Discovery BoxNumbers 21:25
Context21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 1
Numbers 21:2
Context21:2 So Israel made a vow 2 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 3 this people into our 4 hand, then we will utterly destroy 5 their cities.”
Numbers 11:1
Context11:1 6 When the people complained, 7 it displeased 8 the Lord. When the Lord heard 9 it, his anger burned, 10 and so 11 the fire of the Lord 12 burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.
Numbers 12:1
Context12:1 13 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against 14 Moses because of the Cushite 15 woman he had married 16 (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).
Psalms 48:11
Context48:11 Mount Zion rejoices;
the towns 17 of Judah are happy, 18
because of your acts of judgment. 19
Psalms 97:8
Context97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns 20 of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
Ezekiel 16:46-55
Context16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north 21 of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south 22 of you, was Sodom 23 with her daughters. 16:47 Have you not copied their behavior 24 and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time 25 you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were! 16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.
16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity 26 of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help 27 the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. 28 You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 16:52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. 29 Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.
16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.
[21:25] 1 tn Heb “its daughters.”
[21:2] 2 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
[21:2] 3 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”
[21:2] 5 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.
[11:1] 6 sn The chapter includes the initial general complaints (vv. 1-3), the complaints about food (vv. 4-9), Moses’ own complaint to the
[11:1] 7 tn The temporal clause uses the Hitpoel infinitive construct from אָנַן (’anan). It is a rare word, occurring in Lam 3:39. With this blunt introduction the constant emphasis of obedience to the word of the
[11:1] 8 tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the
[11:1] 9 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.
[11:1] 10 tn The common Hebrew expression uses the verb חָרָה (harah, “to be hot, to burn, to be kindled”). The subject is אַפּוֹ (’appo), “his anger” or more literally, his nose, which in this anthropomorphic expression flares in rage. The emphasis is superlative – “his anger raged.”
[11:1] 11 tn The vav (ו) consecutive does not simply show sequence in the verbs, but here expresses the result of the anger of the
[11:1] 12 sn The “fire of the
[12:1] 13 sn In this short chapter we find a prime example of jealousy among leaders and how God dealt with it. Miriam and Aaron are envious of Moses’ leadership, but they use an occasion – his marriage – to criticize him. Often the immediate criticism is simply a surface issue for a deeper matter. God indicates very clearly he will speak through many people, including them, but Moses is different. Moses is the mediator of the covenant. The chapter is a lesson of what not to do. They should have fulfilled their duties before God and not tried to compete or challenge the leader in this way. There is a touch of divine irony here, for Miriam is turned white with leprosy. The chapter falls easily into the sections of the story: the accusation (vv. 1-3), the
[12:1] 14 tn The preposition bet (בְּ) has the adversative sense here, “[speak] against” (see also its use for hostile speech in 21:5, 7). Speaking against is equal to the murmuring throughout the wilderness period. The verb of the sentence is וַתְּדַבֵּר (vattÿdabber), the feminine form of the verb. This indicates that Miriam was the main speaker for the two, the verb agreeing with the first of the compound subject.
[12:1] 15 tn The Hebrew text has הַכֻּשִׁית (hakkushit, “the Cushite”) as the modifier of “woman.” The Greek text interpreted this correctly as “Ethiopian.” The word Cush in the Bible can describe the Cassites, east of Babylon of the later period (Gen 10:18), or Ethiopia (Isa 20:3; Nah 3:5; et al). Another suggestion is that it would refer to Cushan of Hab 3:7, perhaps close to Midian, and so the area Moses had been. This would suggest it could be Zipporah – but the Bible does not identify the Cushite as Zipporah. The most natural understanding would be that it refers to an Egyptian/Ethiopian woman. The text does not say when Moses married this woman, or what Miriam’s problem with her was. It is clear that it was a racial issue, by virtue of the use of “Cushite.” Whether she was of darker skin than the Hebrews would be hard to say, since the Bible gives no further detail. Neither does it say if this is a second wife, or a woman Moses married since Zipporah went home (Exod 18:2). These do not seem to be the issues the text wishes to elaborate on; it is simply stating that this woman was the occasion for a deeper challenge.
[48:11] 17 tn Heb “daughters.” The reference is to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 97:8 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).
[48:11] 18 tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as generalizing imperfects. (For other examples of an imperfect followed by causal לְמַעַן [lÿma’an], see Ps 23:3; Isa 49:7; 55:5.) Another option is to interpret the forms as jussives, “Let Mount Zion rejoice! Let the towns of Judah be happy!” (cf. NASB, NRSV; note the imperatives in vv. 12-13.)
[48:11] 19 sn These acts of judgment are described in vv. 4-7.
[97:8] 20 tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).
[16:46] 23 sn Sodom was the epitome of evil (Deut 29:23; 32:32; Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24; Jude 7).
[16:47] 24 tn Heb “walked in their ways.”
[16:47] 25 tn The Hebrew expression has a temporal meaning as illustrated by the use of the phrase in 2 Chr 12:7.
[16:49] 27 tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”
[16:51] 28 tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”
[16:52] 29 tn Heb “because you have interceded for your sisters with your sins.”
