Exodus 19:18

19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, ¹  and the whole mountain shook ²  violently.

Exodus 33:9

33:9 And ³  whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord ⁴  would speak with Moses. ⁵ 

Numbers 11:17

11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ⁶  all by yourself.

Numbers 11:25

11:25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses ⁷  and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, ⁸  they prophesied, ⁹  but did not do so again. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 11:1

The Israelites Complain

11:1 ¹¹ When the people complained, ¹²  it displeased ¹³  the Lord. When the Lord heard ¹⁴  it, his anger burned, ¹⁵  and so ¹⁶  the fire of the Lord ¹⁷  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

Numbers 8:10-12

8:10 Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites; ¹⁸  8:11 and Aaron is to offer ¹⁹  the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work ²⁰  of the Lord. 8:12 When ²¹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ²²  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ²³  to make atonement for the Levites.

Luke 9:34-35

9:34 As ²⁴  he was saying this, a cloud ²⁵  came ²⁶  and overshadowed ²⁷  them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 9:35 Then ²⁸  a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. ²⁹  Listen to him!” ³⁰ 

[19:18]  ¹ sn The image is that of a large kiln, as in Gen 19:28.

[19:18]  ² tn This is the same word translated “trembled” above (v. 16).

[33:9]  ³ tn Heb “and it was when.”

[33:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:9]  ⁵ tn Both verbs, “stand” and “speak,” are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive.

[11:17]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[11:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:25]  ⁸ tn The temporal clause is introduced by the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which need not be translated. It introduces the time of the infinitive as past time narrative. The infinitive construct is from נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). The figurative expression of the Spirit resting upon them indicates the temporary indwelling and empowering by the Spirit in their lives.

[11:25]  ⁹ tn The text may mean that these men gave ecstatic utterances, much like Saul did when the Spirit came upon him and he made the same prophetic utterances (see 1 Sam 10:10-13). But there is no strong evidence for this (see K. L. Barker, “Zechariah,” EBC 7:605-6). In fact there is no consensus among scholars as to the origin and meaning of the verb “prophesy” or the noun “prophet.” It has something to do with speech, being God’s spokesman or spokeswoman or making predictions or authoritative utterances or ecstatic utterances. It certainly does mean that the same Holy Spirit, the same divine provision that was for Moses to enable him to do the things that God had commanded him to do, was now given to them. It would have included wisdom and power with what they were saying and doing – in a way that was visible and demonstrable to the people! The people needed to know that the same provision was given to these men, authenticating their leadership among the clans. And so it could not simply be a change in their understanding and wisdom.

[11:25]  ¹⁰ tn The final verb of the clause stresses that this was not repeated: “they did not add” is the literal rendering of וְלֹא יָסָפוּ (vÿlo’ yasafu). It was a one-time spiritual experience associated with their installation.

[11:1]  ¹¹ sn The chapter includes the initial general complaints (vv. 1-3), the complaints about food (vv. 4-9), Moses’ own complaint to the Lord (vv. 10-15), God’s response to Moses (vv. 16-25), Eldad and Medad (vv. 26-29), and the quail (vv. 30-35). The first part records the burning of the camp, named Taberah. Here is one of the several naming narratives in the wilderness experience. The occasion for divine judgment is the complaining of the people. The passages serve to warn believers of all ages not to murmur as the Israelites did, for such complaining reveals a lack of faith in the power and goodness of God. For additional literature, see W. Brueggemann, “From Hurt to Joy, from Death to Life,” Int 28 (1974): 3-19; B. S. Childs, “The Etiological Tale Re-examined,” VT 24 (1974): 387-97; G. W. Coats, Rebellion in the Wilderness; and A. C. Tunyogi, “The Rebellions of Israel,” JBL 81 (1962): 385-90.

[11:1]  ¹² tn The temporal clause uses the Hitpoel infinitive construct from אָנַן (’anan). It is a rare word, occurring in Lam 3:39. With this blunt introduction the constant emphasis of obedience to the word of the Lord found throughout the first ten chapters suddenly comes to an end. It is probable that the people were tired of moving for several days, the excitement of the new beginning died out quickly in the “great and terrible wilderness.” Resentment, frustration, discomfort – whatever it all involved – led to complaining and not gratitude.

[11:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the Lord.” The word רַע (ra’) is a much stronger word than “displeased” would suggest. The bold anthropomorphism shows that what the Lord heard was painful to him.

[11:1]  ¹⁴ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.

[11:1]  ¹⁵ tn The common Hebrew expression uses the verb חָרָה (harah, “to be hot, to burn, to be kindled”). The subject is אַפּוֹ (’appo), “his anger” or more literally, his nose, which in this anthropomorphic expression flares in rage. The emphasis is superlative – “his anger raged.”

[11:1]  ¹⁶ tn The vav (ו) consecutive does not simply show sequence in the verbs, but here expresses the result of the anger of the Lord for their complaining. With such a response to the complaining, one must conclude that it was unreasonable. There had been no long deprivation or endured suffering; the complaining was early and showed a rebellious spirit.

[11:1]  ¹⁷ sn The “fire of the Lord” is supernatural, for it is said to come from the Lord and not from a natural source. God gave them something to complain about – something to fear. The other significant place where this “fire of the Lord” destroyed was in the case of Nadab and Abihu who brought strange fire to the altar (Lev 10:2).

[8:10]  ¹⁸ sn The consecration ceremony was to be done in full view of the assembled people. In all probability the laying on of the hands was done through representatives of the tribes, and not all the people. This ritual of the imposition of hands showed that the people were taking part in the consecration, and that the Levites represented them in the service of the Lord.

[8:11]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text actually has “wave the Levites as a wave offering.” The wave offering was part of the ritual of the peace offering and indicated the priest’s portion being presented to God in a lifted, waving motion for all to see. The Levites were going to be in the sanctuary to serve the Lord and assist the priests. It is unclear how Moses would have presented them as wave offerings, but the intent is that they would be living sacrifices, as Paul would later say in Rom 12:1 for all Christians.

[8:11]  ²⁰ tn The construction emphasizes the spiritual service of the Levites, using the infinitive construct of עָבַד (’avad) followed by its cognate accusative.

[8:12]  ²¹ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

[8:12]  ²² tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ²³ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

[9:34]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:34]  ²⁵ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[9:34]  ²⁶ tn Or “appeared.”

[9:34]  ²⁷ tn Or “surrounded.”

[9:35]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:35]  ²⁹ tc Most mss, especially the later ones, have ἀγαπητός (agaphto", “the one I love”; A C* W ˹³ 33 Ï it), or ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ (ἠ)υδόκησα (agaphto" en |w (h)udokhsa, “the one I love, in whom I am well pleased”; C³ D Ψ pc) here, instead of ἐκλελεγμένος (eklelegmeno", “the Chosen One”), but these variants are probably assimilations to Matt 17:5 and Mark 9:7. The text behind the translation also enjoys excellent support from Ì^45,75 א B L Ξ [phone] pc co.

[9:35]  ³⁰ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.