Numbers 1:4

1:4 And to help you ¹  there is to be a man from each ²  tribe, each man ³  the head ⁴  of his family. ⁵ 

Exodus 18:21

18:21 But you choose ⁶  from the people capable men, ⁷  God-fearing, ⁸  men of truth, ⁹  those who hate bribes, ¹⁰  and put them over the people ¹¹  as rulers ¹²  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Exodus 18:25

18:25 Moses chose capable men from all Israel, and he made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Deuteronomy 1:15

1:15 So I chose ¹³  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials.

Deuteronomy 1:1

The Covenant Setting

1:1 This is what ¹⁴  Moses said to the assembly of Israel ¹⁵  in the Transjordanian ¹⁶  wastelands, the arid country opposite ¹⁷  Suph, ¹⁸  between ¹⁹  Paran ²⁰  and Tophel, ²¹  Laban, ²²  Hazeroth, ²³  and Di Zahab ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 22:7

22:7 You must be sure ²⁵  to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

Deuteronomy 23:23

23:23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering.

Micah 5:2

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ²⁶ 

seemingly insignificant ²⁷  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ²⁸ 

one whose origins ²⁹  are in the distant past. ³⁰ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and with you.”

[1:4]  ² tn The construction uses the noun in a distributive sense: “a man, a man for a tribe,” meaning a man for each tribe.

[1:4]  ³ tn The clause expresses a distributive function, “a man” means “each man.”

[1:4]  ⁴ sn See J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word ראשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of his fathers.”

[18:21]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the independent pronoun for emphasis, and then the imperfect tense “see” (חָזָה, khazah) – “and you will see from all….” Both in Hebrew and Ugaritic expressions of “seeing” are used in the sense of choosing (Gen 41:33). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220.

[18:21]  ⁷ tn The expression is אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל (’anshe khayil, “capable men”). The attributive genitive is the word used in expressions like “mighty man of valor.” The word describes these men as respected, influential, powerful people, those looked up to by the community as leaders, and those who will have the needs of the community in mind.

[18:21]  ⁸ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ⁹ tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ’anshe ’emet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.

[18:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “haters of bribes.” Here is another objective genitive, one that refers to unjust gain. To hate unjust gain is to reject and refuse it. Their decisions will not be swayed by greed.

[18:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ¹² sn It is not clear how this structure would work in a judicial setting. The language of “captains of thousands,” etc., is used more for military ranks. There must have been more detailed instruction involved here, for each Israelite would have come under four leaders with this arrangement, and perhaps difficult cases would be sent to the next level. But since the task of these men would also involve instruction and guidance, the breakdown would be very useful. Deut 1:9, 13 suggest that the choice of these people was not simply Moses’ alone.

[1:15]  ¹³ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

[1:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “These are the words.”

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:1]  ¹⁸ sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”

[1:1]  ²⁰ sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).

[1:1]  ²¹ sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.

[1:1]  ²² sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).

[1:1]  ²³ sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.

[1:1]  ²⁴ sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.

[22:7]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”

[5:2]  ²⁶ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.