11:1 7 When the people complained, 8 it displeased 9 the Lord. When the Lord heard 10 it, his anger burned, 11 and so 12 the fire of the Lord 13 burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.
3:11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether 22 carrying loads 23 or for any of their work, will be at the direction of 24 Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks 25 as their responsibility. 4:28 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites concerning the tent of meeting. Their responsibilities will be under the authority 26 of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 27
4:29 “As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their families and by their clans.
16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little 29 is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
1 tn Heb “and he arose” meaning “started to go.”
2 tn Heb “and.”
3 tn The form is the Piel participle מְשָׁרֵת (mÿsharet), meaning “minister, servant, assistant.” The word has a loftier meaning than the ordinary word for slave.
4 tn The verb is בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”); here the form is the masculine plural participle with a suffix, serving as the object of the preposition מִן (min). It would therefore mean “[one of] his chosen men,” or “[one of] his choice men.”
5 tn Heb “answered and said.”
6 sn The effort of Joshua is to protect Moses’ prerogative as leader by stopping these men in the camp from prophesying. Joshua did not understand the significance in the
5 sn The chapter includes the initial general complaints (vv. 1-3), the complaints about food (vv. 4-9), Moses’ own complaint to the
6 tn The temporal clause uses the Hitpoel infinitive construct from אָנַן (’anan). It is a rare word, occurring in Lam 3:39. With this blunt introduction the constant emphasis of obedience to the word of the
7 tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the
8 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.
9 tn The common Hebrew expression uses the verb חָרָה (harah, “to be hot, to burn, to be kindled”). The subject is אַפּוֹ (’appo), “his anger” or more literally, his nose, which in this anthropomorphic expression flares in rage. The emphasis is superlative – “his anger raged.”
10 tn The vav (ו) consecutive does not simply show sequence in the verbs, but here expresses the result of the anger of the
11 sn The “fire of the
7 tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.
8 tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.
9 sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.
9 tn Heb “speak to.”
10 tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.
11 tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.
12 sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.
13 tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”
11 tn The term “whether” is supplied to introduce the enumerated parts of the explanatory phrase.
12 tn Here again is the use of the noun “burden” in the sense of the loads they were to carry (see the use of carts in Num 7:7).
13 tn The expression is literally “upon/at the mouth of” (עַל־פִּי, ’al-pi); it means that the work of these men would be under the direct orders of Aaron and his sons.
14 tn Or “burden.”
13 tn Or “the direction” (NASB, TEV); Heb “under/by the hand of.” The word “hand” is often used idiomatically for “power” or “authority.” So also in vv. 33, 37, 45, 48.
14 sn The material here suggests that Eleazar had heavier responsibilities than Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth and youngest son. It is the first indication that the Zadokite Levites would take precedence over the Ithamar Levites (see 1 Chr 24:3-6).
15 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
17 sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.