Numbers 23:15

23:15 And Balaam ¹  said to Balak, “Station yourself here ²  by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.

Numbers 32:8

32:8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

Numbers 11:31

Provision of Quail

11:31 Now a wind ³  went out ⁴  from the Lord and brought quail ⁵  from the sea, and let them fall ⁶  near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet ⁷  high on the surface of the ground.

Numbers 6:23

6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way ⁸  you are to bless ⁹  the Israelites. Say ¹⁰  to them:

Numbers 20:14

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ¹¹ Moses ¹²  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ¹³  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ¹⁴ 

Numbers 22:16

22:16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: ‘Please do not let anything hinder you from coming ¹⁵  to me.

Numbers 22:30

22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted ¹⁶  to treat you this way?” ¹⁷  And he said, “No.”

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”

³ sn The irony in this chapter is expressed in part by the use of the word רוּחַ (ruakh). In the last episode it clearly meant the Spirit of the Lord that empowered the men for their spiritual service. But here the word is “wind.” Both the spiritual service and the judgment come from God.

⁴ tn The verb means “burst forth” or “sprang up.” See the ways it is used in Gen 33:12, Judg 16:3, 14; Isa 33:20.

⁵ sn The “quail” ordinarily cross the Sinai at various times of the year, but what is described here is not the natural phenomenon. Biblical scholars looking for natural explanations usually note that these birds fly at a low height and can be swatted down easily. But the description here is more of a supernatural supply and provision. See J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54.

⁶ tn Or “left them fluttering.”

⁷ tn Heb “two cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length.

⁵ tn Or “thus.”

⁶ tn The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.

⁷ tn Here is the only use of the verb אָמַר (’amar) as an infinitive absolute; it functions as a verb form, an imperative or an imperfect of instruction. Several commentators have attempted to emend the text to get around the difficulty, but such emendations are unnecessary.

⁷ sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.

⁸ tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

⁹ sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.

¹⁰ tn Heb “found.”

⁹ tn The infinitive construct is the object of the preposition.

¹¹ tn Here the Hiphil perfect is preceded by the Hiphil infinitive absolute for emphasis in the sentence.

¹² tn Heb “to do thus to you.”