Numbers 4:22

4:22 “Also take a census of the Gershonites, by their clans and by their families.

Numbers 12:2

12:2 They ¹  said, “Has the Lord only ²  spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” ³  And the Lord heard it. ⁴ 

Numbers 16:10

16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek ⁵  the priesthood also?

Numbers 24:24-25

24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, ⁶ 

and will afflict Asshur, ⁷  and will afflict Eber,

and he will also perish forever.” ⁸ 

24:25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, ⁹  and Balak also went his way.

Numbers 27:13

27:13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered ¹⁰  to your ancestors, ¹¹  as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors. ¹² 

¹ tn Now the text changes to use a plural form of the verb. The indication is that Miriam criticized the marriage, and then the two of them raised questions about his sole leadership of the nation.

² tn The use of both רַק and אַךְ (raq and ’akh) underscore the point that the issue is Moses’ uniqueness.

³ tn There is irony in the construction in the text. The expression “speak through us” also uses דִּבֵּר + בְּ(dibber + bÿ). They ask if God has not also spoken through them, after they have spoken against Moses. Shortly God will speak against them – their words are prophetic, but not as they imagined.

⁴ sn The statement is striking. Obviously the Lord knows all things. But the statement of the obvious here is meant to indicate that the Lord was about to do something about this.

¹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”

¹ tc The MT is difficult. The Kittim refers normally to Cyprus, or any maritime people to the west. W. F. Albright proposed emending the line to “islands will gather in the north, ships from the distant sea” (“The Oracles of Balaam,” JBL 63 [1944]: 222-23). Some commentators accept that reading as the original state of the text, since the present MT makes little sense.

² tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

³ tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”

¹ tn Heb “place.”

¹ tn The first verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, and the second verb is also. In such parallel clauses, the first may be subordinated, here as a temporal clause.

² tn Heb “people.”

³ tn Heb “was gathered.” The phrase “to his ancestors” is elided in the Hebrew text, but is an implied repetition from the beginning of the verse, and has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.