Discovery BoxNumbers 11:1--21:35
Context11:1 1 When the people complained, 2 it displeased 3 the Lord. When the Lord heard 4 it, his anger burned, 5 and so 6 the fire of the Lord 7 burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp. 11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he 8 prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. 9 11:3 So he called the name of that place Taberah 10 because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.
11:4 11 Now the mixed multitude 12 who were among them craved more desirable foods, 13 and so the Israelites wept again 14 and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 15 11:5 We remember 16 the fish we used to eat 17 freely 18 in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 11:6 But now we 19 are dried up, 20 and there is nothing at all before us 21 except this manna!” 11:7 (Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 11:8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil. 22 11:9 And when the dew came down 23 on the camp in the night, the manna fell 24 with it.)
11:10 25 Moses heard the people weeping 26 throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. 27 11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted 28 your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that 29 you lay the burden of this entire people on me? 11:12 Did I conceive this entire people? 30 Did I give birth to 31 them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father 32 bears a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers? 11:13 From where shall I get 33 meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat!’ 34 11:14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, 35 because it 36 is too heavy for me! 11:15 But if you are going to deal 37 with me like this, then kill me immediately. 38 If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” 39
11:16 40 The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials 41 over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it 42 all by yourself.
11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves 43 for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing 44 of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, 45 for life 46 was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 11:19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 11:20 but a whole month, 47 until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, 48 because you have despised 49 the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why 50 did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”
11:21 Moses said, “The people around me 51 are 600,000 on foot; 52 but you say, ‘I will give them meat, 53 that they may eat 54 for a whole month.’ 11:22 Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? 55 Now you will see whether my word to you will come true 56 or not!”
11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He then gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tabernacle. 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 57 and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, 58 they prophesied, 59 but did not do so again. 60
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, 61 but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp. 11:27 And a 62 young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant 63 of Moses, one of his choice young men, 64 said, 65 “My lord Moses, stop them!” 66 11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? 67 I wish that 68 all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 11:30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
11:31 Now a wind 69 went out 70 from the Lord and brought quail 71 from the sea, and let them fall 72 near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet 73 high on the surface of the ground. 11:32 And the people stayed up 74 all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, 75 and they spread them out 76 for themselves all around the camp. 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, 77 the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.
11:34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, 78 because there they buried the people that craved different food. 79 11:35 The people traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.
12:1 80 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against 81 Moses because of the Cushite 82 woman he had married 83 (for he had married an Ethiopian woman). 12:2 They 84 said, “Has the Lord only 85 spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” 86 And the Lord heard it. 87
12:3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, 88 more so than any man on the face of the earth.)
12:4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went. 12:5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
12:6 The Lord 89 said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, 90 I the Lord 91 will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. 12:7 My servant 92 Moses is not like this; he is faithful 93 in all my house. 12:8 With him I will speak face to face, 94 openly, 95 and not in riddles; and he will see the form 96 of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 12:9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. 12:10 When 97 the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became 98 leprous 99 as snow. Then Aaron looked at 100 Miriam, and she was leprous!
12:11 So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, 101 please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! 12:12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its 102 mother’s womb!”
12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” 103 12:14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit 104 in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”
12:15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. 105 12:16 After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
13:1 106 The Lord spoke 107 to Moses: 13:2 “Send out men to investigate 108 the land of Canaan, which I am giving 109 to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, 110 each one a leader among them.” 13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command 111 of the Lord. All of them were leaders 112 of the Israelites.
13:4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 13:6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 13:7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 13:8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 13:9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 13:10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 13:11 from the tribe 113 of Joseph, namely, the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi; 13:12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13:13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 13:14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vopshi; 13:15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki. 13:16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to investigate the land. And Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua. 114
13:17 When Moses sent 115 them to investigate the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev, 116 and then go up into the hill country 13:18 and see 117 what the land is like, 118 and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, few or many, 13:19 and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities, 13:20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, 119 and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year 120 for the first ripe grapes. 121
13:21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, 122 at the entrance of Hamath. 123 13:22 When they went up through the Negev, they 124 came 125 to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, 126 descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan 127 in Egypt.) 13:23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff 128 between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs. 13:24 That place was called 129 the Eshcol Valley, 130 because of the cluster 131 of grapes that the Israelites cut from there. 13:25 They returned from investigating the land after forty days.
13:26 They came back 132 to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. 133 They reported 134 to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. 13:27 They told Moses, 135 “We went to the land where you sent us. 136 It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, 137 and this is its fruit. 13:28 But 138 the inhabitants 139 are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 13:29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks 140 of the Jordan.” 141
13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up 142 and occupy it, 143 for we are well able to conquer it.” 144 13:31 But the men 145 who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!” 13:32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging 146 report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through 147 to investigate is a land that devours 148 its inhabitants. 149 All the people we saw there 150 are of great stature. 13:33 We even saw the Nephilim 151 there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves 152 and to them.” 153
14:1 154 Then all the community raised a loud cry, 155 and the people wept 156 that night. 14:2 And all the Israelites murmured 157 against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died 158 in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished 159 in this wilderness! 14:3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 14:4 So they said to one another, 160 “Let’s appoint 161 a leader 162 and return 163 to Egypt.”
14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground 164 before the whole assembled community 165 of the Israelites. 14:6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. 14:7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly 166 good land. 14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 167 14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. 168 Their protection 169 has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”
14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. 170 But 171 the glory 172 of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent 173 of meeting.
14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise 174 me, and how long will they not believe 175 in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? 14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence, 176 and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!”
14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear 177 it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them – 14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants 178 of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, 179 that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15 If you kill 180 this entire people at once, 181 then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord 182 be great, just as you have said, 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, 183 forgiving iniquity and transgression, 184 but by no means clearing 185 the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 186 14:19 Please forgive 187 the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, 188 just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”
14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked. 189 14:21 But truly, as I live, 190 all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted 191 me now these ten times, 192 and have not obeyed me, 193 14:23 they will by no means 194 see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it. 14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully – I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants 195 will possess it. 14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) 196 Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
14:26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:27 “How long must I bear 197 with this evil congregation 198 that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me. 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, 199 says 200 the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. 201 14:29 Your dead bodies 202 will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. 14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where 203 I swore 204 to settle 205 you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 14:31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, 206 and they will enjoy 207 the land that you have despised. 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, 14:33 and your children will wander 208 in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, 209 until your dead bodies lie finished 210 in the wilderness. 14:34 According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days – one day for a year – you will suffer for 211 your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me. 212 14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’”
14:36 The men whom Moses sent to investigate the land, who returned and made the whole community murmur against him by producing 213 an evil report about the land, 14:37 those men who produced the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord. 14:38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among 214 the men who went to investigate the land, lived. 14:39 When Moses told 215 these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned 216 greatly.
14:40 And early 217 in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, 218 saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, 219 for we have sinned.” 220 14:41 But Moses said, “Why 221 are you now transgressing the commandment 222 of the Lord? It will not succeed! 14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be 223 defeated before your enemies. 14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”
14:44 But they dared 224 to go up to the crest of the hill, although 225 neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. 14:45 So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped 226 down and attacked them 227 as far as Hormah. 228
15:1 229 The Lord spoke to Moses: 15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land where you are to live, 230 which I am giving you, 231 15:3 and you make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock (whether a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a freewill offering or in your solemn feasts) to create a pleasing aroma to the Lord, 15:4 then the one who presents his offering to the Lord must bring 232 a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of olive oil. 233 15:5 You must also prepare one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering 234 with the burnt offering or the sacrifice for each lamb. 235 15:6 Or for a ram, you must prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one-third of a hin of olive oil, 15:7 and for a drink offering you must offer one-third of a hin of wine as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 15:8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord, 15:9 then a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil must be presented 236 with the young bull, 15:10 and you must present as the drink offering half a hin of wine with the fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 15:11 This is what is to be done 237 for each ox, or each ram, or each of the male lambs or the goats. 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 238 with you – or whoever is among you 239 in future generations 240 – 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. 241 15:15 One statute must apply 242 to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent 243 statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike 244 before the Lord. 15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you.’”
15:17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 15:18 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you 245 15:19 and you eat 246 some of the food of the land, you must offer up a raised offering 247 to the Lord. 15:20 You must offer up a cake of the first of your finely ground flour 248 as a raised offering; as you offer the raised offering of the threshing floor, so you must offer it up. 15:21 You must give to the Lord some of the first of your finely ground flour as a raised offering in your future generations.
15:22 249 “‘If you 250 sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses – 15:23 all that the Lord has commanded you by the authority 251 of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses and continuing through your future generations – 15:24 then if anything is done unintentionally 252 without the knowledge of 253 the community, the whole community must prepare one young bull for a burnt offering – for a pleasing aroma to the Lord – along with its grain offering and its customary drink offering, and one male goat for a purification offering. 15:25 And the priest is to make atonement 254 for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven, 255 because it was unintentional and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their unintentional offense. 15:26 And the whole community 256 of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.
15:27 “‘If any person 257 sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering. 15:28 And the priest must make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally – when he sins unintentionally before the Lord – to make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. 15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.
15:30 “‘But the person 258 who acts defiantly, 259 whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults 260 the Lord. 261 That person 262 must be cut off 263 from among his people. 15:31 Because he has despised 264 the word of the Lord and has broken 265 his commandment, that person 266 must be completely cut off. 267 His iniquity will be on him.’” 268
15:32 When the Israelites were 269 in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 270 15:33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community. 15:34 They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him. 15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone 271 him with stones outside the camp.” 15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, 272 just as the Lord commanded Moses.
15:37 The Lord spoke to Moses: 15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make 273 tassels 274 for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread 275 on the tassel of the corners. 15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow 276 after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. 277 15:40 Thus 278 you will remember and obey all my commandments and be holy to your God. 15:41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
16:1 279 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, 280 took men 281 16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders 282 of the community, chosen from the assembly, 283 famous men. 284 16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, 285 seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”
16:4 When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. 286 16:5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person 287 to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. 16:6 Do this, Korah, you and all your company: 288 Take censers, 16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!” 16:8 Moses said to Korah, “Listen now, you sons of Levi! 16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek 289 the priesthood also? 16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?” 290 16:12 Then Moses summoned 291 Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up. 292 16:13 Is it a small thing 293 that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, 294 to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince 295 over us? 16:14 Moreover, 296 you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind 297 these men? We will not come up.”
16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect 298 for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”
16:16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company present yourselves before the Lord – you and they, and Aaron – tomorrow. 16:17 And each of you 299 take his censer, put 300 incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron – each of you with his censer.” 16:18 So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 16:19 When 301 Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.
16:20 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 16:21 “Separate yourselves 302 from among this community, 303 that I may consume them in an instant.” 16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground 304 and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, 305 will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” 306
16:23 So the Lord spoke to Moses: 16:24 “Tell the community: ‘Get away 307 from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 16:25 Then Moses got up 308 and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked 309 men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because 310 of all their sins.” 311 16:27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves 312 in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how 313 you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 314 16:29 If these men die a natural death, 315 or if they share the fate 316 of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, 317 and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up 318 along with all that they have, and they 319 go down alive to the grave, 320 then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”
16:31 When he had finished 321 speaking 322 all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. 16:34 All the Israelites 323 who were around them fled at their cry, 324 for they said, “What if 325 the earth swallows us too?” 16:35 Then a fire 326 went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.
16:36 (17:1) 327 The Lord spoke to Moses: 16:37 “Tell 328 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up 329 the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire 330 at a distance. 16:38 As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, 331 they must be made 332 into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the Lord and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites.” 16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been burned up, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar. 16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of 333 Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority 334 of Moses. 16:41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” 335 16:42 When the community assembled 336 against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting – and 337 the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 16:43 Then Moses and Aaron stood before the tent of meeting.
16:44 The Lord spoke to Moses: 16:45 “Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant!” But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 338 16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did 339 as Moses commanded 340 and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah. 16:50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.
17:1 341 The Lord spoke to Moses: 17:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, 342 one from every tribal leader, 343 twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff. 17:3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe. 344 17:4 You must place them 345 in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant 346 where I meet with you. 17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”
17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, 347 according to their tribes 348 – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. 349
17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and 350 the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! 351 17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, 352 and each man took his staff.
17:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end 353 before me, that they will not die.” 354 17:11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him – this is what he did.
17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die! 355 We perish, we all perish! 17:13 (17:28) 356 Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?” 357
18:1 358 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe 359 with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, 360 and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join 361 with you and minister to you while 362 you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 18:3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die. 18:4 They must join 363 with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person 364 may approach you. 18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be 365 no more wrath on the Israelites. 18:6 I myself have chosen 366 your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties 367 of the tent of meeting. 18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”
18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion 368 and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved 369 from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 18:10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.
18:11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
18:12 “All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. 370 18:13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
18:14 “Everything devoted 371 in Israel will be yours. 18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, 372 and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem. 18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). 18:17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash 373 their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18:18 And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours. 18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt 374 forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”
18:20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property 375 among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 18:21 See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform – the service of the tent of meeting. 18:22 No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin 376 and die. 18:23 But the Levites must perform the service 377 of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. 378 It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites 379 have no inheritance. 380 18:24 But I have given 381 to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered 382 to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”
18:25 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18:26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up 383 from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe. 18:27 And your raised offering will be credited 384 to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine 385 from the winepress. 18:28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. 18:29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due 386 the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’ 387
18:30 “Therefore you will say to them, 388 ‘When you offer up 389 the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress. 18:31 And you may 390 eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. 18:32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’” 391
19:1 392 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct 393 the Israelites to bring 394 you a red 395 heifer 396 without blemish, which has no defect 397 and has never carried a yoke. 19:3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him. 398 19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take 399 some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times 400 directly in front of the tent of meeting. 19:5 Then the heifer must be burned 401 in his sight – its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. 402 19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, 403 and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. 404 19:7 Then the priest must wash 405 his clothes and bathe himself 406 in water, and afterward he may come 407 into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 19:8 The one who burns it 408 must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept 409 for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification 410 – it is a purification for sin. 411 19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.
19:11 “‘Whoever touches 412 the corpse 413 of any person 414 will be ceremonially unclean 415 seven days. 19:12 He must purify himself 416 with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean. 19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, 417 because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies 418 in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. 19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. 19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, 419 or the body of someone who died of natural causes, 420 or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. 421
19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take 422 some of the ashes of the heifer 423 burnt for purification from sin and pour 424 fresh running 425 water over them in a vessel. 19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave. 19:19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, 426 and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening. 19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.
19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles 427 the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. 428 19:22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”
20:1 429 Then the entire community of Israel 430 entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, 431 and the people stayed in Kadesh. 432 Miriam died and was buried there. 433
20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended 434 with Moses, saying, 435 “If only 436 we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 20:4 Why 437 have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that 438 we and our cattle should die here? 20:5 Why 439 have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to 440 this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
20:6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 20:7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak 441 to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth 442 its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”
20:9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, 443 must we bring 444 water out of this rock for you?” 20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough 445 to show me as holy 446 before 447 the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” 448
20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained 449 among them.
20:14 450 Moses 451 sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 452 “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 453 20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, 454 and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. 455 20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, 456 and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now 457 we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. 458 20:17 Please let us pass through 459 your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; 460 we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” 461
20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, 462 or I will come out against 463 you with the sword.” 20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we 464 or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”
20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them 465 with a large and powerful force. 466 20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.
20:22 So the entire company of Israelites 467 traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 468 20:23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom. He said: 20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, 469 for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you 470 rebelled against my word 471 at the waters of Meribah. 20:25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up on Mount Hor. 20:26 Remove Aaron’s priestly garments 472 and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors 473 and will die there.”
20:27 So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight 474 of the whole community. 20:28 And Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 20:29 When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.
21:1 475 When the Canaanite king of Arad 476 who lived in the Negev 477 heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
21:2 So Israel made a vow 478 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 479 this people into our 480 hand, then we will utterly destroy 481 their cities.” 21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, 482 and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called 483 Hormah.
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 484 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 485 became impatient along the way. 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we 486 detest this worthless 487 food.”
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous 488 snakes 489 among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away 490 the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks 491 at it, he will live.” 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 492
21:10 493 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 21:11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, 494 in the wilderness that is before Moab, on the eastern side. 495 21:12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered. 21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions 496 of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah 497 and the wadis,
the Arnon 21:15 and the slope of the valleys 498
that extends to the dwelling of Ar, 499
and falls off at the border of Moab.”
21:16 And from there they traveled 500 to Beer; 501 that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 21:17 Then Israel sang 502 this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
21:18 The well which the princes 503 dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; 21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wilderness. 504
21:21 505 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, 506
21:22 “Let us 507 pass through your land; 508 we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” 21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he 509 gathered all his forces 510 together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When 511 he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 21:24 But the Israelites 512 defeated him in battle 513 and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. 21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 514 21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, 515 as far as the Arnon. 21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs 516 say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let the city of Sihon be established! 517
21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords 518 of the high places of Arnon.
21:29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! 519
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
21:30 We have overpowered them; 520
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We have shattered them as far as Nophah,
which 521 reaches to Medeba.”
21:31 So the Israelites 522 lived in the land of the Amorites. 21:32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter 523 Jaazer, and they captured its villages 524 and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
21:33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces 525 marched out against them to do battle at Edrei. 21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. 21:35 So they defeated Og, 526 his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, 527 and they possessed his land.
[11:1] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the
[11:1] 4 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.
[11:1] 5 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] 6 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] 7 sn The “fire of the
[11:2] 9 sn Here is the pattern that will become in the wilderness experience so common – the complaining turns to a cry to Moses, which is then interpreted as a prayer to the
[11:3] 10 tn The name תַּבְעֵרָה (tav’erah) is given to the spot as a commemorative of the wilderness experience. It is explained by the formula using the same verbal root, “to burn.” Such naming narratives are found dozens of times in the OT, and most frequently in the Pentateuch. The explanation is seldom an exact etymology, and so in the literature is called a popular etymology. It is best to explain the connection as a figure of speech, a paronomasia, which is a phonetic wordplay that may or may not be etymologically connected. Usually the name is connected to the explanation by a play on the verbal root – here the preterite explaining the noun. The significance of commemorating the place by such a device is to “burn” it into the memory of Israel. The narrative itself would be remembered more easily by the name and its motif. The namings in the wilderness wanderings remind the faithful of unbelief, and warn us all not to murmur as they murmured. See further A. P. Ross, “Paronomasia and Popular Etymologies in the Naming Narrative of the Old Testament,” Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1982.
[11:4] 11 sn The story of the sending of the quail is a good example of poetic justice, or talionic justice. God had provided for the people, but even in that provision they were not satisfied, for they remembered other foods they had in Egypt. No doubt there was not the variety of foods in the Sinai that might have been available in Egypt, but their life had been bitter bondage there as well. They had cried to the
[11:4] 12 tn The mixed multitude (or “rabble,” so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NLT “foreign rabble”) is the translation of an unusual word, הֲָאסַפְסֻף (ha’safsuf). It occurs in the Hebrew Bible only here. It may mean “a gathering of people” from the verb אָסַף (’asaf), yielding the idea of a mixed multitude (in line with Exod 12:38). But the root is different, and so no clear connection can be established. Many commentators therefore think the word is stronger, showing contempt through a word that would be equivalent to “riff-raff.”
[11:4] 13 tn The Hebrew simply uses the cognate accusative, saying “they craved a craving” (הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה, hit’avvu ta’vah), but the context shows that they had this strong craving for food. The verb describes a strong desire, which is not always negative (Ps 132:13-14). But the word is a significant one in the Torah; it was used in the garden story for Eve’s desire for the tree, and it is used in the Decalogue in the warning against coveting (Deut 5:21).
[11:4] 14 tc The Greek and the Latin versions read “and they sat down” for “and they returned,” involving just a change in vocalization (which they did not have). This may reflect the same expression in Judg 20:26. But the change does not improve this verse.
[11:4] 15 tn The Hebrew expresses the strong wish or longing idiomatically: “Who will give us flesh to eat?” It is a rhetorical expression not intended to be taken literally, but merely to give expression to the longing they had. See GKC 476 §151.a.1.
[11:5] 16 tn The perfect tense here expresses the experience of a state of mind.
[11:5] 17 tn The imperfect tense would here be the customary imperfect, showing continual or incomplete action in past time.
[11:5] 18 tn The adverb “freely” is from the word חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”), from which is derived the noun “grace.” The word underscores the idea of “free, without cost, for no reason, gratis.” Here the simple sense is “freely,” without any cost. But there may be more significance in the choice of the words in this passage, showing the ingratitude of the Israelites to God for His deliverance from bondage. To them now the bondage is preferable to the salvation – this is what angered the
[11:6] 20 sn The Hebrews were complaining both about the bland taste of the manna and dehydration – they were parched in the wilderness.
[11:6] 21 tn Heb “before our eyes,” meaning that “we see nothing except this manna.”
[11:8] 22 tn Heb “And its taste was like the taste of fresh olive oil.”
[11:9] 23 tn The temporal clause is constructed of the infinitive construct from יָרָד (yarad) with a temporal preposition, followed by the subjective genitive.
[11:10] 25 sn Moses begins to feel the burden of caring for this people, a stubborn and rebellious people. His complaint shows how contagious their complaining has been. It is one thing to cry out to God about the load of ministry, but it is quite another to do it in such a way as to reflect a lack of faith in God’s provision. God has to remind the leader Moses that he, the
[11:10] 26 tn The participle “weeping” is functioning here as the noun in the accusative case, an adverbial accusative of state. It is explicative of the object.
[11:10] 27 tn Heb “it was evil in the eyes of Moses.”
[11:11] 28 tn The verb is the Hiphil of רָעַע (ra’a’, “to be evil”). Moses laments (with the rhetorical question) that God seems to have caused him evil.
[11:11] 29 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition is expressing the result of not finding favor with God (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57). What Moses is claiming is that because he has been given this burden God did not show him favor.
[11:12] 30 sn The questions Moses asks are rhetorical. He is actually affirming that they are not his people, that he did not produce them, but now is to support them. His point is that God produced this nation, but has put the burden of caring for their needs on him.
[11:12] 31 tn The verb means “to beget, give birth to.” The figurative image from procreation completes the parallel question, first the conceiving and second the giving birth to the nation.
[11:12] 32 tn The word אֹמֵן (’omen) is often translated “nurse,” but the form is a masculine form and would better be rendered as a “foster parent.” This does not work as well, though, with the יֹנֵק (yoneq), the “sucking child.” The two metaphors are simply designed to portray the duty of a parent to a child as a picture of Moses’ duty for the nation. The idea that it portrays God as a mother pushes it too far (see M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 86-87).
[11:13] 33 tn The Hebrew text simply has “from where to me flesh?” which means “from where will I have meat?”
[11:13] 34 tn The cohortative coming after the imperative stresses purpose (it is an indirect volitive).
[11:14] 35 tn The word order shows the emphasis: “I am not able, I by myself, to bear all this people.” The infinitive לָשֵׂאת (lase’t) serves as the direct object of the verb. The expression is figurative, for bearing or carrying the people means being responsible for all their needs and cares.
[11:14] 36 tn The subject of the verb “heavy” is unstated; in the context it probably refers to the people, or the burden of caring for the people. This responsibility was turning out to be a heavier responsibility than Moses anticipated. Alone he was totally inadequate.
[11:15] 37 tn The participle expresses the future idea of what God is doing, or what he is going to be doing. Moses would rather be killed than be given a totally impossible duty over a people that were not his.
[11:15] 38 tn The imperative of הָרַג (harag) is followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The point is more that the infinitive adds to the emphasis of the imperative mood, which would be immediate compliance.
[11:15] 39 tn Or “my own ruin” (NIV). The word “trouble” here probably refers to the stress and difficulty of caring for a complaining group of people. The suffix on the noun would be objective, perhaps stressing the indirect object of the noun – trouble for me. The expression “on my trouble” (בְּרָעָתִי, bÿra’ati) is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the original reading in v. 15 was [to look] “on your evil” (בְּרָעָתֶךָ, bÿra’atekha), meaning “the calamity that you bring about” for Israel. However, since such an expression could be mistakenly thought to attribute evil to the Lord, the ancient scribes changed it to the reading found in the MT.
[11:16] 40 sn The
[11:16] 41 tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.
[11:17] 42 tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.
[11:18] 43 tn The Hitpael is used to stress that they are to prepare for a holy appearance. The day was going to be special and so required their being set apart for it. But it is a holy day in the sense of the judgment that was to follow.
[11:18] 44 tn Heb “in the ears.”
[11:18] 45 tn Possibly this could be given an optative translation, to reflect the earlier one: “O that someone would give….” But the verb is not the same; here it is the Hiphil of the verb “to eat” – “who will make us eat” (i.e., provide meat for us to eat).
[11:18] 46 tn The word “life” is not in the text. The expression is simply “it was for us,” or “we had good,” meaning “we had it good,” or “life was good.”
[11:20] 47 tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.
[11:20] 48 tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.
[11:20] 49 sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the
[11:20] 50 tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”
[11:21] 51 tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.
[11:21] 52 tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”
[11:21] 53 tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the
[11:21] 54 tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.
[11:23] 55 sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the
[11:23] 56 tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”
[11:25] 57 tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:25] 58 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] 59 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] 60 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] 61 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] 62 tn The article indicates that the “young man” was definite in the mind of the writer, but indefinite in English.
[11:28] 63 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] 64 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] 65 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[11:28] 66 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
[11:29] 67 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] 68 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.
[11:31] 69 sn The irony in this chapter is expressed in part by the use of the word רוּחַ (ruakh). In the last episode it clearly meant the Spirit of the
[11:31] 70 tn The verb means “burst forth” or “sprang up.” See the ways it is used in Gen 33:12, Judg 16:3, 14; Isa 33:20.
[11:31] 71 sn The “quail” ordinarily cross the Sinai at various times of the year, but what is described here is not the natural phenomenon. Biblical scholars looking for natural explanations usually note that these birds fly at a low height and can be swatted down easily. But the description here is more of a supernatural supply and provision. See J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54.
[11:31] 72 tn Or “left them fluttering.”
[11:31] 73 tn Heb “two cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length.
[11:32] 74 tn Heb “rose up, stood up.”
[11:32] 75 sn This is about two thousand liters.
[11:32] 76 tn The verb (a preterite) is followed by the infinitive absolute of the same root, to emphasize the action of spreading out the quail. Although it is hard to translate the expression, it indicates that they spread these quail out all over the area. The vision of them spread all over was evidence of God’s abundant provision for their needs.
[11:33] 77 tn The verb is a prefixed conjugation, normally an imperfect tense. But coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem) it is treated as a preterite.
[11:34] 78 sn The name “the graves of the ones who craved” is again explained by a wordplay, a popular etymology. In Hebrew קִבְרוֹת הַתַּאֲוָה (qivrot hatta’avah) is the technical name. It is the place that the people craved the meat, longing for the meat of Egypt, and basically rebelled against God. The naming marks another station in the wilderness where the people failed to accept God’s good gifts with grace and to pray for their other needs to be met.
[11:34] 79 tn The words “different food” are implied, and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:1] 80 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] 81 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] 82 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.
[12:2] 84 tn Now the text changes to use a plural form of the verb. The indication is that Miriam criticized the marriage, and then the two of them raised questions about his sole leadership of the nation.
[12:2] 85 tn The use of both רַק and אַךְ (raq and ’akh) underscore the point that the issue is Moses’ uniqueness.
[12:2] 86 tn There is irony in the construction in the text. The expression “speak through us” also uses דִּבֵּר + בְּ(dibber + bÿ). They ask if God has not also spoken through them, after they have spoken against Moses. Shortly God will speak against them – their words are prophetic, but not as they imagined.
[12:2] 87 sn The statement is striking. Obviously the
[12:3] 88 tc The spelling of the word is a Kethib-Qere reading with only a slight difference between the two.
[12:6] 90 tn The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (nÿvi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the MT has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”
[12:6] 91 tn The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).
[12:7] 92 sn The title “my servant” or “servant of the
[12:7] 93 tn The word “faithful” is נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman), the Niphal participle of the verb אָמַן (’aman). This basic word has the sense of “support, be firm.” In the Niphal it describes something that is firm, reliable, dependable – what can be counted on. It could actually be translated “trustworthy.”
[12:8] 94 tn The emphasis of the line is clear enough – it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the
[12:8] 95 tn The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.
[12:8] 96 tn The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, tÿmunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the
[12:10] 97 tn The disjunctive vav (ו) is here introducing a circumstantial clause of time.
[12:10] 98 tn There is no verb “became” in this line. The second half of the line is introduced with the particle הִנֵה (hinneh, “look, behold”) in its archaic sense. This deictic use is intended to make the reader focus on Miriam as well.
[12:10] 99 sn The word “leprosy” and “leprous” covers a wide variety of skin diseases, and need not be limited to the actual disease of leprosy known today as Hansen’s disease. The description of it here has to do with snow, either the whiteness or the wetness. If that is the case then there would be open wounds and sores – like Job’s illness (see M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 95-96).
[12:10] 100 tn Heb “turned to.”
[12:11] 101 tn The expression בִּי אֲדֹנִי (bi ’adoni, “O my lord”) shows a good deal of respect for Moses by Aaron. The expression is often used in addressing God.
[12:12] 102 tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.
[12:13] 103 tc Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’”
[12:14] 104 tn The form is intensified by the infinitive absolute, but here the infinitive strengthens not simply the verbal idea but the conditional cause construction as well.
[12:15] 105 tn The clause has the Niphal infinitive construct after a temporal preposition.
[13:1] 106 sn Chapter 13 provides the names of the spies sent into the land (vv. 1-16), their instructions (vv. 17-20), their activities (vv. 21-25), and their reports (vv. 26-33). It is a chapter that serves as a good lesson on faith, for some of the spies walked by faith, and some by sight.
[13:1] 107 tn The verse starts with the vav (ו) consecutive on the verb: “and….”
[13:2] 108 tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It can thus be translated “send…to investigate.”
[13:2] 109 tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”
[13:2] 110 tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”
[13:11] 113 tc Some scholars emend “tribe” to “sons.” Cf. Num 1:10.
[13:16] 114 sn The difference in the names is slight, a change from “he saves” to “the
[13:17] 115 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb of the same formation to express a temporal clause.
[13:17] 116 tn The instructions had them first go up into the southern desert of the land, and after passing through that, into the hill country of the Canaanites. The text could be rendered “into the Negev” as well as “through the Negev.”
[13:18] 117 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; the word therefore carries the volitional mood of the preceding imperatives. It may be either another imperative, or it may be subordinated as a purpose clause.
[13:18] 118 tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”
[13:20] 119 tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, from the root חָזַק (khazaq, “to be strong”). Here it could mean “strengthen yourselves” or “be courageous” or “determined.” See further uses in 2 Sam 10:12; 1 Kgs 20:22; 1 Chr 19:13.
[13:20] 120 tn Heb “Now the days were the days of.”
[13:20] 121 sn The reference to the first ripe grapes would put the time somewhere at the end of July.
[13:21] 122 sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.
[13:21] 123 tn The idiom uses the infinitive construct: “to enter Hamath,” meaning, “on the way that people go to Hamath.”
[13:22] 124 tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and Smr have the plural.
[13:22] 125 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.
[13:22] 126 sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.
[13:22] 127 sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).
[13:23] 128 tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things, but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.
[13:24] 129 tn The verb is rendered as a passive because there is no expressed subject.
[13:24] 130 tn Or “Wadi Eshcol.” The translation “brook” is too generous; the Hebrew term refers to a river bed, a ravine or valley through which torrents of rain would rush in the rainy season; at other times it might be completely dry.
[13:24] 131 tn The word “Eshcol” is drawn from the Hebrew expression concerning the “cluster of grapes.” The word is probably retained in the name Burj Haskeh, two miles north of Damascus.
[13:26] 132 tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
[13:26] 133 sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.
[13:26] 134 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).
[13:27] 135 tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:27] 136 tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
[13:27] 137 sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).
[13:28] 138 tn The word (אֶפֶס, ’efes) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”
[13:28] 139 tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”
[13:29] 140 tn Heb “by the side [hand] of.”
[13:29] 141 sn For more discussion on these people groups, see D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times.
[13:30] 142 tn The construction is emphatic, using the cohortative with the infinitive absolute to strengthen it: עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה (’aloh na’aleh, “let us go up”) with the sense of certainty and immediacy.
[13:30] 143 tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive brings the cohortative idea forward: “and let us possess it”; it may also be subordinated to form a purpose or result idea.
[13:30] 144 tn Here again the confidence of Caleb is expressed with the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense: יָכוֹל נוּכַל (yakhol nukhal), “we are fully able” to do this. The verb יָכַל (yakhal) followed by the preposition lamed means “to prevail over, to conquer.”
[13:31] 145 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
[13:32] 146 tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.
[13:32] 147 tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.
[13:32] 148 tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from אָכַל (’akhal); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.
[13:32] 149 sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways by commentators, such as that the land was infertile, that the Canaanites were cannibals, that it was a land filled with warlike dissensions, or that it denotes a land geared for battle. It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.
[13:32] 150 tn Heb “in its midst.”
[13:33] 151 tc The Greek version uses gigantes (“giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”
[13:33] 152 tn Heb “in our eyes.”
[13:33] 153 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
[14:1] 154 sn This chapter forms part of the story already begun. There are three major sections here: dissatisfaction with the reports (vv. 1-10), the threat of divine punishment (vv. 11-38), and the defeat of the Israelites (vv. 39-45). See K. D. Sakenfeld, “The Problem of Divine Forgiveness in Num 14,” CBQ 37 (1975): 317-30; also J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.
[14:1] 155 tn The two verbs “lifted up their voice and cried” form a hendiadys; the idiom of raising the voice means that they cried aloud.
[14:1] 156 tn There are a number of things that the verb “to weep” or “wail” can connote. It could reflect joy, grief, lamentation, or repentance, but here it reflects fear, hopelessness, or vexation at the thought of coming all this way and being defeated by the Canaanite armies. See Judg 20:23, 26.
[14:2] 157 tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the
[14:2] 158 tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the
[14:4] 160 tn Heb “a man to his brother.”
[14:4] 161 tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.
[14:4] 162 tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).
[14:4] 163 tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause – in order that we may return.
[14:5] 164 sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign
[14:5] 165 tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”
[14:7] 166 tn The repetition of the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od) is used to express this: “very, very [good].”
[14:8] 167 tn The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21,22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8-9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).
[14:9] 168 sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.
[14:9] 169 tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.
[14:10] 170 tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.
[14:10] 171 tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.
[14:10] 172 sn The glory of the
[14:10] 173 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”
[14:11] 174 tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.
[14:11] 175 tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the
[14:12] 176 tc The Greek version has “death.”
[14:13] 177 tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”
[14:14] 178 tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.
[14:14] 179 tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.
[14:15] 180 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.
[14:15] 181 tn Heb “as one man.”
[14:17] 182 tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.
[14:18] 183 tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.
[14:18] 184 tn Or “rebellion.”
[14:18] 185 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.
[14:18] 186 sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.
[14:19] 187 tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.
[14:19] 188 tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.
[14:20] 189 tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.
[14:21] 190 sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.
[14:22] 191 tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the
[14:22] 192 tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.
[14:22] 193 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
[14:23] 194 tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The
[14:25] 196 sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.
[14:27] 197 tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.
[14:27] 198 sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.
[14:28] 199 sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the
[14:28] 200 tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the
[14:28] 201 tn Heb “in my ears.”
[14:29] 202 tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).
[14:30] 203 tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”
[14:30] 204 tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.
[14:30] 205 tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”
[14:33] 208 tn The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.
[14:33] 209 tn Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.
[14:33] 210 tn The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense – whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.
[14:34] 211 tn Heb “you shall bear.”
[14:34] 212 tn The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (tÿnu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 HT (30:5 ET) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137-58.
[14:36] 213 tn The verb is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a lamed (ל) preposition from the root יָצָא (yatsa’, “to bring out”). The use of the infinitive here is epexegetical, that is, explaining how they caused the people to murmur.
[14:38] 214 tn The Hebrew text uses the preposition “from,” “some of” – “from those men.” The relative pronoun is added to make a smoother reading.
[14:39] 215 tn The preterite here is subordinated to the next preterite to form a temporal clause.
[14:39] 216 tn The word אָבַל (’aval) is rare, used mostly for mourning over deaths, but it is used here of mourning over bad news (see also Exod 33:4; 1 Sam 15:35; 16:1; etc.).
[14:40] 217 tn The verb וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ (vayyashkimu) is often found in a verbal hendiadys construction: “They rose early…and they went up” means “they went up early.”
[14:40] 218 tn The Hebrew text says literally “the top of the hill,” but judging from the location and the terrain it probably means the heights of the hill country.
[14:40] 219 tn The verb is simply “said,” but it means the place that the
[14:40] 220 sn Their sin was unbelief. They could have gone and conquered the area if they had trusted the
[14:41] 221 tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”
[14:42] 223 tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”
[14:44] 224 tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The wordעֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”
[14:44] 225 tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”
[14:45] 226 tn Heb “came down.”
[14:45] 227 tn The verb used here means “crush by beating,” or “pounded” them. The Greek text used “cut them in pieces.”
[14:45] 228 tn The name “Hormah” means “destruction”; it is from the word that means “ban, devote” for either destruction or temple use.
[15:1] 229 sn The wilderness wandering officially having begun, these rules were then given for the people to be used when they finally entered the land. That they would be provided here would be of some encouragement to the nation after their great failure. God still spoke of a land that was to be their land, even though they had sinned greatly. This chapter collects a number of religious rules. The first 16 verses deal with rulings for sacrifices. Then, vv. 17-36 concerns sins of omission. Finally, rules concerning tassels are covered (vv. 37-41). For additional reading, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925); B. A. Levine, In the Presence of the
[15:2] 230 tn Heb “the land of your habitations.”
[15:2] 231 tn The Hebrew participle here has the futur instans use of the participle, expressing that something is going to take place. It is not imminent, but it is certain that God would give the land to Israel.
[15:4] 232 tn The three words at the beginning of this verse are all etymologically related: “the one who offers his offering shall offer.”
[15:4] 233 sn Obviously, as the wording of the text affirms, this kind of offering would be made after they were in the land and able to produce the grain and oil for the sacrifices. The instructions anticipated their ability to do this, and this would give hope to them. The amounts are difficult to determine, but it may be that they were to bring 4.5 liters of flour and 1.8 liters each of oil and wine.
[15:5] 234 sn The drink-offering was an ancient custom, mentioned in the Ugaritic tablets of Ras Shamra (14th century
[15:5] 235 tn Heb “for the one lamb,” but it clearly means “for each lamb.”
[15:9] 236 tn The text changes from direct address here to the third person form of the verb. If the MT is correct, then to make a smooth translation it would need to be made a passive (in view of the fact that no subject is expressed).
[15:11] 237 tn Heb “according to thus shall it be done.”
[15:14] 238 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] 239 tn Heb “in your midst.”
[15:14] 240 tn The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.
[15:14] 241 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] 242 tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.
[15:15] 243 tn Or “a statute forever.”
[15:15] 244 tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”
[15:18] 245 tn The relative clause is literally, “which I am causing you to enter there.” The final adverb is resumptive, and must be joined with the relative pronoun.
[15:19] 246 tn The verse has a temporal clause that actually continues or supplements the temporal clause of the preceding verse. It is made up of the temporal indicator, the infinitive construct with the preposition, and the suffixed subjective genitive: “and it shall be when you eat.” Here it is translated simply “and eat” since the temporal element was introduced in the last verse.
[15:19] 247 tn This is the תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), the “raised offering” or “heave offering” (cf. KJV, ASV). It may simply be called a “contribution” (so NAB). The verb of the sentence is from the same root: “you shall lift up/raise up.” It was to be an offering separated from the rest and raised up to the
[15:20] 248 tn Or “the first of your dough.” The phrase is not very clear. N. H. Snaith thinks it means a batch of loaves from the kneading trough – the first batch of the baking (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 251).
[15:22] 249 sn These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4-7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.
[15:22] 250 tn The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.
[15:24] 252 tn The idea of לִשְׁגָגָה (lishgagah) seems to be that of “inadvertence” or “without intent.” The text gives no indication of how this offense might be committed, or what it might include. It probably describes any transgressions done in ignorance of the Law that involved a violation of tabernacle procedure or priestly protocol or social misdemeanor. Even though it was done unintentionally, it was still a violation and called for ritual purification.
[15:24] 253 tn Heb “[away] from the eyes of the community.”
[15:25] 254 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive (וְכִפֶּר, vÿkhipper) to continue the instruction of the passage: “the priest shall make atonement,” meaning the priest is to make atonement for the sin (thus the present translation). This verb means “to expiate,” “to atone for,” “to pacify.” It describes the ritual events by which someone who was separated from the holy
[15:25] 255 tn Or “they will be forgiven.”
[15:26] 256 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.
[15:27] 257 tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.
[15:30] 259 tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the
[15:30] 260 tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”
[15:30] 261 tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the
[15:30] 263 tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.
[15:31] 264 tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.
[15:31] 265 tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.
[15:31] 267 tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.
[15:31] 268 sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.
[15:32] 269 tn The preterite of the verb “to be” is here subordinated to the next, parallel verb form, to form a temporal clause.
[15:32] 270 sn For this brief passage, see A. Phillips, “The Case of the Woodgatherer Reconsidered,” VT 19 (1969): 125-28; J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Woodgatherer (Numbers XV 32-36),” VT 16 (1966): 361-64; and B. J. Bamberger, “Revelations of Torah after Sinai,” HUCA 16 (1941): 97-113. Weingreen argues that there is something of the Rabbinic method of setting a fence around the Law here; in other words, if this sin were not punished, the Law would have been violated in greater ways. Gathering of wood, although seemingly harmless, is done with intent to kindle fire, and so reveals a culpable intent.
[15:35] 271 tn The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם (ragom) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.
[15:36] 272 tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”
[15:38] 273 tn The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”
[15:38] 274 sn This is a reference to the צִיצִת (tsitsit), the fringes on the borders of the robes. They were meant to hang from the corners of the upper garment (Deut 22:12), which was worn on top of the clothing. The tassel was probably made by twisting the overhanging threads of the garment into a knot that would hang down. This was a reminder of the covenant. The tassels were retained down through history, and today more elaborate prayer shawls with tassels are worn during prayer. For more information, see F. J. Stephens, “The Ancient Significance of Sisith,” JBL 50 (1931): 59-70; and S. Bertman, “Tasselled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean,” BA 24 (1961): 119-28.
[15:38] 275 sn The blue color may represent the heavenly origin of the Law, or perhaps, since it is a royal color, the majesty of the
[15:39] 276 tn Heb “seek out, look into.”
[15:39] 277 tn This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”
[15:40] 278 tn This clause also serves as a purpose/result clause of the preceding – “in order that you may remember….” But because the line is so long, it is simpler to make this a separate sentence in the translation.
[16:1] 279 sn There are three main movements in the story of ch. 16. The first is the rebellion itself (vv. 1-19). The second is the judgment (vv. 20-35). Third is the atonement for the rebels (vv. 36-50). The whole chapter is a marvelous account of a massive rebellion against the leaders that concludes with reconciliation. For further study see G. Hort, “The Death of Qorah,” ABR 7 (1959): 2-26; and J. Liver, “Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” Studies in the Bible (ScrHier 8), 189-217.
[16:1] 280 tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).
[16:1] 281 tn In the Hebrew text there is no object for the verb “took.” The translation presented above supplies the word “men.” However, it is possible that the MT has suffered damage here. The LXX has “and he spoke.” The Syriac and Targum have “and he was divided.” The editor of BHS suggests that perhaps the MT should be emended to “and he arose.”
[16:2] 282 tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).
[16:2] 283 tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.
[16:2] 284 tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”
[16:3] 285 tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.
[16:4] 286 tn Heb “fell on his face.”
[16:6] 288 tn Heb “his congregation” or “his community.” The expression is unusual, but what it signifies is that Korah had set up a rival “Israel” with himself as leader.
[16:10] 289 tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”
[16:11] 290 sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the
[16:12] 291 tn Heb “Moses sent to summon.” The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition does not mean “call to” but “summon.” This is a command performance; for them to appear would be to submit to Moses’ authority. This they will not do.
[16:12] 292 tn The imperfect tense נַעֲלֶה (na’aleh) expresses their unwillingness to report: “we are not willing,” or “we will not.” The verb means “to go up.” It is used in the sense of appearing before an authority or a superior (see, e.g., Gen 46:31; Deut 25:7; Judg 4:5).
[16:13] 293 tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.
[16:13] 294 tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.
[16:13] 295 tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).
[16:14] 296 tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.
[16:14] 297 tn Heb “will you bore out the eyes of these men?” The question is “Will you continue to mislead them?” (or “hoodwink” them). In Deut 16:19 it is used for taking a bribe; something like that kind of deception is intended here. They are simply stating that Moses is a deceiver who is misleading the people with false promises.
[16:15] 298 tn The verb means “to turn toward”; it is a figurative expression that means “to pay attention to” or “to have regard for.” So this is a prayer against Dathan and Abiram.
[16:17] 299 tn Heb “and take, a man, his censer.”
[16:17] 300 tn This verb and the following one are both perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. Following the imperative they carry the same force, but in sequence.
[16:19] 301 tn This clause is clearly foundational for the clause that follows, the appearance of the
[16:21] 302 tn The verb is הִבָּדְלוּ (hibbadÿlu), the Niphal imperative of בָּדַל (badal). This is the same word that was just used when Moses reminded the Levites that they had been separated from the community to serve the
[16:21] 303 sn The group of people siding with Korah is meant, and not the entire community of the people of Israel. They are an assembly of rebels, their “community” consisting in their common plot.
[16:22] 304 sn It is Moses and Aaron who prostrate themselves; they have the good of the people at heart.
[16:22] 305 tn The expression “the God of the spirits of all humanity [flesh]” is somewhat difficult. The Hebrew text says אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר (’elohey harukhot lÿkhol-basar). This expression occurs in Num 27:16 again. It also occurs in some postbiblical texts, a fact which has prompted some scholars to conclude that it is a late addition. The words clearly show that Moses is interceding for the congregation. The appeal in the verse is that it is better for one man to die for the whole nation than the whole nation for one man (see also John 11:50).
[16:22] 306 tn The verb is the Qal imperfect יֶחֱטָא (yekheta’); it refers to the sinful rebellion of Korah, but Moses is stating something of a principle: “One man sins, and will you be angry….” A past tense translation would assume that this is a preterite use of the imperfect (without vav [ו] consecutive).
[16:24] 307 tn The motif of “going up” is still present; here the Hebrew text says “go up” (the Niphal imperative – “go up yourselves”) from their tents, meaning, move away from them.
[16:26] 309 tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) has the sense of a guilty criminal. The word “wicked” sometimes gives the wrong connotation. These men were opposing the
[16:26] 310 tn The preposition bet (בְּ) in this line is causal – “on account of their sins.”
[16:26] 311 sn The impression is that the people did not hear what the
[16:27] 312 tn The verb נִצָּבִים (nitsavim) suggests a defiant stance, for the word is often used in the sense of taking a stand for or against something. It can also be somewhat neutral, having the sense of positioning oneself for a purpose.
[16:28] 314 tn The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak – and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.
[16:29] 315 tn Heb “if like the death of every man they die.”
[16:29] 316 tn The noun is פְּקֻדָּה (pÿquddah, “appointment, visitation”). The expression refers to a natural death, parallel to the first expression.
[16:30] 317 tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.
[16:30] 318 tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.
[16:30] 319 tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.
[16:30] 320 tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.
[16:31] 321 tn The initial temporal clause is standard: It begins with the temporal indicator “and it was,” followed here by the Piel infinitive construct with the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix. “And it happened when he finished.”
[16:31] 322 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition lamed (ל) functions here as the direct object of the preceding infinitive. It tells what he finished.
[16:34] 323 tn Heb “all Israel.”
[16:35] 326 tn For a discussion of the fire of the
[16:36] 327 sn Beginning with 16:36, the verse numbers through 17:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 16:36 ET = 17:1 HT, 16:37 ET = 17:2 HT, 17:1 ET = 17:16 HT, etc., through 17:13 ET = 17:28 HT. With 18:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same. But in the English chap. 17 there are two parts: Aaron’s rod budding (1-9), and the rod preserved as a memorial (10-13). Both sections begin with the same formula.
[16:37] 329 tn The verb is the jussive with a vav (ו) coming after the imperative; it may be subordinated to form a purpose clause (“that he may pick up”) or the object of the imperative.
[16:37] 330 tn The Hebrew text just has “fire,” but it would be hard to conceive of this action apart from the idea of coals of fire.
[16:38] 331 tn The expression is “in/by/against their life.” That they sinned against their life means that they brought ruin to themselves.
[16:38] 332 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. But there is no expressed subject for “and they shall make them,” and so it may be treated as a passive (“they shall [must] be made”).
[16:40] 333 tn Heb “from the seed of.”
[16:41] 335 sn The whole congregation here is trying to project its guilt on Moses and Aaron. It was they and their rebellion that brought about the deaths, not Moses and Aaron. The
[16:42] 336 tn The temporal clause is constructed with the temporal indicator (“and it was”) followed by the Niphal infinitive construct and preposition.
[16:42] 337 tn The verse uses וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). This is the deictic particle – it is used to point things out, suddenly calling attention to them, as if the reader were there. The people turned to look toward the tent – and there is the cloud!
[16:45] 338 tn Heb “they fell on their faces.”
[16:47] 340 tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”
[17:1] 341 sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
[17:2] 342 tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”
[17:2] 343 tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”
[17:3] 344 tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.”
[17:4] 345 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”), and so “to set at rest, lay, place, put.” The form with the vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction of the previous verse.
[17:4] 346 tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.”
[17:6] 347 tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”
[17:6] 348 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
[17:7] 349 tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).
[17:8] 350 tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.
[17:8] 351 sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).
[17:9] 352 tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
[17:10] 353 tn The verb means “to finish; to complete” and here “to bring to an end.” It is the imperfect following the imperative, and so introduces a purpose clause (as a final imperfect).
[17:10] 354 tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause.
[17:12] 355 tn The use of הֵן (hen) and the perfect tense in the nuance of a prophetic perfect expresses their conviction that they were bound to die – it was certain (see GKC 312-13 §106.n).
[17:13] 356 sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
[17:13] 357 tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).
[18:1] 358 sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).
[18:1] 359 tn Heb “your father’s house.”
[18:1] 360 sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.
[18:2] 361 sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.
[18:2] 362 tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.
[18:4] 363 tn Now the sentence uses the Niphal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the same root לָוָה (lavah).
[18:4] 364 tn The word is “stranger, alien,” but it can also mean Israelites here.
[18:5] 365 tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.
[18:6] 367 tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (’avad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.
[18:8] 368 tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).
[18:9] 369 tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.
[18:12] 370 tn This form may be classified as a perfect of resolve – he has decided to give them to them, even though this is a listing of what they will receive.
[18:14] 371 tn The “ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem) in Hebrew describes that which is exclusively the
[18:15] 372 tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point – they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (ga’al) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).
[18:17] 373 tn Or “throw, toss.”
[18:19] 374 sn Salt was used in all the offerings; its importance as a preservative made it a natural symbol for the covenant which was established by sacrifice. Even general agreements were attested by sacrifice, and the phrase “covenant of salt” speaks of such agreements as binding and irrevocable. Note the expression in Ezra 4:14, “we have been salted with the salt of the palace.” See further J. F. Ross, IDB 4:167.
[18:20] 375 tn The phrase “of property” is supplied as a clarification.
[18:22] 376 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct of the verb “to bear” with the lamed (ל) preposition to express the result of such an action. “To bear their sin” would mean that they would have to suffer the consequences of their sin.
[18:23] 377 tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”
[18:23] 378 sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.
[18:23] 379 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[18:23] 380 tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.
[18:24] 381 tn The classification of the perfect tense here too could be the perfect of resolve, since this law is declaring what will be their portion – “I have decided to give.”
[18:24] 382 tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject (although the “Israelites” is certainly intended), and so it can be rendered as a passive.
[18:26] 383 tn The verb in this clause is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it has the same force as an imperfect of instruction: “when…then you are to offer up.”
[18:27] 384 tn The verb is חָשַׁב (khashav, “to reckon; to count; to think”); it is the same verb used for “crediting” Abram with righteousness. Here the tithe of the priests will be counted as if it were a regular tithe.
[18:27] 385 tn Heb “fullness,” meaning the fullness of the harvest, i.e., a full harvest.
[18:29] 386 tn The construction is “every raised offering of the
[18:29] 387 tn Or “its hallowed thing.”
[18:30] 388 tn The wording of this verse is confusing; it may be that it is addressed to the priests, telling them how to deal with the offerings of the Levites.
[18:30] 389 tn The clause begins with the infinitive construct with its preposition and suffixed subject serving to indicate the temporal clause.
[18:31] 390 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of permission.
[18:32] 391 tn The final clause could also be rendered “in order that you do not die.” The larger section can also be interpreted differently; rather than take it as a warning, it could be taken as an assurance that when they do all of this they will not be profaning it and so will not die (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 253).
[19:1] 392 sn In the last chapter the needs of the priests and Levites were addressed. Now the concern is for the people. This provision from the sacrifice of the red heifer is a precaution to ensure that the purity of the tabernacle was not violated by pollutions of impurity or death. This chapter has two main parts, both dealing with ceremonial purity: the ritual of the red heifer (vv. 1-10), and the purification from uncleanness (vv. 11-22). For further study see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.
[19:2] 394 tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.
[19:2] 395 tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.
[19:2] 396 sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.
[19:2] 397 tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”
[19:3] 398 tc The clause is a little ambiguous. It reads “and he shall slaughter it before him.” It sounds as if someone else will kill the heifer in the priest’s presence. Since no one is named as the subject, it may be translated as a passive. Some commentators simply interpret that Eleazar was to kill the animal personally, but that is a little forced for “before him.” The Greek text gives a third person plural sense to the verb; the Vulgate follows that reading.
[19:4] 399 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.
[19:4] 400 sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.
[19:5] 401 tn Again, the verb has no expressed subject, and so is given a passive translation.
[19:5] 402 tn The imperfect tense is third masculine singular, and so again the verb is to be made passive.
[19:6] 403 sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.
[19:6] 404 sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).
[19:7] 405 tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.
[19:7] 406 tn Heb “his flesh.”
[19:7] 407 tn This is the imperfect of permission.
[19:8] 408 sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.
[19:9] 409 tn Heb “it will be.”
[19:9] 410 tn The expression לְמֵי נִדָּה (lÿme niddah) is “for waters of impurity.” The genitive must designate the purpose of the waters – they are for cases of impurity, and so serve for cleansing or purifying, thus “water of purification.” The word “impurity” can also mean “abhorrent” because it refers to so many kinds of impurities. It is also called a purification offering; Milgrom notes that this is fitting because the sacrificial ritual involved transfers impurity from the purified to the purifier (pp. 62-72).
[19:9] 411 sn The ashes were to be stored somewhere outside the camp to be used in a water portion for cleansing someone who was defiled. This is a ritual that was enacted in the wilderness; it is something of a restoring rite for people alienated from community.
[19:11] 412 tn The form is the participle with the article functioning as a substantive: “the one who touches.”
[19:11] 413 tn Heb “the dead.”
[19:11] 414 tn The expression is full: לְכָל־נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם (lÿkhol-nefesh ’adam) – of any life of a man, i.e., of any person.
[19:11] 415 tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows only the participle used as the subject, but since the case is hypothetical and therefore future, this picks up the future time. The adjective “ceremonially” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
[19:12] 416 tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.
[19:13] 417 sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.
[19:14] 418 tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”
[19:16] 419 tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.
[19:16] 420 tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.
[19:16] 421 sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.
[19:17] 422 tn The verb is the perfect tense, third masculine plural, with a vav (ו) consecutive. The verb may be worded as a passive, “ashes must be taken,” but that may be too awkward for this sentence. It may be best to render it with a generic “you” to fit the instruction of the text.
[19:17] 423 tn The word “heifer” is not in the Hebrew text, but it is implied.
[19:17] 424 tn Here too the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; rather than make this passive, it is here left as a direct instruction to follow the preceding one. For the use of the verb נָתַן (natan) in the sense of “pour,” see S. C. Reif, “A Note on a Neglected Connotation of ntn,” VT 20 (1970): 114-16.
[19:17] 425 tn The expression is literally “living water.” Living water is the fresh, flowing spring water that is clear, life-giving, and not the collected pools of stagnant or dirty water.
[19:19] 426 tn The construction uses a simple Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to purify”) with a pronominal suffix – “he shall purify him.” Some commentators take this to mean that after he sprinkles the unclean then he must purify himself. But that would not be the most natural way to read this form.
[19:21] 427 tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”
[19:21] 428 sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.
[20:1] 429 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the
[20:1] 430 tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”
[20:1] 431 sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.
[20:1] 432 sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.
[20:1] 433 sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.
[20:3] 434 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] 435 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
[20:3] 436 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] 437 tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.
[20:4] 438 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] 440 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
[20:8] 441 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.
[20:8] 442 tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”
[20:10] 443 tn The word is הַמֹּרִים (hammorim, “the rebels”), but here as a vocative: “you rebels.” It was a harsh address, although well-earned.
[20:10] 444 tn The word order and the emphasis of the tense are important to this passage. The word order is “from this rock must we bring out to you water?” The emphasis is clearly on “from this rock!” The verb is the imperfect tense; it has one of the modal nuances here, probably obligatory – “must we do this?”
[20:12] 445 tn Or “to sanctify me.”
[20:12] 446 sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.
[20:12] 447 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[20:12] 448 tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience – disobedience.
[20:13] 449 tn The form is unusual – it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.
[20:14] 450 sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.
[20:14] 451 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
[20:14] 452 sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.
[20:15] 454 tn Heb “many days.”
[20:15] 455 tn The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”
[20:16] 456 tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.
[20:16] 457 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.
[20:16] 458 tn Heb “your border.”
[20:17] 459 tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.
[20:17] 460 sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).
[20:18] 462 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.
[20:19] 464 tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”
[20:20] 465 tn Heb “to meet him.”
[20:20] 466 tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.
[20:22] 467 tn Again the passage uses apposition: “the Israelites, the whole community.”
[20:22] 468 sn The traditional location for this is near Petra (Josephus, Ant. 4.4.7). There is serious doubt about this location since it is well inside Edomite territory, and since it is very inaccessible for the transfer of the office. Another view places it not too far from Kadesh Barnea, about 15 miles (25 km) northeast at Jebel Madurah, on the northwest edge of Edom and so a suitable point of departure for approaching Canaan from the south (see J. L. Mihelec, IDB 2:644; and J. de Vaulx, Les Nombres [SB], 231). Others suggest it was at the foot of Mount Hor and not actually up in the mountains (see Deut 10:6).
[20:24] 469 sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.
[20:24] 470 tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.
[20:26] 472 tn The word “priestly” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[20:26] 473 tn Heb “will be gathered”; this is a truncated form of the usual expression “gathered to his ancestors,” found in v. 24. The phrase “to his ancestors” is supplied in the translation here.
[21:1] 475 sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.
[21:1] 476 sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).
[21:1] 477 tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.
[21:2] 478 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] 479 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] 481 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.
[21:3] 482 tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”
[21:3] 483 tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to the verb “utterly destroy,” forming the popular etymology (or paronomasia, a phonetic wordplay capturing the significance of the event).
[21:4] 484 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
[21:4] 485 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
[21:5] 486 tn Heb “our souls.”
[21:5] 487 tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).
[21:6] 489 tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.
[21:7] 490 tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.
[21:8] 491 tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”
[21:9] 492 sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.
[21:10] 493 sn See further D. L. Christensen, “Numbers 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60; G. W. Coats, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” CBQ 34 (1972): 135-52; G. I. Davies, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” TB 25 (1974): 46-81; idem, The Way of the Wilderness; G. E. Mendenhall, “The Hebrew Conquest of Palestine,” BA 25 (1962): 66-87.
[21:11] 494 sn These places are uncertain. Oboth may be some 15 miles (25 km) from the south end of the Dead Sea at a place called ‘Ain el-Weiba. Iye Abarim may be the modern Mahay at the southeastern corner of Moab. See J. Simons, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament.
[21:11] 495 tn Heb “the rising of the sun.”
[21:14] 497 tc The ancient versions show a wide variation here: Smr has “Waheb on the Sea of Reeds,” the Greek version has “he has set Zoob on fire and the torrents of Arnon.” Several modern versions treat the first line literally, taking the two main words as place names: Waheb and Suphah. This seems most likely, but then there would then be no subject or verb. One would need something like “the Israelites marched through.” The KJV, following the Vulgate, made the first word a verb and read the second as “Red Sea” – “what he did in the Red Sea.” But subject of the passage is the terrain. D. L. Christensen proposed emending the first part from אֶת וָהֵב (’et vahev) to אַתָּה יְהוָה (’attah yehvah, “the
[21:15] 498 tc There are many variations in this text, but the MT reading of something like “the descent of the torrents/valleys” is preferable, since it is describing the topography.
[21:15] 499 sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.
[21:16] 500 tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.
[21:16] 501 sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.
[21:17] 502 tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.
[21:18] 503 sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.
[21:20] 504 tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon.”
[21:21] 505 sn For this section, see further J. R. Bartlett, “Sihon and Og of the Amorites,” VT 20 (1970): 257-77, and “The Moabites and the Edomites,” Peoples of Old Testament Times, 229-58; S. H. Horn, “The Excavations at Tell Hesban, 1973,” ADAJ 18 (1973): 87-88.
[21:21] 506 tc Smr and the LXX have “words of peace.”
[21:22] 507 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”
[21:22] 508 tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”
[21:23] 511 tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.
[21:24] 512 tn The Hebrew text has “Israel,” but the verb is plural.
[21:24] 513 tn Heb “with the edge of the sword.”
[21:25] 514 tn Heb “its daughters.”
[21:26] 515 sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose – conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads – “those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.
[21:27] 516 sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.
[21:27] 517 tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”
[21:28] 518 tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.
[21:29] 519 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.
[21:30] 520 tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).
[21:30] 521 tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “devastation”).
[21:32] 523 tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”
[21:32] 524 tn Heb “daughters.”
[21:35] 526 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Og) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
