Numbers 1:16

The Census of the Tribes

1:16 These were the ones chosen ¹  from the community, leaders ²  of their ancestral tribes. ³  They were the heads of the thousands ⁴  of Israel.

Numbers 2:14

2:14 Next will be ⁵  the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel. ⁶ 

Numbers 15:19

15:19 and you eat ⁷  some of the food of the land, you must offer up a raised offering ⁸  to the Lord.

Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited ⁹  the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 26:30

26:30 These were the Gileadites: from Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; from Helek, the family of the Helekites;

Numbers 26:40

26:40 The descendants of Bela were Ard ¹¹  and Naaman. From Ard, ¹²  the family of the Ardites; from Naaman, the family of the Naamanites.

Numbers 32:38

32:38 Nebo, Baal Meon (with a change of name), and Sibmah. They renamed ¹³  the cities they built.

[1:16]  ¹ tc The form has a Kethib-Qere problem, but the sentence calls for the Qere, the passive participle in the construct – “the called of….” These men were God’s choice, and not Moses’, or their own choice. He announced who they would be, and then named them. So they were truly “called” (קָרָא, qara’). The other reading is probably due to a copyist’s error.

[1:16]  ² tn The word is נָשִׂיא (nasi’, “exalted one, prince, leader”). Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “princes.” These were men apparently revered or respected in their tribes, and so the clear choice to assist Moses with the leadership. See further, E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical na„sÃþá,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “exalted ones of the tribes of their fathers.” The earlier group of elders was chosen by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law. This group represents the few leaders of the tribes that were chosen by God, a more literate group apparently, who were the forerunners of the שֹׁטְּרִים (shottÿrim).

[1:16]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has אַלְפֵי (’alfey, “thousands of”). There is some question over this reading in the MT, however. The community groups that have these leaders were larger tribes, but there is little certainty about the size of the divisions.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Gad.”

[2:14]  ⁶ tc The Leningrad codex, upon which BHS is based, has “Reuel” here. In reading “Deuel” the translation presented above follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, and the Latin Vulgate. Cf. Num 1:14.

[15:19]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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 Lord in the sight of all. It was designed to remind the Israelites that the produce and the land belonged to God.

[25:2]  ¹³ tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.

[25:2]  ¹⁴ sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.

[26:40]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX has Adar. Cf. 1 Chr 8:3.

[26:40]  ¹⁸ tc “From Ard” is not in the Hebrew text.

[32:38]  ²¹ tn Heb “called names.”