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew text says literally “the top of the hill,” but judging from the location and the terrain it probably means the heights of the hill country.

[14:40]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb is simply “said,” but it means the place that the Lord said to go up to in order to fight.

[14:40]  ⁴⁵ sn Their sin was unbelief. They could have gone and conquered the area if they had trusted the Lord for their victory. They did not, and so they were condemned to perish in the wilderness. Now, thinking that by going they can undo all that, they plan to go. But this is also disobedience, for the Lord said they would not now take the land, and yet they think they can. Here is their second sin, presumption.

[15:30]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁴⁷ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ⁴⁹ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁵¹ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[31:26]  ⁵² tn The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.

[4:16]  ⁵³ tn This is supplied to the line to clarify “appointed.”

[4:16]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and.”

[4:16]  ⁵⁵ sn One would assume that he would prepare and wrap these items, but that the Kohathites would carry them to the next place.

[4:27]  ⁵⁶ tn The term “whether” is supplied to introduce the enumerated parts of the explanatory phrase.

[4:27]  ⁵⁷ tn Here again is the use of the noun “burden” in the sense of the loads they were to carry (see the use of carts in Num 7:7).

[4:27]  ⁵⁸ tn The expression is literally “upon/at the mouth of” (עַל־פִּי, ’al-pi); it means that the work of these men would be under the direct orders of Aaron and his sons.

[4:27]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “burden.”

[9:10]  ⁶⁰ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

[9:10]  ⁶¹ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.

[20:19]  ⁶² 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.”

[25:8]  ⁶³ tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).

[25:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.

[25:8]  ⁶⁵ sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.

[16:12]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “Moses sent to summon.” The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition does not mean “call to” but “summon.” This is a command performance; for them to appear would be to submit to Moses’ authority. This they will not do.

[16:12]  ⁶⁷ tn The imperfect tense נַעֲלֶה (na’aleh) expresses their unwillingness to report: “we are not willing,” or “we will not.” The verb means “to go up.” It is used in the sense of appearing before an authority or a superior (see, e.g., Gen 46:31; Deut 25:7; Judg 4:5).

[27:21]  ⁶⁸ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ⁷⁰ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[23:25]  ⁷² tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.

[23:25]  ⁷³ tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism – “don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.

[14:11]  ⁷⁴ tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.

[14:11]  ⁷⁵ tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.

[16:14]  ⁷⁶ tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.

[16:14]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “will you bore out the eyes of these men?” The question is “Will you continue to mislead them?” (or “hoodwink” them). In Deut 16:19 it is used for taking a bribe; something like that kind of deception is intended here. They are simply stating that Moses is a deceiver who is misleading the people with false promises.

[14:22]  ⁷⁸ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ⁷⁹ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[32:19]  ⁸¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:30]  ⁸² tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).

[21:30]  ⁸³ tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “devastation”).

[22:19]  ⁸⁴ tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).

[22:19]  ⁸⁵ tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the Lord might add to speak,” meaning, “what more the Lord might say.”

[32:6]  ⁸⁶ tn The vav (ו) is a vav disjunctive prefixed to the pronoun; it fits best here as a circumstantial clause, “while you stay here.”

[32:20]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “said to them.”

[16:21]  ⁸⁸ tn The verb is הִבָּדְלוּ (hibbadÿlu), the Niphal imperative of בָּדַל (badal). This is the same word that was just used when Moses reminded the Levites that they had been separated from the community to serve the Lord.

[16:21]  ⁸⁹ sn The group of people siding with Korah is meant, and not the entire community of the people of Israel. They are an assembly of rebels, their “community” consisting in their common plot.

[16:28]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “in this.”

[16:28]  ⁹¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak – and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.

[23:9]  ⁹² tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ⁹³ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ⁹⁴ tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.

[32:9]  ⁹⁵ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

[32:9]  ⁹⁶ tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

[32:9]  ⁹⁷ tn The Lord had not given it yet, but was going to give it. Hence, the perfect should be classified as a perfect of resolve.

[25:3]  ⁹⁸ tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal-peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.

[25:3]  sn The evidence indicates that Moab was part of the very corrupt Canaanite world, a world that was given over to the fertility ritual of the times.

[16:10]  ⁹⁹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”

[16:10]  sn Moses discerned correctly the real motivation for the rebellion. Korah wanted to be the high priest because he saw how much power there was in the spiritual leadership in Israel. He wanted something like a general election with himself as the candidate and his supporters promoting him. The great privilege of being a Levite and serving in the sanctuary was not enough for him – the status did not satisfy him. Korah gave no rebuttal. The test would be one of ministering with incense. This would bring them into direct proximity with the Lord. If God honored Korah as a ministering priest, then it would be settled. But Moses accuses them of rebellion against the Lord, because the Lord had chosen Aaron to be the priest.

[30:15]  ¹⁰⁰ sn In other words, he will pay the penalty for making her break her vows if he makes her stop what she vowed. It will not be her responsibility.

[32:23]  ¹⁰¹ tn The nuance of the perfect tense here has to be the future perfect.

[9:13]  ¹⁰² tn The disjunctive vav (ו) signals a contrastive clause here: “but the man” on the other hand….

[9:13]  ¹⁰³ tn The verb חָדַל (khadal) means “to cease; to leave off; to fail.” The implication here is that it is a person who simply neglects to do it. It does not indicate that he forgot, but more likely that he made the decision to leave it undone.

[9:13]  ¹⁰⁴ sn The pronouncement of such a person’s penalty is that his life will be cut off from his people. There are at least three possible interpretations for this: physical death at the hand of the community (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 84-85), physical and/or spiritual death at the hand of God (J. Milgrom, “A Prolegomenon to Lev 17:11,” JBL 90 [1971]: 154-55), or excommunication or separation from the community (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 109). The direct intervention of God seem to be the most likely in view of the lack of directions for the community to follow. Excommunication from the camp in the wilderness would have been tantamount to a death sentence by the community, and so there really are just two views.

[9:13]  ¹⁰⁵ tn The word for “sin” here should be interpreted to mean the consequences of his sin (so a metonymy of effect). Whoever willingly violates the Law will have to pay the consequences.

[23:3]  ¹⁰⁶ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

[23:3]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

[23:3]  ¹⁰⁸ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

[23:3]  ¹⁰⁹ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.

[14:10]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.

[14:10]  ¹¹¹ tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.

[14:10]  ¹¹² sn The glory of the Lord refers to the reality of the Lord’s presence in a manifestation of his power and splendor. It showed to all that God was a living God. The appearance of the glory indicated blessing for the obedient, but disaster for the disobedient.

[14:10]  ¹¹³ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”

[14:23]  ¹¹⁴ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

[16:11]  ¹¹⁵ sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the Lord that they had been murmuring because the Lord had put Aaron in that position.

[18:2]  ¹¹⁶ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ¹¹⁷ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[21:2]  ¹¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ¹¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ¹²¹ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[22:7]  ¹²² tn Heb “spoke.”

[22:34]  ¹²³ sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ¹²⁴ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ¹²⁵ tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[24:14]  ¹²⁶ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

[31:28]  ¹²⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil, “you shall cause to be taken up.” The perfect with vav (ו) continues the sequence of the instructions. This raised offering was to be a tax of one-fifth of one percent for the Lord.

[22:22]  ¹²⁹ sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

[22:22]  ¹³⁰ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[24:13]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ¹³² tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ¹³³ tn Heb “from my heart.”

[27:14]  ¹³⁴ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ¹³⁵ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ¹³⁷ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.

[32:29]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “and the land is subdued before you.”