Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ¹  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ² 

Numbers 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ³ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 15:29

15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Numbers 15:1

Sacrificial Rulings

15:1 ⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 2:13

2:13 Those numbered in his division are 59,300.

Numbers 2:2

2:2 “Every one ⁵  of the Israelites must camp ⁶  under his standard with the emblems of his family; ⁷  they must camp at some distance ⁸  around the tent of meeting. ⁹ 

Numbers 2:13

2:13 Those numbered in his division are 59,300.

Hebrews 6:17-18

6:17 In the same way ¹⁰  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ¹¹  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹²  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

¹ tn Heb “son of man.”

² tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

³ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

⁴ sn The wilderness wandering officially having begun, these rules were then given for the people to be used when they finally entered the land. That they would be provided here would be of some encouragement to the nation after their great failure. God still spoke of a land that was to be their land, even though they had sinned greatly. This chapter collects a number of religious rules. The first 16 verses deal with rulings for sacrifices. Then, vv. 17-36 concerns sins of omission. Finally, rules concerning tassels are covered (vv. 37-41). For additional reading, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925); B. A. Levine, In the Presence of the Lord (SJLA); D. J. McCarthy, “The Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” JBL 88 (1969): 166-76; “Further Notes on the Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” JBL 92 (1973): 205-10; J. Milgrom, “Sin Offering or Purification Offering,” VT 21 (1971): 237-39; N. H. Snaith, “Sacrifices in the Old Testament,” VT 7 (1957): 308-17; R. J. Thompson, Penitence and Sacrifice in Early Israel; R. de Vaux, Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice.

⁵ tn Heb “a man by his own standard.”

⁶ tn The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction.

⁷ tn Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew expression מִנֶּגֶד (minneged) means “from before” or “opposite; facing” and “at some distance” or “away from the front of” (see BDB 617 s.v. נֶגֶד 2.c.a; DCH 5:603-4 s.v. 3.b).

⁹ sn The Israelites were camping as a military camp, each tribe with the standards and emblems of the family. The standard was the symbol fastened to the end of a pole and carried to battle. It served to rally the tribe to the battle. The Bible nowhere describes these, although the serpent emblem of Numbers 21:8-9 may give a clue. But they probably did not have shapes of animals in view of the prohibition in the Decalogue. The standards may have been smaller for the families than the ones for the tribes. See further K. A. Kitchen, “Some Egyptian Background to the Old Testament,” TynBul 5 (1960): 11; and T. W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Tradition, 169-73.

¹⁰ tn Grk “in which.”

¹¹ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

¹² tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.