Bilangan 5:2

5:2 “Command the Israelites to expel ¹  from the camp every leper, ²  everyone who has a discharge, ³  and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. ⁴ 

Bilangan 5:26

5:26 Then the priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

Bilangan 11:29

11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? ⁵  I wish that ⁶  all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Bilangan 13:2

13:2 “Send out men to investigate ⁷  the land of Canaan, which I am giving ⁸  to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, ⁹  each one a leader among them.”

Bilangan 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back ¹⁰  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ¹¹  They reported ¹²  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Bilangan 14:8

14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey. ¹³ 

Bilangan 15:22

Rules for Unintentional Offenses

15:22 ¹⁴ “‘If you ¹⁵  sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –

Bilangan 19:17

19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take ¹⁶  some of the ashes of the heifer ¹⁷  burnt for purification from sin and pour ¹⁸  fresh running ¹⁹  water over them in a vessel.

Bilangan 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ²⁰  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ²¹  rebelled against my word ²²  at the waters of Meribah.

Bilangan 22:37

22:37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again ²³  to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ²⁴ 

Bilangan 30:16

30:16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses, relating to ²⁵  a man and his wife, and a father and his young daughter who is still living in her father’s house.

Bilangan 31:6

Campaign Against the Midianites

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge ²⁶  of the holy articles ²⁷  and the signal trumpets.

Bilangan 32:9

32:9 When ²⁸  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ²⁹  the land that the Lord had given ³⁰  them.

Bilangan 36:13

36:13 These are the commandments and the decisions that the Lord commanded the Israelites through the authority ³¹  of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River ³²  opposite Jericho. ³³ 

[5:2]  ¹ tn The construction uses the Piel imperative followed by this Piel imperfect/jussive form; it is here subordinated to the preceding volitive, providing the content of the command. The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) in this verbal stem is a strong word, meaning “expel, put out, send away, or release” (as in “let my people go”).

[5:2]  ² sn The word צָרוּעַ (tsarua’), although translated “leper,” does not primarily refer to leprosy proper (i.e., Hansen’s disease). The RSV and the NASB continued the KJV tradition of using “leper” and “leprosy.” More recent studies have concluded that the Hebrew word is a generic term covering all infectious skin diseases (including leprosy when that actually showed up). True leprosy was known and feared certainly by the time of Amos (ca. 760 b.c.). There is evidence that the disease was known in Egypt by 1500 b.c. So this term would include that disease in all probability. But in view of the diagnosis and healing described in Leviticus 13 and 14, the term must be broader. The whole basis for the laws of separation may be found in the book of Leviticus. The holiness of the Lord who dwelt among his people meant that a high standard was imposed on them for their living arrangements as well as access to the sanctuary. Anything that was corrupted, diseased, dying, or contaminated was simply not compatible with the holiness of God and was therefore excluded. This is not to say that it was treated as sin, or the afflicted as sinners. It simply was revealing – and safeguarding – the holiness of the Lord. It thus provided a revelation for all time that in the world to come nothing unclean will enter into the heavenly sanctuary. As the Apostle Paul says, we will all be changed from this corruptible body into one that is incorruptible (1 Cor 15:53). So while the laws of purity and holiness were practical for the immediate audience, they have far-reaching implications for theology. The purity regulations have been done away with in Christ – the problem is dealt with differently in the new covenant. There is no earthly temple, and so the separation laws are not in force. Wisdom would instruct someone with an infectious disease to isolate, however. But just because the procedure is fulfilled in Christ does not mean that believers today are fit for glory just as they are. On the contrary, they must be changed before going into his presence. In like manner the sacrifices have been done away in Christ – not what they covered. Sin is still sin, even though it is dealt with differently on this side of the cross. But the ritual and the regulations of the old covenant at Sinai have been fulfilled in Christ.

[5:2]  ³ sn The rules of discharge (Lev 12 and 15) include everything from menstruation to chronic diseases (see G. Wyper, ISBE 1:947, as well as R. K. Harrison, Leviticus (TOTC), 158-66, and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus (NICOT), 217-25.

[5:2]  ⁴ tn The word is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), which usually simply means “[whole] life,” i.e., the soul in the body, the person. But here it must mean the corpse, the dead person, since that is what will defile (although it was also possible to become unclean by touching certain diseased people, such as a leper).

[11:29]  ⁵ tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?

[11:29]  ⁶ tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.

[13:2]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It can thus be translated “send…to investigate.”

[13:2]  ⁸ tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”

[13:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”

[13:26]  ¹⁰ tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.

[13:26]  ¹¹ sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

[13:26]  ¹² tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

[14:8]  ¹³ tn The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21,22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8-9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).

[15:22]  ¹⁴ sn These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4-7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.

[15:22]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.

[19:17]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.

[19:17]  ¹⁷ tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.

[19:17]  ¹⁸ tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.

[19:17]  ¹⁹ tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.

[20:24]  ²⁰ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ²¹ tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ²² tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:37]  ²³ tn The emphatic construction is made of the infinitive absolute and the perfect tense from the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “to send”). The idea must be more intense than something like, “Did I not certainly send.” Balak is showing frustration with Balaam for refusing him.

[22:37]  ²⁴ sn Balak again refers to his ability to “honor” the seer. This certainly meant payment for his service, usually gold ornaments, rings and jewelry, as well as some animals.

[30:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “between.”

[31:6]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the idiom that these “were in his hand,” meaning that he had the responsibility over them.

[31:6]  ²⁷ sn It is not clear what articles from the sanctuary were included. Tg. Ps.-J. adds (interpretively) “the Urim and Thummim.”

[32:9]  ²⁸ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

[32:9]  ²⁹ tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

[32:9]  ³⁰ 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.

[36:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “by the hand.”

[36:13]  ³² tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[36:13]  ³³ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.