Numbers 1:49

1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi ¹  you must not number ²  or count ³  with ⁴  the other Israelites.

Numbers 3:7-8

3:7 They are responsible for his needs ⁵  and the needs of the whole community before the tent of meeting, by attending ⁶  to the service of the tabernacle. 3:8 And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve ⁷  in the tabernacle.

Numbers 3:45

3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

Numbers 5:20

5:20 But if you ⁸  have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you….” ⁹ 

Numbers 8:12

8:12 When ¹⁰  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ¹¹  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ¹²  to make atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 13:18

13:18 and see ¹³  what the land is like, ¹⁴  and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, few or many,

Numbers 15:31

15:31 Because he has despised ¹⁵  the word of the Lord and has broken ¹⁶  his commandment, that person ¹⁷  must be completely cut off. ¹⁸  His iniquity will be on him.’” ¹⁹ 

Numbers 16:37

16:37 “Tell ²⁰  Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up ²¹  the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire ²²  at a distance.

Numbers 17:3

17:3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe. ²³ 

Numbers 18:5

18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be ²⁴  no more wrath on the Israelites.

Numbers 18:32

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.’” ²⁵ 

Numbers 21:3

21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, ²⁶  and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called ²⁷  Hormah.

Numbers 26:10

26:10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and Korah at the time that company died, when the fire consumed 250 men. So they became a warning.

Numbers 28:8

28:8 And the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon; just as you offered the grain offering and drink offering in the morning, ²⁸  you must offer it as an offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Numbers 31:6

Campaign Against the Midianites

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge ²⁹  of the holy articles ³⁰  and the signal trumpets.

Numbers 35:14

35:14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge.

[1:49]  ¹ sn From the giving of the Law on the priesthood comes the prerogative of the tribe of Levi. There were, however, members of other tribes who served as priests from time to time (see Judg 17:5).

[1:49]  ² tn The construction has literally, “only the tribe of Levi you shall not number.” The Greek text rendered the particle אַךְ (’akh) forcefully with “see to it that” or “take care that.” For the uses of this form, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 65, §388-89.

[1:49]  ³ tn Heb “lift up their head.”

[1:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the midst of the sons of Israel.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the perfect tense of שָׁמַר(shamar) with a vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction of the preceding verse. It may be translated “and they shall keep” or “they must/are to keep,” but in this context it refers to their appointed duties. The verb is followed by its cognate accusative – “they are to keep his keeping,” or as it is often translated, “his charge.” This would mean whatever Aaron needed them to do. But the noun is also used for the people in the next phrase, and so “charge” cannot be the meaning here. The verse is explaining that the Levites will have duties to perform to meet the needs of Aaron and the congregation.

[3:7]  ⁶ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from עָבַד (’avad, “to serve, to work”); it is taken here as a verbal noun and means “by (or in) serving” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 36, §195). This explains the verb “keep [his charge].” Here too the form is followed by a cognate accusative; they will be there to “serve the service” or “work the work.”

[3:8]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct (epexegetically) followed by its cognate accusative. It would convey “to serve the service of the tabernacle,” but more simply it may be rendered as “serving.” Their spiritual and practical service is to serve.

[5:20]  ¹³ tn The pronoun is emphatic – “but you, if you have gone astray.”

[5:20]  ¹⁴ tn This is an example of the rhetorical device known as aposiopesis, or “sudden silence.” The sentence is broken off due to the intensity or emphasis of the moment. The reader is left to conclude what the sentence would have said.

[8:12]  ¹⁷ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

[8:12]  ¹⁸ tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ¹⁹ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

[13:18]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”

[15:31]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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.

[16:37]  ²⁹ tn Heb “say to.”

[16:37]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.

[17:3]  ³³ tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.”

[18:5]  ³⁷ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.

[18:32]  ⁴¹ 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).

[21:3]  ⁴⁵ tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”

[21:3]  ⁴⁶ 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).

[28:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering.”

[31:6]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew text uses the idiom that these “were in his hand,” meaning that he had the responsibility over them.

[31:6]  ⁵⁴ sn It is not clear what articles from the sanctuary were included. Tg. Ps.-J. adds (interpretively) “the Urim and Thummim.”