Bilangan 6:4

6:4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed ¹  to skin. ² 

Bilangan 8:3

8:3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Bilangan 11:2

11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ³  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ⁴ 

Bilangan 17:13

17:13 (17:28) ⁵  Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?” ⁶ 

Bilangan 29:15

29:15 and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs,

[6:4]  ¹ tn This word also is rare, occurring only here.

[6:4]  ² sn Here is another hapax legomenon, a word only found here. The word seems linked to the verb “to be clear,” and so may mean the thin skin of the grape. The reason for the strictness with these two words in this verse is uncertain. We know the actual meanings of the words, and the combination must form a merism here, meaning no part of the grape could be eaten. Abstaining from these common elements of food was to be a mark of commitment to the Lord. Hos 3:1 even denounces the raisin cakes as part of a pagan world, and eating them would be a violation of the oath.

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “Moses.”

[11:2]  ⁴ sn Here is the pattern that will become in the wilderness experience so common – the complaining turns to a cry to Moses, which is then interpreted as a prayer to the Lord, and there is healing. The sequence presents a symbolic lesson, an illustration of the intercession of the Holy Spirit. The NT will say that in times of suffering Christians do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for them, changing their cries into the proper prayers (Rom 8).

[17:13]  ⁵ sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.

[17:13]  ⁶ tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).