Numbers 3:39

3:39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word ¹  of the Lord, according to their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000. ² 

Numbers 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ³  who acts defiantly, ⁴  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ⁵  the Lord. ⁶  That person ⁷  must be cut off ⁸  from among his people.

Numbers 17:6

17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ⁹  according to their tribes ¹⁰  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

Numbers 26:62

26:62 Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

Numbers 31:8

31:8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – five Midianite kings. ¹¹  They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. ¹² 

Numbers 35:6

35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. ¹³  And you must give them forty-two other towns.

¹ tn Here again the Hebrew has “at the mouth of,” meaning in accordance with what the Lord said. So also in v. 51.

² tn The total is a rounded off number; it does not duplicate the precise total of 22,300. Some modern scholars try to explain it by positing an error in v. 28, suggesting that “six” should be read as “three” (שֵׁשׁ [shesh] as שָׁלֹשׁ [shalosh]).

³ tn Heb “soul.”

⁴ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

⁵ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

⁶ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

⁸ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

⁵ tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”

⁶ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

⁷ sn Here again we see that there was no unified empire, but Midianite tribal groups.

⁸ sn And what was Balaam doing among the Midianites? The implication is strong. This pagan diviner had to submit to the revealed will of God in the oracles, but he nonetheless could be hired. He had been a part of the attempt to destroy Israel that failed; he then apparently became part of the plan, if not the adviser, to destroy them with sexual immorality and pagan ritual.

⁹ tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.”