Numbers 11:21-22

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 11:22 Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”

Numbers 11:2

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

Numbers 20:20

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force.

Isaiah 7:9

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.”

Matthew 17:17

17:17 Jesus answered, 10  “You 11  unbelieving 12  and perverse generation! How much longer 13  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure 14  you? 15  Bring him here to me.”

Matthew 17:20

17:20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, 16  if you have faith the size of 17  a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing 18  will be impossible for you.”

Luke 1:20

1:20 And now, 19  because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, 20  you will be silent, unable to speak, 21  until the day these things take place.”

Luke 1:45

1:45 And blessed 22  is she who believed that 23  what was spoken to her by 24  the Lord would be fulfilled.” 25 

Romans 4:20

4:20 He 26  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

tn Heb “Moses.”

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).

tn Heb “to meet him.”

tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, taaminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, teamenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.

10 tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

11 tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

12 tn Or “faithless.”

13 tn Grk “how long.”

14 tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

15 sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

16 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

17 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

18 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

19 tn Grk “behold.”

20 sn The predicted fulfillment in the expression my words, which will be fulfilled in their time takes place in Luke 1:63-66.

21 sn Silent, unable to speak. Actually Zechariah was deaf and mute as 1:61-63 indicates, since others had to use gestures to communicate with him.

22 sn Again the note of being blessed makes the key point of the passage about believing God.

23 tn This ὅτι (Joti) clause, technically indirect discourse after πιστεύω (pisteuw), explains the content of the faith, a belief in God’s promise coming to pass.

24 tn That is, “what was said to her (by the angel) at the Lord’s command” (BDAG 756 s.v. παρά A.2).

25 tn Grk “that there would be a fulfillment of what was said to her from the Lord.”

26 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.