Numbers 1:50

1:50 But appoint ¹  the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, ²  over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry ³  the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they ⁴  must attend to it and camp around it. ⁵ 

Numbers 16:5

16:5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person ⁶  to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him.

Numbers 16:40

16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of ⁷  Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority ⁸  of Moses.

Numbers 21:34

21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

Numbers 22:5

22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam ⁹  son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River ¹⁰  in the land of Amaw, ¹¹  to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face ¹²  of the earth, and they are settling next to me.

Numbers 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Numbers 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ¹³  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ¹⁴  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Numbers 27:3

27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, although ¹⁵  he was not part of ¹⁶  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ¹⁷  and he had no sons.

Numbers 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹⁸  will seek counsel ¹⁹  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ²⁰  At his command ²¹  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

¹ tn The same verb translated “number” (פָּקַד, paqad) is now used to mean “appoint” (הַפְקֵד, hafqed), which focuses more on the purpose of the verbal action of numbering people. Here the idea is that the Levites were appointed to take care of the tabernacle. On the use of this verb with the Levites’ appointment, see M. Gertner, “The Masorah and the Levites,” VT 10 (1960): 252.

² tn The Hebrew name used here is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan ha’edut). The tabernacle or dwelling place of the Lord was given this name because it was here that the tablets of the Law were kept. The whole shrine was therefore a reminder (הָעֵדוּת, a “warning sign” or “testimony”) of the stipulations of the covenant. For the ancient Near Eastern customs of storing the code in the sanctuaries, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King, 14-19, and idem, The Structure of Biblical Authority, 35-36. Other items were in the ark in the beginning, but by the days of Solomon only the tablets were there (1 Kgs 8:9).

³ tn The imperfect tense here is an obligatory imperfect telling that they are bound to do this since they are appointed for this specific task.

⁴ tn The addition of the pronoun before the verb is emphatic – they are the ones who are to attend to the tabernacle. The verb used is שָׁרַת (sharat) in the Piel, indicating that they are to serve, minister to, attend to all the details about this shrine.

⁵ tn Heb “the tabernacle.” The pronoun (“it”) was used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “him.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from the seed of.”

¹² tn Heb “hand.”

¹⁶ sn There is much literature on pagan diviners and especially prophecy in places in the east like Mari (see, for example, H. B. Huffmon, “Prophecy in the Mari Letters,” BA 31 [1968]: 101-24). Balaam appears to be a pagan diviner who was of some reputation; he was called to curse the Israelites, but God intervened and gave him blessings only. The passage forms a nice complement to texts that deal with blessings and curses. It shows that no one can curse someone whom God has blessed.

¹⁷ tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

¹⁸ tn Heb “in the land of Amaw” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV); traditionally “in the land of the sons of his people.” The LXX has “by the river of the land.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.

²¹ sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

²² tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

²⁶ tn This clause begins with a vav (ו) on a pronoun, marking it out as a disjunctive vav. In this context it fits best to take it as a circumstantial clause introducing concession.

²⁷ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

²⁸ tn The word order is emphatic: “but in/on account of his own sins he died.”

³¹ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

³² tn Heb “ask.”

³³ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

³⁴ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.