Discovery BoxNumbers 10:31-32
Context10:31 Moses 1 said, “Do not leave us, 2 because you know places for us to camp in the wilderness, and you could be our guide. 3 10:32 And if you come with us, it is certain 4 that whatever good things the Lord will favor us with, we will share with you as well.”
Numbers 10:1
Context10:1 5 The Lord spoke to Moses:
Numbers 25:1
Context25:1 6 When 7 Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality 8 with the daughters of Moab.
Ezra 10:1-5
Context10:1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. 9 10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, 10 addressed Ezra:
“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying 11 foreign women from the local peoples. 12 Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. 13 10:3 Therefore let us enact 14 a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, 15 and that of those who respect 16 the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 10:4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”
10:5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. 17 And they all took a solemn oath.
Nehemiah 4:16-21
Context4:16 From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, 18 shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people 19 of Judah 4:17 who were rebuilding the wall. 20 Those who were carrying loads did so 21 by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon. 4:18 The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter 22 remained with me.
4:19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding 23 and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another. 4:20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there with us. Our God will fight for us!”
4:21 So we worked on, 24 with half 25 holding spears, from dawn till dusk. 26
Job 29:11
Context29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, 27 it blessed me, 28
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
[10:31] 1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:31] 2 tn The form with אַל־נָא (’al-na’) is a jussive; negated it stresses a more immediate request, as if Hobab is starting to leave, or at least determined to leave.
[10:31] 3 tn In the Hebrew text the expression is more graphic: “you will be for us for eyes.” Hobab was familiar with the entire Sinai region, and he could certainly direct the people where they were to go. The text does not record Hobab’s response. But the fact that Kenites were in Canaan as allies of Judah (Judg 1:16) would indicate that he gave in and came with Moses. The first refusal may simply be the polite Semitic practice of declining first so that the appeal might be made more urgently.
[10:32] 4 tn Heb “and it shall be.”
[10:1] 5 sn Here we have a short section (10:1-10) dealing with the regulations for blowing trumpets in times of war or in times of peace.
[25:1] 6 sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.
[25:1] 7 tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.
[25:1] 8 sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.
[10:1] 9 tn Heb “with much weeping.”
[10:2] 10 tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
[10:2] 11 tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.
[10:2] 12 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
[10:3] 15 tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.
[10:3] 16 tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”
[10:5] 17 tn Heb “to do according to this plan.”
[4:16] 18 tc The MT reads “and spears.” The conjunction should be deleted.
[4:16] 19 tn Heb “all the house.”
[4:17] 20 tn The first words of v. 17, “who were rebuilding the wall,” should be taken with the latter part of v. 16.
[4:17] 21 tn Heb “were carrying loads.” The LXX reads ἐν ὅπλοις (en hoplois, “with weapons”).
[4:18] 22 tn Heb “the one blowing the shophar.”
[4:21] 24 tn Heb “and we were doing the work.”
[4:21] 25 tn Heb “half of them.”
[4:21] 26 tn Heb “from the coming up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars.”
[29:11] 27 tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[29:11] 28 tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.
