Numbers 11:34

11:34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, ¹  because there they buried the people that craved different food. ² 

Numbers 15:36

15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, ³  just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Numbers 21:6

21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous ⁴  snakes ⁵  among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.

Numbers 23:6

23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still ⁶  standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

Numbers 25:3

25:3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, ⁷  the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

Numbers 25:5

25:5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men ⁸  who were joined to Baal-peor.”

Numbers 26:3

26:3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River ⁹  across from Jericho. ¹⁰  They said,

Numbers 32:31

32:31 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has spoken. ¹¹ 

Numbers 35:20

35:20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally ¹²  so that he dies,

¹ sn The name “the graves of the ones who craved” is again explained by a wordplay, a popular etymology. In Hebrew קִבְרוֹת הַתַּאֲוָה (qivrot hatta’avah) is the technical name. It is the place that the people craved the meat, longing for the meat of Egypt, and basically rebelled against God. The naming marks another station in the wilderness where the people failed to accept God’s good gifts with grace and to pray for their other needs to be met.

² tn The words “different food” are implied, and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”

⁵ tn Heb “fiery.”

⁶ tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.

⁷ tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.

⁹ tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal-peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.

¹¹ tn Heb “slay – a man his men.” The imperative is plural, and so “man” is to be taken collectively as “each of you men.”

¹³ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in v. 62).

¹⁴ map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

¹⁵ tn Heb “that which the Lord has spoken to your servants, thus we will do.”

¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.”