Judges 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel ¹  and asked God, ²  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ³  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

Judges 20:28

20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord ⁴  in those days), “Should we ⁵  once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, ⁶  or should we ⁷  quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them ⁸  over to you.”

Exodus 28:30

28:30 “You are to put the Urim and the Thummim ⁹  into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. Aaron is to bear the decisions ¹⁰  of the Israelites over his heart before the Lord continually.

Numbers 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹¹  will seek counsel ¹²  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ¹³  At his command ¹⁴  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Numbers 27:1

Special Inheritance Laws

27:1 ¹⁵ Then the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh, ¹⁶  the son Joseph came forward. Now these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 22:9-10

22:9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

Numbers 23:9-10

23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; ¹⁷ 

from the hills I watch them. ¹⁸ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ¹⁹  among the nations.

23:10 Who ²⁰  can count ²¹  the dust ²²  of Jacob,

Or number ²³  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ²⁴  die the death of the upright, ²⁵ 

and let the end of my life ²⁶  be like theirs.” ²⁷ 

[20:18]  ¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:18]  ² tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

[20:18]  ³ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

[20:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “standing before him.”

[20:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

[28:30]  ⁹ sn The Urim and the Thummim were two objects intended for determining the divine will. There is no clear evidence of their size or shape or the material of which they were made, but they seem to have been familiar items to Moses and the people. The best example of their use comes from 1 Sam 14:36-42. Some have suggested from the etymologies that they were light and dark objects respectively, perhaps stones or sticks or some other object. They seem to have fallen out of use after the Davidic period when the prophetic oracles became popular. It may be that the title “breastpiece of judgment” indicates that these objects were used for making “decisions” (J. P. Hyatt, Exodus [NCBC], 283-84). U. Cassuto has the most thorough treatment of the subject (Exodus, 378-82); he lists several very clear rules for their uses gathered from their instances in the Bible, including that they were a form of sacred lot, that priests or leaders of the people only could use them, and that they were used for discovering the divine will in areas that were beyond human knowledge.

[28:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “judgment” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). The term is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), the same word that describes the breastpiece that held the two objects. Here it is translated “decisions” since the Urim and Thummim contained in the breastpiece represented the means by which the Lord made decisions for the Israelites. The high priest bore the responsibility of discerning the divine will on matters of national importance.

[27:21]  ¹¹ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ¹² tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ¹³ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[27:1]  ¹⁵ sn For additional information on this section, see N. H. Snaith, “The Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 124-27; and J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 518-22.

[27:1]  ¹⁶ tc The phrase “of the families of Manasseh” is absent from the Latin Vulgate.

[23:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ¹⁸ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ¹⁹ tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.

[23:10]  ²⁰ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

[23:10]  ²¹ tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.

[23:10]  ²² sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.

[23:10]  ²³ tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.

[23:10]  ²⁴ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

[23:10]  ²⁵ sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.

[23:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my latter end.”

[23:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his.”