Discovery Box1 Samuel 15:3
Context15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare 1 them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
Numbers 24:7
Context24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, 2
and their descendants will be like abundant 3 water; 4
their king will be greater than Agag, 5
and their kingdom will be exalted.
Numbers 24:1
Context24:1 6 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, 7 he did not go as at the other times 8 to seek for omens, 9 but he set his face 10 toward the wilderness.
Numbers 20:1
Context20:1 11 Then the entire community of Israel 12 entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, 13 and the people stayed in Kadesh. 14 Miriam died and was buried there. 15
Numbers 20:1
Context20:1 16 Then the entire community of Israel 17 entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, 18 and the people stayed in Kadesh. 19 Miriam died and was buried there. 20
Esther 3:1
Context3:1 Some time later 21 King Ahasuerus promoted 22 Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position 23 above that of all the officials who were with him.
[15:3] 1 tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).
[24:7] 2 tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.
[24:7] 4 sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.
[24:7] 5 sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.
[24:1] 6 sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).
[24:1] 7 tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the
[24:1] 8 tn Heb “as time after time.”
[24:1] 9 tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.
[24:1] 10 tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.
[20:1] 11 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the
[20:1] 12 tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”
[20:1] 13 sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.
[20:1] 14 sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.
[20:1] 15 sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.
[20:1] 16 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the
[20:1] 17 tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”
[20:1] 18 sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.
[20:1] 19 sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.
[20:1] 20 sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.
[3:1] 21 tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”
[3:1] 22 tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”
[3:1] 23 tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”
