Genesis 28:8

28:8 Then Esau realized ¹  that the Canaanite women ²  were displeasing to ³  his father Isaac.

Genesis 38:10

38:10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord ⁴  killed him too.

Numbers 11:1

The Israelites Complain

11:1 ⁵ When the people complained, ⁶  it displeased ⁷  the Lord. When the Lord heard ⁸  it, his anger burned, ⁹  and so ¹⁰  the fire of the Lord ¹¹  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

Numbers 22:34

22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ¹²  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ¹³  I will go back home.” ¹⁴ 

Numbers 22:1

Balaam Refuses to Curse Israel

22:1 ¹⁵ The Israelites traveled on ¹⁶  and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan River ¹⁷  across from Jericho. ¹⁸ 

Numbers 16:7

16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

Numbers 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰  took men ²¹ 

Numbers 16:25

16:25 Then Moses got up ²²  and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him.

Numbers 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ²³ 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, ²⁴  took men ²⁵ 

Numbers 21:7

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ²⁶  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Proverbs 24:18

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ²⁷ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ²⁸ 

Romans 9:7-8

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ²⁹  9:8 This means ³⁰  it is not the children of the flesh ³¹  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

Romans 9:11

9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ³²  would stand, not by works but by ³³  his calling) ³⁴  –

[28:8]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[28:8]  ² tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”

[28:8]  ³ tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”

[38:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.

[11:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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).

[22:34]  ¹² sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ¹³ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[22:1]  ¹⁵ sn The fifth section of the book (22:1-33:56) traces the Israelite activities in Transjordan. It is hard to determine how long they were in Transjordan, but a good amount of time must have elapsed for the number of moves they made and the wars they fought. There is a considerable amount of information available on this section of the book. Some of the most helpful works include: H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS); E. Burrows, The Oracles of Jacob and Balaam; G. W. Coats, “Balaam, Sinner or Saint?” BR 18 (1973): 21-29; P. C. Craigie, “The Conquest and Early Hebrew Poetry,” TynBul 20 (1969): 76-94; I. Parker, “The Way of God and the Way of Balaam,” ExpTim 17 (1905): 45; and J. A. Wharton, “The Command to Bless: An Exposition of Numbers 22:41–23:25,” Int 13 (1959): 37-48. This first part introduces the characters and sets the stage for the oracles. It can be divided into four sections: the invitation declined (vv. 1-14), the second invitation extended (vv. 15-21), God opposes Balaam (vv. 22-35), and Balaam meets Balak (vv. 36-41).

[22:1]  ¹⁶ tn The verse begins with the vav (ו) consecutive.

[22:1]  ¹⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:1]  ¹⁸ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

[16:1]  ²¹ 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.”

[16:25]  ²² tn Heb “rose up.”

[16:1]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

[16:1]  ²⁵ 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.”

[21:7]  ²⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[24:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ²⁸ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[9:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

[9:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

[9:8]  ³¹ tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

[9:11]  ³² tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

[9:11]  ³³ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

[9:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”