3:1 1 Now these are the records 2 of Aaron and Moses when 3 the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
7:12 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. 4
7:54 On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the Manassehites, presented an offering.
7:72 On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, leader of the Asherites, presented an offering.
7:78 On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the Naphtalites, presented an offering.
15:32 When the Israelites were 5 in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 6
29:35 “‘On the eighth day you are to have a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work on it.
1 sn For significant literature for this chapter, see M. Aberbach and L. Smolar, “Aaron, Jeroboam, and their Golden Calves,” JBL 86 (1967): 129-40; G. Brin, “The First-born in Israel in the Biblical Period” (Ph.D. diss., University of Tel Aviv, 1971); S. H. Hooke, “Theory and Practice of Substitution,” VT 2 (1952): 2-17; and J. Morgenstern, “A Chapter in the History of the High Priesthood,” AJSL 55 (1938): 1-24.
2 tn The construction is וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (vÿ’elleh tolÿdot), which was traditionally translated “now these are the generations,” much as it was translated throughout the book of Genesis. The noun can refer to records, stories, genealogies, names, and accounts of people. Here it is the recorded genealogical list with assigned posts included. Like Genesis, it is a heading of a section, and not a colophon as some have suggested. It is here similar to Exodus: “these are the names of.” R. K. Harrison, Numbers (WEC), 62, insists that it is a colophon and should end chapter 2, but if that is followed in the Pentateuch, it creates difficulty throughout the narratives. See the discussion by A. P. Ross, Creation and Blessing, 69-74.
3 tn The expression in the Hebrew text (“in the day of”) is idiomatic for “when.”
4 sn The tribe of Judah is listed first. It seems that it had already achieved a place of prominence based on the patriarchal promise of the Messiahship in Judah (Gen 49:10).
7 tn The preterite of the verb “to be” is here subordinated to the next, parallel verb form, to form a temporal clause.
8 sn For this brief passage, see A. Phillips, “The Case of the Woodgatherer Reconsidered,” VT 19 (1969): 125-28; J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Woodgatherer (Numbers XV 32-36),” VT 16 (1966): 361-64; and B. J. Bamberger, “Revelations of Torah after Sinai,” HUCA 16 (1941): 97-113. Weingreen argues that there is something of the Rabbinic method of setting a fence around the Law here; in other words, if this sin were not punished, the Law would have been violated in greater ways. Gathering of wood, although seemingly harmless, is done with intent to kindle fire, and so reveals a culpable intent.
10 tn Heb “any work [of] service”; this means any occupational work, that is, the ordinary service.