Discovery BoxNehemiah 9:30
Context9:30 You prolonged your kindness 1 with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, 2 so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 3
Numbers 11:17
Context11:17 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 4 all by yourself.
Numbers 11:25-29
Context11:25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses 5 and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, 6 they prophesied, 7 but did not do so again. 8
11:26 But two men remained in the camp; one’s name was Eldad, and the other’s name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, 9 but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp. 11:27 And a 10 young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant 11 of Moses, one of his choice young men, 12 said, 13 “My lord Moses, stop them!” 14 11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? 15 I wish that 16 all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Isaiah 63:11-14
Context63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. 17
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of 18 his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, 19
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, 20
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 21
63:13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running on flat land 22 they did not stumble.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, 23
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way 24 you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 25
[9:30] 1 tn The Hebrew expression here is elliptical. The words “your kindness” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:30] 2 tn Heb “did not give ear to.”
[9:30] 3 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
[11:17] 4 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] 5 tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:25] 6 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] 7 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] 8 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.
[11:26] 9 tn The form of the word is the passive participle כְּתֻבִים (kÿtuvim, “written”). It is normally taken to mean “among those registered,” but it is not clear if that means they were to be among the seventy or not. That seems unlikely since there is no mention of the seventy being registered, and vv. 24-25 says all seventy went out and prophesied. The registration may be to eldership, or the role of the officer.
[11:27] 10 tn The article indicates that the “young man” was definite in the mind of the writer, but indefinite in English.
[11:28] 11 tn The form is the Piel participle מְשָׁרֵת (mÿsharet), meaning “minister, servant, assistant.” The word has a loftier meaning than the ordinary word for slave.
[11:28] 12 tn The verb is בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”); here the form is the masculine plural participle with a suffix, serving as the object of the preposition מִן (min). It would therefore mean “[one of] his chosen men,” or “[one of] his choice men.”
[11:28] 13 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[11:28] 14 sn The effort of Joshua is to protect Moses’ prerogative as leader by stopping these men in the camp from prophesying. Joshua did not understand the significance in the
[11:29] 15 tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?
[11:29] 16 tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.
[63:11] 17 tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.
[63:11] 18 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.
[63:11] 19 sn See the note at v. 10.
[63:12] 20 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
[63:12] 21 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
[63:13] 22 tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”
[63:14] 23 tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
