Exodus 5:3

5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ²  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ³ 

Leviticus 26:25

26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ⁴  Although ⁵  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ⁶ 

Numbers 14:12

14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence, ⁷  and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!”

Numbers 16:46-49

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did ⁸  as Moses commanded ⁹  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah.

Numbers 25:9

25:9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited ¹⁰  the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ¹¹ 

Numbers 24:15

Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time

24:15 Then he uttered this oracle: ¹² 

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;

Jeremiah 15:2

15:2 If they ask you, ‘Where should we go?’ tell them the Lord says this:

“Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease.

Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war.

Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation.

Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 16:4

16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.

Jeremiah 21:6-7

21:6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, ¹⁴  people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases. 21:7 Then ¹⁵  I, the Lord, promise that ¹⁶  I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’

Jeremiah 24:10

24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease ¹⁷  on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ¹⁸ 

Matthew 26:7

26:7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar ¹⁹  of expensive perfumed oil, ²⁰  and she poured it on his head as he was at the table. ²¹ 

[5:3]  ¹ tn The word “journey” is an adverbial accusative telling the distance that Moses wanted the people to go. It is qualified by “three days.” It is not saying that they will be gone three days, but that they will go a distance that will take three days to cover (see Gen 31:22-23; Num 10:33; 33:8).

[5:3]  ² tn The purpose clause here is formed with a second cohortative joined with a vav (ו): “let us go…and let us sacrifice.” The purpose of the going was to sacrifice.

[5:3]  ³ sn The last clause of this verse is rather unexpected here: “lest he meet [afflict] us with pestilence or sword.” To fail to comply with the summons of one’s God was to invite such calamities. The Law would later incorporate many such things as the curses for disobedience. Moses is indicating to Pharaoh that there is more reason to fear Yahweh than Pharaoh.

[26:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).

[14:12]  ⁷ tc The Greek version has “death.”

[16:47]  ⁸ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ⁹ tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[25:2]  ¹⁰ tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.

[25:2]  ¹¹ sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.

[24:15]  ¹² tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”

[15:2]  ¹³ tn It is difficult to render the rhetorical force of this passage in meaningful English. The text answers the question “Where should we go?” with four brief staccato-like expressions with a play on the preposition “to”: Heb “Who to the death, to the death and who to the sword, to the sword and who to the starvation, to the starvation and who to the captivity, to the captivity.” The word “death” here is commonly understood to be a poetic substitute for “plague” because of the standard trio of sword, famine, and plague (see, e.g., 14:12 and the notes there). This is likely here and in 18:21. For further support see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:440. The nuance “starvation” rather than “famine” has been chosen in the translation because the referents here are all things that accompany war.

[21:6]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And afterward.”

[21:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[24:10]  ¹⁷ sn See Jer 14:12 and the study note there.

[24:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “fathers.”

[26:7]  ¹⁹ sn A jar made of alabaster stone was normally used for very precious substances like perfumes. It normally had a long neck which was sealed and had to be broken off so the contents could be used.

[26:7]  ²⁰ tn Μύρον (muron) was usually made of myrrh (from which the English word is derived) but here it is used in the sense of ointment or perfumed oil (L&N 6.205).

[26:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “as he was reclining at table.”