Bilangan 4:3

4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company ¹  to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 6:18

6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head ²  at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire ³  where the peace offering is burning. ⁴ 

Bilangan 11:10

Moses’ Complaint to the Lord

11:10 ⁵ Moses heard the people weeping ⁶  throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. ⁷ 

Bilangan 12:10

12:10 When ⁸  the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became ⁹  leprous ¹⁰  as snow. Then Aaron looked at ¹¹  Miriam, and she was leprous!

Bilangan 16:18

16:18 So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.

Bilangan 18:6

18:6 I myself have chosen ¹²  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ¹³  of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 18:21

18:21 See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform – the service of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 33:8

33:8 They traveled from Pi-hahiroth, ¹⁴  and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped in Marah.

[4:3]  ¹ tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsava’). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”

[6:18]  ² tn Some versions simply interpret this to say that he shaves his hair, for it is the hair that is the sign of the consecration to God. But the text says he shaves his consecrated head. The whole person is obviously consecrated to God – not just the head. But the symbolic act of cutting the hair shows that the vow has been completed (see Acts 21:23-24). The understanding of the importance of the hair in the ancient world has been the subject of considerable study over the years (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 436; and J. A. Thompson, “Numbers,” New Bible Commentary: Revised, 177).

[6:18]  ³ sn Some commentators see this burning of the hair as an offering (McNeile, Numbers, 35; G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 68). But others probably with more foundation see it as destroying something that has served a purpose, something that if left alone might be venerated (see R. de Vaux, Israel, 436).

[6:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “which is under the peace offering.” The verse does not mean that the hair had to be put under that sacrifice and directly on the fire.

[11:10]  ⁵ sn Moses begins to feel the burden of caring for this people, a stubborn and rebellious people. His complaint shows how contagious their complaining has been. It is one thing to cry out to God about the load of ministry, but it is quite another to do it in such a way as to reflect a lack of faith in God’s provision. God has to remind the leader Moses that he, the Lord, can do anything. This is a variation on the theme from Exodus – “who am I that I should lead….”

[11:10]  ⁶ tn The participle “weeping” is functioning here as the noun in the accusative case, an adverbial accusative of state. It is explicative of the object.

[11:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “it was evil in the eyes of Moses.”

[12:10]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) is here introducing a circumstantial clause of time.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn There is no verb “became” in this line. The second half of the line is introduced with the particle הִנֵה (hinneh, “look, behold”) in its archaic sense. This deictic use is intended to make the reader focus on Miriam as well.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ sn The word “leprosy” and “leprous” covers a wide variety of skin diseases, and need not be limited to the actual disease of leprosy known today as Hansen’s disease. The description of it here has to do with snow, either the whiteness or the wetness. If that is the case then there would be open wounds and sores – like Job’s illness (see M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 95-96).

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “turned to.”

[18:6]  ¹² tn Heb “taken.”

[18:6]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (’avad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.

[33:8]  ¹⁴ tc So many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate. Other witnesses have “from before Hahiroth.”