Numbers 9:7

9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

Numbers 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ¹  me now these ten times, ²  and have not obeyed me, ³ 

Numbers 16:14

16:14 Moreover, ⁴  you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind ⁵  these men? We will not come up.”

Numbers 16:26

16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked ⁶  men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because ⁷  of all their sins.” ⁸ 

Numbers 16:30

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ⁹  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ¹⁰  along with all that they have, and they ¹¹  go down alive to the grave, ¹²  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

Numbers 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Numbers 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ¹³  the word that I will speak to you.” ¹⁴  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ¹⁵  not ¹⁶  one of the men twenty years old and upward ¹⁷  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ¹⁸  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

¹ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

² tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

³ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

¹ tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.

² tn Heb “will you bore out the eyes of these men?” The question is “Will you continue to mislead them?” (or “hoodwink” them). In Deut 16:19 it is used for taking a bribe; something like that kind of deception is intended here. They are simply stating that Moses is a deceiver who is misleading the people with false promises.

¹ tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) has the sense of a guilty criminal. The word “wicked” sometimes gives the wrong connotation. These men were opposing the Lord, and so were condemned as criminals – they were guilty. The idea of “wickedness” therefore applies in that sense.

² tn The preposition bet (בְּ) in this line is causal – “on account of their sins.”

³ sn The impression is that the people did not hear what the Lord said to Moses, but only what Moses said to the people as a result. They saw the brilliant cloud, and perhaps heard the sound of his voice, but the relaying of the instructions indicates they did not hear the actual instruction from the Lord himself.

¹ tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.

² tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

³ tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.

⁴ tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

¹ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

² tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

¹ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

² tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

³ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

⁴ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.