24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;
they will devour hostile people 14
and will break their bones
and will pierce them through with arrows.
1 tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive from the verb יָדָה (yadah), which in this stem means “acknowledge, confess sin,” but in the Hiphil (primarily) it means “praise, give thanks.” In both cases one is acknowledging something, either the sin, or the person and work of the
2 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”). Here it has the sense of “repay” with the word “reparation” (traditionally rendered “guilt offering,” but now is understood to refer to what was defrauded). The Levitical rulings called for the guilty to restore what was taken, if it could be made right, and pay a fifth more as a surcharge.
3 tn This is now the third use of אָשָׁם (’asham); the first referred to “guilt,” the second to “reparation,” and now “wronged.” The idea of “guilt” lies behind the second two uses as well as the first. In the second “he must repay his guilt” (meaning what he is guilty of); and here it can also mean “the one against whom he is guilty of sinning.”
4 tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?
5 tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.
7 tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
9 sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).
10 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Og) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “no remnant.”
13 tn The infinitive construct is the object of the preposition.
16 tn The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.
25 tn The motif is reiterated here. Phinehas was passionately determined to maintain the rights of his God by stopping the gross sinful perversions.
26 sn The atonement that he made in this passage refers to the killing of the two obviously blatant sinners. By doing this he dispensed with any animal sacrifice, for the sinners themselves died. In Leviticus it was the life of the substitutionary animal that was taken in place of the sinners that made atonement. The point is that sin was punished by death, and so God was free to end the plague and pardon the people. God’s holiness and righteousness have always been every bit as important as God’s mercy and compassion, for without righteousness and holiness mercy and compassion mean nothing.
28 tn That is, the possession of land, or property, among the other families of their tribe.
29 tn The word is “brothers,” but this can be interpreted more loosely to relatives. So also in v. 7.
31 tn Heb “a man, if he dies.”