Bilangan 5:21

5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse ¹  and will say ²  to the her, “The Lord make you an attested curse ³  among your people, ⁴  if the Lord makes ⁵  your thigh fall away ⁶  and your abdomen swell; ⁷ 

Bilangan 14:10

14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. ⁸  But ⁹  the glory ¹⁰  of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent ¹¹  of meeting.

Bilangan 16:9

16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them?

Bilangan 16:19

16:19 When ¹²  Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

Bilangan 16:28

16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how ¹³  you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. ¹⁴ 

Bilangan 21:8

21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks ¹⁵  at it, he will live.”

Bilangan 21:16

21:16 And from there they traveled ¹⁶  to Beer; ¹⁷  that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”

Bilangan 22:11

22:11 “Look, a nation has come out ¹⁸  of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them ¹⁹  and drive them out.” ²⁰ 

Bilangan 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ²¹  the word that I will speak to you.” ²²  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Bilangan 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ²³  to speak ²⁴  just anything? I must speak ²⁵  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Bilangan 23:29

23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

Bilangan 28:2

28:2 “Command the Israelites: ²⁶  ‘With regard to my offering, ²⁷  be sure to offer ²⁸  my food for my offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to me at its appointed time.’ ²⁹ 

[5:21]  ¹ sn For information on such curses, see M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92; A. C. Thiselton, “The Supposed Power of Words in the Biblical Writings,” JTS 25 (1974): 283-99; and F. C. Fensham, “Malediction and Benediction in Ancient Vassal Treaties and the Old Testament,” ZAW 74 (1962): 1-9.

[5:21]  ² tn Heb “the priest will say.”

[5:21]  ³ tn This interpretation takes the two nouns as a hendiadys. The literal wording is “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among the people.” In what sense would she be an oath? The point of the whole passage is that the priest is making her take an oath to see if she has been sinful and will be cursed.

[5:21]  ⁴ sn The outcome of this would be that she would be quoted by people in such forms of expression as an oath or a curse (see Jer 29:22).

[5:21]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition to form an adverbial clause: “in the giving of the Lord…,” meaning, “if and when the Lord makes such and such to happen.”

[5:21]  ⁶ tn TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”

[5:21]  ⁷ sn Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”

[14:10]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.

[14:10]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”

[16:19]  ¹² tn This clause is clearly foundational for the clause that follows, the appearance of the Lord; therefore it should be subordinated to the next as a temporal clause (one preterite followed by another preterite may be so subordinated).

[16:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “in this.”

[16:28]  ¹⁴ 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.

[21:8]  ¹⁵ tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”

[21:16]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

[22:11]  ¹⁸ tn In this passage the text differs slightly; here it is “the nation that comes out,” using the article on the noun, and the active participle in the attributive adjective usage.

[22:11]  ¹⁹ tn Here the infinitive construct is used to express the object or complement of the verb “to be able” (it answers the question of what he will be able to do).

[22:11]  ²⁰ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. It either carries the force of an imperfect tense, or it may be subordinated to the preceding verbs.

[22:35]  ²¹ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ²² tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[22:38]  ²³ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ²⁴ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[28:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and say to them.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[28:2]  ²⁷ tn Th sentence begins with the accusative “my offering.” It is suspended at the beginning as an independent accusative to itemize the subject matter. The second accusative is the formal object of the verb. It could also be taken in apposition to the first accusative.

[28:2]  ²⁸ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense expressing instruction, followed by the infinitive construct used to express the complement of direct object.

[28:2]  ²⁹ sn See L. R. Fisher, “New Ritual Calendar from Ugarit,” HTR 63 (1970): 485-501.