Genesis 12:15

12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ¹  was taken ²  into the household of Pharaoh, ³ 

Numbers 16:32-33

16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.

Numbers 16:2

16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders ⁴  of the community, chosen from the assembly, ⁵  famous men. ⁶ 

Numbers 24:17

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand. ⁷ 

A star ⁸  will march forth ⁹  out of Jacob,

and a scepter ¹⁰  will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls ¹¹  of Moab,

and the heads ¹²  of all the sons of Sheth. ¹³ 

[12:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.

[12:15]  ² tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.

[12:15]  ³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:2]  ⁵ tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”

[24:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “near.”

[24:17]  ⁸ sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.

[24:17]  ⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like tread on, walk, march.”

[24:17]  ¹⁰ sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”

[24:17]  ¹¹ tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

[24:17]  ¹² tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.

[24:17]  ¹³ sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.