Numbers 11:25-29

11:25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses ¹  and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, ²  they prophesied, ³  but did not do so again. ⁴ 

Eldad and Medad

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, ⁵  but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp. 11:27 And a ⁶  young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant ⁷  of Moses, one of his choice young men, ⁸  said, ⁹  “My lord Moses, stop them!” ¹⁰  11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? ¹¹  I wish that ¹²  all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Nehemiah 9:20

9:20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst.

Nehemiah 9:30

9:30 You prolonged your kindness ¹³  with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, ¹⁴  so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 51:11-12

51:11 Do not reject me! ¹⁶ 

Do not take your Holy Spirit ¹⁷  away from me! ¹⁸ 

51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!

Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 63:11-14

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ²⁰ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ²¹  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ²² 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ²³ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ²⁴ 

63:13 who led them through the deep water?

Like a horse running on flat land ²⁵  they did not stumble.

63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, ²⁶ 

so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.

In this way ²⁷  you guided your people,

gaining for yourself an honored reputation. ²⁸ 

Zechariah 4:6

4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ²⁹  says the Lord who rules over all.”

John 14:16-17

14:16 Then ³⁰  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate ³¹  to be with you forever – 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, ³²  because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides ³³  with you and will be ³⁴  in you.

[11:25]  ¹ tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:25]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The article indicates that the “young man” was definite in the mind of the writer, but indefinite in English.

[11:28]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[11:28]  ¹⁰ 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 Lord’s plan to let other share the burden of leadership.

[11:29]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[9:30]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “did not give ear to.”

[9:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[51:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”

[51:11]  ¹⁷ sn Your Holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”

[51:11]  ¹⁸ sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14).

[51:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[63:11]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ²³ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[63:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”

[63:14]  ²⁶ tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[63:14]  ²⁷ tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).

[63:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”

[4:6]  ²⁹ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).

[14:16]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.

[14:16]  ³¹ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). Finding an appropriate English translation for παράκλητος is a very difficult task. No single English word has exactly the same range of meaning as the Greek word. “Comforter,” used by some of the older English versions, appears to be as old as Wycliffe. But today it suggests a quilt or a sympathetic mourner at a funeral. “Counselor” is adequate, but too broad, in contexts like “marriage counselor” or “camp counselor.” “Helper” or “Assistant” could also be used, but could suggest a subordinate rank. “Advocate,” the word chosen for this translation, has more forensic overtones than the Greek word does, although in John 16:5-11 a forensic context is certainly present. Because an “advocate” is someone who “advocates” or supports a position or viewpoint and since this is what the Paraclete will do for the preaching of the disciples, it was selected in spite of the drawbacks.

[14:17]  ³² tn Or “cannot receive.”

[14:17]  ³³ tn Or “he remains.”

[14:17]  ³⁴ tc Some early and important witnesses (Ì^66* B D* W 1 565 it) have ἐστιν (estin, “he is”) instead of ἔσται (estai, “he will be”) here, while other weighty witnesses ({Ì^66c,75vid א A D¹ L Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 33^vid Ï as well as several versions and fathers}), read the future tense. When one considers transcriptional evidence, ἐστιν is the more difficult reading and better explains the rise of the future tense reading, but it must be noted that both Ì⁶⁶ and D were corrected from the present tense to the future. If ἐστιν were the original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be corrected to read the present when they originally read the future, but that is not the case. When one considers what the author would have written, the future is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16 and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7). The present tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton, Jr., “He Is with You and He Will Be in You” (Ph.D. diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.