Bilangan 8:12

8:12 When ¹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ²  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ³  to make atonement for the Levites.

Bilangan 16:13

16:13 Is it a small thing ⁴  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ⁵  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ⁶  over us?

Bilangan 19:9

19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept ⁷  for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification ⁸  – it is a purification for sin. ⁹ 

Bilangan 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ¹⁰  detest this worthless ¹¹  food.”

Bilangan 22:6

22:6 So ¹²  now, please come and curse this nation ¹³  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ¹⁴  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ¹⁵  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Bilangan 27:11

27:11 and if his father has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his relative nearest to him from his family, and he will possess it. This will be for the Israelites a legal requirement, ¹⁶  as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Bilangan 32:17

32:17 but we will maintain ourselves in armed readiness ¹⁷  and go before the Israelites until whenever we have brought them to their place. Our descendants will be living in fortified towns as a protection against ¹⁸  the inhabitants of the land.

[8:12]  ¹ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

[8:12]  ² tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ³ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

[16:13]  ⁴ tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.

[16:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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).

[19:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “it will be.”

[19:9]  ⁸ tn The expression לְמֵי נִדָּה (lÿme niddah) is “for waters of impurity.” The genitive must designate the purpose of the waters – they are for cases of impurity, and so serve for cleansing or purifying, thus “water of purification.” The word “impurity” can also mean “abhorrent” because it refers to so many kinds of impurities. It is also called a purification offering; Milgrom notes that this is fitting because the sacrificial ritual involved transfers impurity from the purified to the purifier (pp. 62-72).

[19:9]  ⁹ sn The ashes were to be stored somewhere outside the camp to be used in a water portion for cleansing someone who was defiled. This is a ritual that was enacted in the wilderness; it is something of a restoring rite for people alienated from community.

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[22:6]  ¹² tn The two lines before this verse begin with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), and so they lay the foundation for these imperatives. In view of those circumstances, this is what should happen.

[22:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 10, 17, 41.

[22:6]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense אוּכַל (’ukhal, “I will be able”) followed by the imperfect tense נַכֶּה (nakkeh, “we will smite/attack/defeat”). The second verb is clearly the purpose or the result of the first, even though there is no conjunction or particle.

[22:6]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of בָּרַךְ (barakh), with the nuance of possibility: “whomever you may bless.” The Pual participle מְבֹרָךְ (mÿvorakh) serves as the predicate.

[27:11]  ¹⁶ tn The expression is חֻקַּת מִשְׁפָּט (khuqqat mishpat, “a statute of judgment”), which means it is a fixed enactment that determines justice. It is one which is established by God.

[32:17]  ¹⁷ tn The MT has חֻשִׁים (khushim); the verbal root is חוּשׁ (khush, “to make haste” or “hurry”). But in light of the Greek and Latin Vulgate the Hebrew should probably be emended to חֲמֻשִׁים (hamushim), a qal passive participle meaning “in battle array.” See further BDB 301 s.v. I חוּשׁ, BDB 332 s.v. חֲמֻשִׁים; HALOT 300 s.v. I חושׁ, חישׁ; HALOT 331 s.v. I חמשׁ.

[32:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from before.”