Numbers 4:49

4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ¹  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ²  Thus were they numbered by him, ³  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 16:40

16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of ⁴  Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority ⁵  of Moses.

Numbers 33:3

33:3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day ⁶  after the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly ⁷  in plain sight ⁸  of all the Egyptians.

¹ tn The verb is the simple perfect tense – “he numbered them.” There is no expressed subject; therefore, the verb can be rendered as a passive.

² tn Or “his burden.”

³ tn The passive form simply reads “those numbered by him.” Because of the cryptic nature of the word, some suggest reading a preterite, “and they were numbered.” This is supported by the Greek, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate. It would follow in the emendation that the relative pronoun be changed to “just as” (כַּאֲשֶׁר, ka’asher). The MT is impossible the way it stands; it can only be rendered into smooth English by adding something that is missing.

⁴ tn Heb “from the seed of.”

⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

⁷ tn Heb “morrow.”

⁸ tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly; boldly” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver the blow (Job 38:15).

⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes.”