Numbers 11:2

11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ¹  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ² 

Numbers 12:13

12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” ³ 

Numbers 20:16

20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ⁴  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ⁵  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “Moses.”

² 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).

³ tc Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’”

⁵ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

⁷ tn Heb “your border.”