Numbers 3:31

3:31 Their responsibilities included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, ¹  the curtain, and all their service. ² 

Numbers 4:15

4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished ³  covering ⁴  the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then ⁵  the Kohathites will come to carry them; ⁶  but they must not touch ⁷  any ⁸  holy thing, or they will die. ⁹  These are the responsibilities ¹⁰  of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:1

The Service of the Kohathites

4:1 ¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 8:3-4

8:3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: ¹²  It was beaten work in gold; ¹³  from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Numbers 8:6

8:6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify ¹⁴  them.

Numbers 8:1

Lighting the Lamps

8:1 ¹⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 15:12-15

15:12 You must do so for each one according to the number that you prepare.

15:13 “‘Every native-born person must do these things in this way to present an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 15:14 If a resident foreigner is living ¹⁶  with you – or whoever is among you ¹⁷  in future generations ¹⁸  – and prepares an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way you are to do it. ¹⁹  15:15 One statute must apply ²⁰  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ²¹  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ²²  before the Lord.

Numbers 15:26

15:26 And the whole community ²³  of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.

Numbers 23:26

23:26 But Balaam replied ²⁴  to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, ²⁵  I must do’?”

Numbers 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ²⁶  altar a bull and a ram.

Numbers 5:4-5

5:4 So the Israelites did so, and expelled them outside the camp. As the Lord had spoken ²⁷  to Moses, so the Israelites did.

Restitution for Sin

5:5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

[3:31]  ¹ tn The verb is יְשָׁרְתוּ (yÿsharÿtu, “they will serve/minister”). The imperfect tense in this place, however, probably describes what the priests would do, what they used to do. The verb is in a relative clause: “which they would serve with them,” which should be changed to read “with which they would serve.”

[3:31]  ² tn The word is literally “its [their] service.” It describes all the implements that were there for the maintenance of these things.

[4:15]  ³ tn The verb form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the future sequence, but in this verse forms a subordinate clause to the parallel sequential verb to follow.

[4:15]  ⁴ tn The Piel infinitive construct with the preposition serves as the direct object of the preceding verbal form, answering the question of what it was that they finished.

[4:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “after this.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift, carry”); here it indicates the purpose clause after the verb “come.”

[4:15]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense may be given the nuance of negated instruction (“they are not to”) or negated obligation (“they must not”).

[4:15]  ⁸ tn Here the article expresses the generic idea of any holy thing (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[4:15]  ⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, following the imperfect tense warning against touching the holy thing. The form shows the consequence of touching the holy thing, and so could be translated “or they will die” or “lest they die.” The first is stronger.

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn The word מַשָּׂא (massa’) is normally rendered “burden,” especially in prophetic literature. It indicates the load that one must carry, whether an oracle, or here the physical responsibility.

[4:1]  ¹¹ sn The chapter has four main parts to it: Kohathites (1-20), Gershonites (21-28), Merarites (29-33) and the census of the Levites (34-49).

[8:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text literally has “and this is the work of the lampstand,” but that rendering does not convey the sense that it is describing how it was made.

[8:4]  ¹³ sn The idea is that it was all hammered from a single plate of gold.

[8:6]  ¹⁴ tn The verb טָהַר (tahar) means that Moses was “to purify” or “to make ceremonially clean” the Levites so that they could enter the sanctuary and do the work prescribed for them. Whatever is “unclean” is not permitted in the sanctuary at all.

[8:1]  ¹⁵ sn This chapter has three main sections to it: the lighting of the lamps (vv. 1-4), the separation of the Levites (vv. 5-22), and the work of the Levites (vv. 23-26). Many modern scholars assume that the chapter belongs to P and was added late. But the chapter reiterates some of the Mosaic material concerning the work of the Levites in the new sanctuary. For the chapter to make sense the historical setting must be accepted; if the historical setting is accepted, the chapter is necessary as part of that early legislation. For more reading, see M. Haran, “The Nature of the’ohel mo‘edh in the Pentateuchal Sources,” JSS 5 (1960): 50-65, and “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 191-226; and C. L. Meyers, The Tabernacle Menorah.

[15:14]  ¹⁶ tn The word גּוּר (gur) was traditionally translated “to sojourn,” i.e., to live temporarily in a land. Here the two words are from the root: “if a sojourner sojourns.”

[15:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in your midst.”

[15:14]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.

[15:14]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.

[15:15]  ²⁰ tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.

[15:15]  ²¹ tn Or “a statute forever.”

[15:15]  ²² tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”

[15:26]  ²³ tn Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.

[23:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[23:26]  ²⁵ tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”

[23:2]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

[5:4]  ²⁷ tn The perfect tense is here given a past perfect nuance to stress that the word of the Lord preceded the obedience.