Exodus 14:15

14:15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹ 

Exodus 15:25

15:25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him ²  a tree. ³  When Moses ⁴  threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord ⁵  made for them ⁶  a binding ordinance, ⁷  and there he tested ⁸  them.

Exodus 32:11-14

32:11 But Moses sought the favor ⁹  of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 32:12 Why ¹⁰  should the Egyptians say, ¹¹  ‘For evil ¹²  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ¹³  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ¹⁴  of this evil against your people. 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ¹⁵  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ¹⁶  I will give to your descendants, ¹⁷  and they will inherit it forever.’” 32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

Exodus 33:12-15

33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ ¹⁸  but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, ¹⁹  and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me ²⁰  your way, that I may know you, ²¹  that I may continue to find ²²  favor in your sight. And see ²³  that this nation is your people.”

33:14 And the Lord ²⁴  said, “My presence ²⁵  will go with you, ²⁶  and I will give you rest.” ²⁷ 

33:15 And Moses ²⁸  said to him, “If your presence does not go ²⁹  with us, ³⁰  do not take us up from here. ³¹ 

Numbers 14:13-20

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ³²  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them – 14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ³³  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ³⁴  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15 If you kill ³⁵  this entire people at once, ³⁶  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord ³⁷  be great, just as you have said, 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, ³⁸  forgiving iniquity and transgression, ³⁹  but by no means clearing ⁴⁰  the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ ⁴¹  14:19 Please forgive ⁴²  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ⁴³  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked. ⁴⁴ 

Numbers 16:21-22

16:21 “Separate yourselves ⁴⁵  from among this community, ⁴⁶  that I may consume them in an instant.” 16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ⁴⁷  and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, ⁴⁸  will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” ⁴⁹ 

Numbers 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ⁵⁰ Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, ⁵¹  took men ⁵² 

Numbers 7:9-12

7:9 But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried ⁵³  on their shoulders, was their responsibility. ⁵⁴ 

The Time of Presentation

7:10 The leaders offered ⁵⁵  gifts ⁵⁶  for ⁵⁷  the dedication ⁵⁸  of the altar when it was anointed. ⁵⁹  And the leaders presented ⁶⁰  their offering before the altar. 7:11 For the Lord said to Moses, “They must present their offering, one leader for each day, ⁶¹  for the dedication of the altar.”

The Tribal Offerings

7:12 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. ⁶² 

Numbers 12:1

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12:1 ⁶³ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against ⁶⁴  Moses because of the Cushite ⁶⁵  woman he had married ⁶⁶  (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).

Jeremiah 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ⁶⁷  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ⁶⁸  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ⁶⁹ 

[14:15]  ¹ tn The text literally says, “speak to the Israelites that they may journey.” The intent of the line, using the imperative with the subordinate jussive or imperfect expressing purpose is that the speaking is the command to move.

[15:25]  ² tn The verb is וַיּוֹרֵהוּ (vayyorehu, “and he showed him”). It is the Hiphil preterite from יָרָה (yarah), which has a basic meaning of “to point, show, direct.” It then came to mean “to teach”; it is the verb behind the noun “Law” (תּוֹרָה, torah).

[15:25]  ³ tn Or “a [piece of] wood” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV); NLT “a branch.”

[15:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “there he”; the referent (the Lord) is supplied for clarity.

[15:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “for him” (referring to Israel as a whole).

[15:25]  ⁷ tn This translation interprets the two nouns as a hendiadys: “a statute and an ordinance” becomes “a binding ordinance.”

[15:25]  ⁸ tn The verb נִסָּהוּ (nissahu, “and he tested him [them]”) is from the root נָסָה (nasah). The use of this word in the Bible indicates that there is question, doubt, or uncertainty about the object being tested.

[32:11]  ⁹ tn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 351) draws on Arabic to show that the meaning of this verb (חָלָה, khalah) was properly “make sweet the face” or “stroke the face”; so here “to entreat, seek to conciliate.” In this prayer, Driver adds, Moses urges four motives for mercy: 1) Israel is Yahweh’s people, 2) Israel’s deliverance has demanded great power, 3) the Egyptians would mock if the people now perished, and 4) the oath God made to the fathers.

[32:12]  ¹⁰ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ¹² tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ¹³ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ¹⁴ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[32:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your seed.”

[32:13]  ¹⁶ tn “about” has been supplied.

[32:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “seed.”

[33:12]  ¹⁸ tn The Hiphil imperative is from the same verb that has been used before for bringing the people up from Egypt and leading them to Canaan.

[33:12]  ¹⁹ tn That is, “chosen you.”

[33:13]  ²⁰ tn The prayer uses the Hiphil imperative of the verb “to know.” “Cause me to know” is “show me, reveal to me, teach or inform me.” Moses wanted to know more of God’s dealings with people, especially after all that has happened in the preceding chapter.

[33:13]  ²¹ tn The imperfect tense of the verb “to know” with the vav follows the imperative of this root, and so this indicates the purpose clause (final imperfect): “in order that I may know you.” S. R. Driver summarizes it this way: that I may understand what your nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, so that I may find grace in your sight, and my future prayers may be answered (Exodus, 361).

[33:13]  ²² tn The purpose clause simply uses the imperfect, “that I may find.” But since he already has found favor in God’s eyes, he is clearly praying that it be so in the future as well as now.

[33:13]  ²³ tn The verb “see” (an imperative) is a request for God to acknowledge Israel as his people by providing the divine leadership needed. So his main appeal will be for the people and not himself. To underscore this, he repeats “see” the way the section opened.

[33:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:14]  ²⁵ sn Heb “my face.” This represents the presence of Yahweh going with the people (see 2 Sam 17:11 for an illustration). The “presence” probably refers to the angel of the presence or some similar manifestation of God’s leading and caring for his people.

[33:14]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “with you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[33:14]  ²⁷ sn The expression certainly refers to the peace of mind and security of knowing that God was with them. But the expression came to mean “settle them in the land of promise” and give them rest and peace from their enemies. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 434) observes how in 32:10 God had told Moses, “Leave me alone” (“give me rest”), but now he promises to give them rest. The parallelism underscores the great transition through intercession.

[33:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:15]  ²⁹ tn The construction uses the active participle to stress the continual going of the presence: if there is not your face going.

[33:15]  ³⁰ tn “with us” has been supplied.

[33:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “from this.”

[14:13]  ³² tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[14:14]  ³³ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ³⁴ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[14:15]  ³⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “as one man.”

[14:17]  ³⁷ tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.

[14:18]  ³⁸ tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

[14:18]  ³⁹ tn Or “rebellion.”

[14:18]  ⁴⁰ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

[14:18]  ⁴¹ sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

[14:19]  ⁴² tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

[14:19]  ⁴³ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

[14:20]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.

[16:21]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb is הִבָּדְלוּ (hibbadÿlu), the Niphal imperative of בָּדַל (badal). This is the same word that was just used when Moses reminded the Levites that they had been separated from the community to serve the Lord.

[16:21]  ⁴⁶ sn The group of people siding with Korah is meant, and not the entire community of the people of Israel. They are an assembly of rebels, their “community” consisting in their common plot.

[16:22]  ⁴⁷ sn It is Moses and Aaron who prostrate themselves; they have the good of the people at heart.

[16:22]  ⁴⁸ tn The expression “the God of the spirits of all humanity [flesh]” is somewhat difficult. The Hebrew text says אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר (’elohey harukhot lÿkhol-basar). This expression occurs in Num 27:16 again. It also occurs in some postbiblical texts, a fact which has prompted some scholars to conclude that it is a late addition. The words clearly show that Moses is interceding for the congregation. The appeal in the verse is that it is better for one man to die for the whole nation than the whole nation for one man (see also John 11:50).

[16:22]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb is the Qal imperfect יֶחֱטָא (yekheta’); it refers to the sinful rebellion of Korah, but Moses is stating something of a principle: “One man sins, and will you be angry….” A past tense translation would assume that this is a preterite use of the imperfect (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[16:1]  ⁵⁰ sn There are three main movements in the story of ch. 16. The first is the rebellion itself (vv. 1-19). The second is the judgment (vv. 20-35). Third is the atonement for the rebels (vv. 36-50). The whole chapter is a marvelous account of a massive rebellion against the leaders that concludes with reconciliation. For further study see G. Hort, “The Death of Qorah,” ABR 7 (1959): 2-26; and J. Liver, “Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” Studies in the Bible (ScrHier 8), 189-217.

[16:1]  ⁵¹ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

[16:1]  ⁵² tn In the Hebrew text there is no object for the verb “took.” The translation presented above supplies the word “men.” However, it is possible that the MT has suffered damage here. The LXX has “and he spoke.” The Syriac and Targum have “and he was divided.” The editor of BHS suggests that perhaps the MT should be emended to “and he arose.”

[7:9]  ⁵³ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity – they had to carry, they used to carry.

[7:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”

[7:10]  ⁵⁵ tn The verse begins with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive: “and they offered.”

[7:10]  ⁵⁶ tn The direct object, “gifts,” is implied but not actually stated in the Hebrew text. It has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[7:10]  ⁵⁷ tn The sign of the accusative here must indicate an adverbial accusative and not the direct object; they offered their gifts for the dedication of the altar.

[7:10]  ⁵⁸ sn Some commentators take the word “dedication” in the sense of a dedication gift, and so make it the direct object. Many modern scholars assume that this is a late word, belonging only in P, the Chronicler, and the heading of Ps 30 (a Davidic psalm).

[7:10]  ⁵⁹ tn The adverbial clause uses the Niphal infinitive construct as the main verb. The word is the well-known מָשַׁח (mashakh, “to anoint, smear”).

[7:10]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “offered,” but this is redundant and has been translated as “presented” for stylistic reasons. The same phrase occurs in vv. 11 and 12.

[7:11]  ⁶¹ tn The distributive sense is achieved by repetition: “one leader for the day, one leader for the day.”

[7:12]  ⁶² sn The tribe of Judah is listed first. It seems that it had already achieved a place of prominence based on the patriarchal promise of the Messiahship in Judah (Gen 49:10).

[12:1]  ⁶³ sn In this short chapter we find a prime example of jealousy among leaders and how God dealt with it. Miriam and Aaron are envious of Moses’ leadership, but they use an occasion – his marriage – to criticize him. Often the immediate criticism is simply a surface issue for a deeper matter. God indicates very clearly he will speak through many people, including them, but Moses is different. Moses is the mediator of the covenant. The chapter is a lesson of what not to do. They should have fulfilled their duties before God and not tried to compete or challenge the leader in this way. There is a touch of divine irony here, for Miriam is turned white with leprosy. The chapter falls easily into the sections of the story: the accusation (vv. 1-3), the Lord’s response (vv. 4-10), the intercession of Moses (vv. 11-16). For further information, see J. S. Kselman, “A Note on Numbers 12:6-8,” VT 26 (1976): 500-504.

[12:1]  ⁶⁴ tn The preposition bet (בְּ) has the adversative sense here, “[speak] against” (see also its use for hostile speech in 21:5, 7). Speaking against is equal to the murmuring throughout the wilderness period. The verb of the sentence is וַתְּדַבֵּר (vattÿdabber), the feminine form of the verb. This indicates that Miriam was the main speaker for the two, the verb agreeing with the first of the compound subject.

[12:1]  ⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew text has הַכֻּשִׁית (hakkushit, “the Cushite”) as the modifier of “woman.” The Greek text interpreted this correctly as “Ethiopian.” The word Cush in the Bible can describe the Cassites, east of Babylon of the later period (Gen 10:18), or Ethiopia (Isa 20:3; Nah 3:5; et al). Another suggestion is that it would refer to Cushan of Hab 3:7, perhaps close to Midian, and so the area Moses had been. This would suggest it could be Zipporah – but the Bible does not identify the Cushite as Zipporah. The most natural understanding would be that it refers to an Egyptian/Ethiopian woman. The text does not say when Moses married this woman, or what Miriam’s problem with her was. It is clear that it was a racial issue, by virtue of the use of “Cushite.” Whether she was of darker skin than the Hebrews would be hard to say, since the Bible gives no further detail. Neither does it say if this is a second wife, or a woman Moses married since Zipporah went home (Exod 18:2). These do not seem to be the issues the text wishes to elaborate on; it is simply stating that this woman was the occasion for a deeper challenge.

[12:1]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “taken.”

[15:1]  ⁶⁷ tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

[15:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

[15:1]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”