Numbers 18:30

18:30 “Therefore you will say to them, ¹  ‘When you offer up ²  the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress.

Numbers 5:12

5:12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,

Numbers 6:2

6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman ³  takes a special vow, ⁴  to take a vow ⁵  as a Nazirite, ⁶  to separate ⁷  himself to the Lord,

Numbers 8:2

8:2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up ⁸  the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light ⁹  in front of the lampstand.’”

Numbers 15:2

15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land where you are to live, ¹⁰  which I am giving you, ¹¹ 

Numbers 15:18

15:18 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you ¹² 

Numbers 28:2-3

28:2 “Command the Israelites: ¹³  ‘With regard to my offering, ¹⁴  be sure to offer ¹⁵  my food for my offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to me at its appointed time.’ ¹⁶  28:3 You will say to them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you must offer to the Lord: two unblemished lambs one year old each day for a continual ¹⁷  burnt offering.

Numbers 33:51

33:51 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

Numbers 35:10

35:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River ¹⁸  into the land of Canaan,

Numbers 15:38

15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make ¹⁹  tassels ²⁰  for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread ²¹  on the tassel of the corners.

Numbers 18:26

18:26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up ²²  from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.

Numbers 34:2

34:2 “Give these instructions ²³  to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance, ²⁴  the land of Canaan with its borders,

¹ tn The wording of this verse is confusing; it may be that it is addressed to the priests, telling them how to deal with the offerings of the Levites.

² tn The clause begins with the infinitive construct with its preposition and suffixed subject serving to indicate the temporal clause.

³ tn The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman – when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.

⁴ tn The vow is considered special in view of the use of the verb יַפְלִא (yafli’), the Hiphil imperfect of the verb “to be wonderful, extraordinary.”

⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the cognate accusative: “to vow a vow.” This intensifies the idea that the vow is being taken carefully.

⁶ tn The name of the vow is taken from the verb that follows; נָזַר (nazar) means “to consecrate oneself,” and so the Nazirite is a consecrated one. These are folks who would make a decision to take an oath for a time or for a lifetime to be committed to the Lord and show signs of separation from the world. Samuel was to be a Nazirite, as the fragment of the text from Qumran confirms – “he will be a נָזִיר (nazir) forever” (1 Sam 1:22).

⁷ tn The form of the verb is an Hiphil infinitive construct, forming the wordplay and explanation for the name Nazirite. The Hiphil is here an internal causative, having the meaning of “consecrate oneself” or just “consecrate to the Lord.”

⁵ tn The verb is עָלָה (’alah). The Hiphil infinitive construct functions in a temporal clause. The idea of arranging the lamps on the lampstand certainly involved raising the lamps and placing them on the tops of each shaft and branch. Some have taken the idea to mean cause the flame to go up, or light the lamps.

⁶ tn The imperfect tense forms part of the instruction, and so the translation has to indicate that. The instruction would seem obvious, but the light was to shine in the area immediately in front of the lampstand, so that it would illumine the way and illumine the table that was across the room (hence, “in front of”).

⁷ tn Heb “the land of your habitations.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew participle here has the futur instans use of the participle, expressing that something is going to take place. It is not imminent, but it is certain that God would give the land to Israel.

⁹ tn The relative clause is literally, “which I am causing you to enter there.” The final adverb is resumptive, and must be joined with the relative pronoun.

¹¹ tn Heb “and say to them.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Th sentence begins with the accusative “my offering.” It is suspended at the beginning as an independent accusative to itemize the subject matter. The second accusative is the formal object of the verb. It could also be taken in apposition to the first accusative.

¹³ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense expressing instruction, followed by the infinitive construct used to express the complement of direct object.

¹⁴ sn See L. R. Fisher, “New Ritual Calendar from Ugarit,” HTR 63 (1970): 485-501.

¹³ sn The sacrifice was to be kept burning, but each morning the priests would have to clean the grill and put a new offering on the altar. So the idea of a continual burnt offering is more that of a regular offering.

¹⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”

¹⁸ sn This is a reference to the צִיצִת (tsitsit), the fringes on the borders of the robes. They were meant to hang from the corners of the upper garment (Deut 22:12), which was worn on top of the clothing. The tassel was probably made by twisting the overhanging threads of the garment into a knot that would hang down. This was a reminder of the covenant. The tassels were retained down through history, and today more elaborate prayer shawls with tassels are worn during prayer. For more information, see F. J. Stephens, “The Ancient Significance of Sisith,” JBL 50 (1931): 59-70; and S. Bertman, “Tasselled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean,” BA 24 (1961): 119-28.

¹⁹ sn The blue color may represent the heavenly origin of the Law, or perhaps, since it is a royal color, the majesty of the Lord.

¹⁹ tn The verb in this clause is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it has the same force as an imperfect of instruction: “when…then you are to offer up.”

²¹ tn Or “command.”

²² tn Heb “this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance.”