Numbers 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back ¹  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ²  They reported ³  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Numbers 14:2

14:2 And all the Israelites murmured ⁴  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ⁵  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ⁶  in this wilderness!

Numbers 25:6

25:6 Just then ⁷  one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers ⁸  a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of ⁹  the whole community of the Israelites, while they ¹⁰  were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 27:3

27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, although ¹¹  he was not part of ¹²  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ¹³  and he had no sons.

Numbers 31:12

31:12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the plains ¹⁴  of Moab, along the Jordan River ¹⁵  across from Jericho. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.

² sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

³ tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

⁴ tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.

⁵ tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.

⁶ tn Heb “died.”

⁷ tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.

⁸ tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”

⁹ tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”

¹⁰ tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

¹² tn The word order is emphatic: “but in/on account of his own sins he died.”

¹³ tn Or “steppes.”

¹⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Again this expression, “the Jordan of Jericho,” is used. It describes the intended location along the Jordan River, the Jordan next to or across from Jericho.