1 Chronicles 15:2

15:2 Then David said, “Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually.

1 Chronicles 15:13

15:13 The first time you did not carry it; that is why the Lord God attacked us, because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it.” ¹ 

Numbers 4:15

4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished ²  covering ³  the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then ⁴  the Kohathites will come to carry them; ⁵  but they must not touch ⁶  any ⁷  holy thing, or they will die. ⁸  These are the responsibilities ⁹  of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:1

The Service of the Kohathites

4:1 ¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 6:7

6:7 He must not defile himself even ¹¹  for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, ¹²  because the separation ¹³  for ¹⁴  his God is on his head.

Numbers 6:2-3

6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman ¹⁵  takes a special vow, ¹⁶  to take a vow ¹⁷  as a Nazirite, ¹⁸  to separate ¹⁹  himself to the Lord, 6:3 he must separate ²⁰  himself from wine and strong drink, he must drink neither vinegar ²¹  made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice ²²  of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. ²³ 

[15:13]  ¹ tn Heb “because for what was at first [i.e., formerly] you [were] not, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him concerning the procedure.”

[4:15]  ² tn The verb form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the future sequence, but in this verse forms a subordinate clause to the parallel sequential verb to follow.

[4:15]  ³ tn The Piel infinitive construct with the preposition serves as the direct object of the preceding verbal form, answering the question of what it was that they finished.

[4:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “after this.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift, carry”); here it indicates the purpose clause after the verb “come.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense may be given the nuance of negated instruction (“they are not to”) or negated obligation (“they must not”).

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Here the article expresses the generic idea of any holy thing (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[4:15]  ⁸ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, following the imperfect tense warning against touching the holy thing. The form shows the consequence of touching the holy thing, and so could be translated “or they will die” or “lest they die.” The first is stronger.

[4:15]  ⁹ tn The word מַשָּׂא (massa’) is normally rendered “burden,” especially in prophetic literature. It indicates the load that one must carry, whether an oracle, or here the physical responsibility.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ sn The chapter has four main parts to it: Kohathites (1-20), Gershonites (21-28), Merarites (29-33) and the census of the Levites (34-49).

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn The vav (ו) conjunction at the beginning of the clause specifies the cases of corpses that are to be avoided, no matter how painful it might be.

[6:7]  ¹² tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive – “in the dying of them” – to form the adverbial clause of time.

[6:7]  ¹³ tn The word “separation” here is metonymy of adjunct – what is on his head is long hair that goes with the vow.

[6:7]  ¹⁴ tn The genitive could perhaps be interpreted as possession, i.e., “the vow of his God,” but it seems more likely that an objective genitive would be more to the point.

[6:2]  ¹⁵ tn The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman – when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.

[6:2]  ¹⁶ tn The vow is considered special in view of the use of the verb יַפְלִא (yafli’), the Hiphil imperfect of the verb “to be wonderful, extraordinary.”

[6:2]  ¹⁷ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the cognate accusative: “to vow a vow.” This intensifies the idea that the vow is being taken carefully.

[6:2]  ¹⁸ tn The name of the vow is taken from the verb that follows; נָזַר (nazar) means “to consecrate oneself,” and so the Nazirite is a consecrated one. These are folks who would make a decision to take an oath for a time or for a lifetime to be committed to the Lord and show signs of separation from the world. Samuel was to be a Nazirite, as the fragment of the text from Qumran confirms – “he will be a נָזִיר (nazir) forever” (1 Sam 1:22).

[6:2]  ¹⁹ tn The form of the verb is an Hiphil infinitive construct, forming the wordplay and explanation for the name Nazirite. The Hiphil is here an internal causative, having the meaning of “consecrate oneself” or just “consecrate to the Lord.”

[6:3]  ²⁰ tn The operative verb now will be the Hiphil of נָזַר (nazar); the consecration to the Lord meant separation from certain things in the world. The first will be wine and strong drink – barley beer (from Akkadian sikaru, a fermented beer). But the second word may be somewhat wider in its application than beer. The Nazirite, then, was to avoid all intoxicants as a sign of his commitment to the Lord. The restriction may have proved a hardship in the daily diet of the one taking the vow, but it spoke a protest to the corrupt religious and social world that used alcohol to excess.

[6:3]  ²¹ tn The “vinegar” (חֹמֶץ, homets) is some kind of drink preparation that has been allowed to go sour.

[6:3]  ²² tn This word occurs only here. It may come from the word “to water, to be moist,” and so refer to juice.

[6:3]  ²³ tn Heb “dried” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).