Numbers 20:3-5

20:3 The people contended ¹  with Moses, saying, ²  “If only ³  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 20:4 Why ⁴  have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that ⁵  we and our cattle should die here? 20:5 Why ⁶  have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to ⁷  this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Deuteronomy 28:67

28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see.

Joshua 7:7

7:7 Joshua prayed, ⁸  “O, Master, Lord! Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us?

Joshua 7:2

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho ⁹  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ¹⁰ ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 18:1

The Tribes Meet at Shiloh

18:1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. ¹¹  Though they had subdued the land, ¹² 

Lamentations 4:9

ט (Tet)

4:9 Those who died by the sword ¹³  are better off

than those who die of hunger, ¹⁴ 

those who ¹⁵  waste away, ¹⁶ 

struck down ¹⁷  from lack of ¹⁸  food. ¹⁹ 

Acts 26:29

26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time ²⁰  not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” ²¹ 

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ²²  said to Paul, “You have permission ²³  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ²⁴  and began his defense: ²⁵ 

Colossians 4:8

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ²⁶  and that he may encourage your hearts.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[20:3]  ¹ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

[20:3]  ² tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

[20:3]  ³ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.

[20:4]  ⁵ tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”

[20:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and why.”

[20:5]  ⁷ tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.

[7:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[7:2]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[7:2]  ¹⁰ map For the location of Bethel see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”

[18:1]  ¹² tn Heb “and the land was subdued before them.”

[4:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “those pierced of the sword.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those pierced by the sword” (חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב, khalle-kherev). The noun חָלָל (khalal) refers to a “fatal wound” and is used substantivally to refer to “the slain” (Num 19:18; 31:8, 19; 1 Sam 17:52; 2 Sam 23:8, 18; 1 Chr 11:11, 20; Isa 22:2; 66:16; Jer 14:18; 25:33; 51:49; Lam 4:9; Ezek 6:7; 30:11; 31:17, 18; 32:20; Zeph 2:12).

[4:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “those slain of hunger.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those slain by hunger,” that is, those who are dying of hunger.

[4:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who…” The antecedent of the relative pronoun שֶׁהֵם (shehem, “who”) are those dying of hunger in the previous line: מֵחַלְלֵי רָעָב (mekhalle ra’av, “those slain of hunger”).

[4:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they flow away.” The verb זוּב (zuv, “to flow, gush”) is used figuratively here, meaning “to pine away” or “to waste away” from hunger. See also the next note.

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “pierced through and through.” The term מְדֻקָּרִים (mÿduqqarim), Pual participle masculine plural from דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”), is used figuratively. The verb דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”) usually refers to a fatal wound inflicted by a sword or spear (Num 25:8; Judg 9:54; 1 Sam 31:4; 1 Chr 10:4; Isa 13:15; Jer 37:10; 51:4; Zech 12:10; 13:3). Here, it describes people dying from hunger. This is an example of hypocatastasis: an implied comparison between warriors being fatally pierced by sword and spear and the piercing pangs of hunger and starvation. Alternatively “those who hemorrhage (זוּב [zuv, “flow, gush”]) [are better off] than those pierced by lack of food” in parallel to the structure of the first line.

[4:9]  ¹⁸ tn The preposition מִן (min, “from”) denotes deprivation: “from lack of” something (BDB 580 s.v. 2.f; HALOT 598 s.v. 6).

[4:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “produce of the field.”

[26:29]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλίγος 2.b.β has “καὶ ἐν ὀλ. καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ whether in a short or a long time vs. 29 (cf. B-D-F §195; GWhitaker, The Words of Agrippa to St. Paul: JTS 15, 1914, 82f; AFridrichsen, SymbOsl 14, ’35, 50; Field, Notes 141-43; s. Rob. 653).”

[26:29]  ²¹ sn Except for these chains. The chains represented Paul’s unjust suffering for the sake of the message. His point was, in effect, “I do not care how long it takes. I only hope you and everyone else hearing this would become believers in Christ, but without my unjust suffering.”

[26:1]  ²² sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:1]  ²³ tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

[26:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

[26:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”

[4:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.