Numbers 4:31

4:31 This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames ¹  of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets,

Numbers 4:33

4:33 This is the service of the families of the Merarites, their entire service concerning the tent of meeting, under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ²  to speak ³  just anything? I must speak ⁴  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 35:4

35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards ⁵  from the town wall.

¹ sn More recent studies have concluded that these “boards” were made of two long uprights joined by cross-bars (like a ladder). They were frames rather than boards, meaning that the structure under the tent was not a solid building. It also meant that the “boards” would have been lighter to carry.

² tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

³ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

⁴ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

³ tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (675 meters).