Numbers 1:53

1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ¹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ²  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 5:17

5:17 The priest will then take holy water ³  in a pottery jar, and take some ⁴  of the dust ⁵  that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.

Numbers 9:15

The Leading of the Lord

9:15 ⁶ On ⁷  the day that the tabernacle was set up, ⁸  the cloud ⁹  covered the tabernacle – the tent of the testimony ¹⁰  – and from evening until morning there was ¹¹  a fiery appearance ¹²  over the tabernacle.

Numbers 9:20-21

9:20 When ¹³  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ¹⁴  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ¹⁵  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey. 9:21 And when ¹⁶  the cloud remained only ¹⁷  from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up ¹⁸  the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled.

Numbers 12:6

12:6 The Lord ¹⁹  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ²⁰  I the Lord ²¹  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

Numbers 14:31

14:31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, ²²  and they will enjoy ²³  the land that you have despised.

Numbers 14:43

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.”

Numbers 15:15

15:15 One statute must apply ²⁴  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ²⁵  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ²⁶  before the Lord.

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 ²⁷  no more wrath on the Israelites.

Numbers 18:13

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.

Numbers 18:20

Duties of the Levites

18:20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property ²⁸  among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Numbers 28:14

28:14 For their drink offerings, include ²⁹  half a hin of wine with each bull, one-third of a hin for the ram, and one-fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for each month ³⁰  throughout the months of the year.

Numbers 28:26

Firstfruits

28:26 “‘Also, on the day of the first fruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord during your Feast of Weeks, you are to have a holy assembly. You must do no ordinary work.

Numbers 29:7

The Day of Atonement

29:7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; ³¹  you must not do any work on it.

Numbers 36:4

36:4 And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place, ³²  their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.” ³³ 

[1:53]  ¹ tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.

[1:53]  ² tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.

[5:17]  ³ tn This is probably water taken from the large bronze basin in the courtyard. It is water set apart for sacred service. “Clean water” (so NEB) does not capture the sense very well, but it does have the support of the Greek that has “pure running water.” That pure water would no doubt be from the bronze basin anyway.

[5:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “from.” The preposition is used here with a partitive sense.

[5:17]  ⁵ sn The dust may have come from the sanctuary floor, but it is still dust, and therefore would have all the pollutants in it.

[9:15]  ⁵ sn This section (Num 9:15-23) recapitulates the account in Exod 40:34 but also contains some additional detail about the cloud that signaled Israel’s journeys. Here again material from the book of Exodus is used to explain more of the laws for the camp in motion.

[9:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and/now on the day.”

[9:15]  ⁷ tn The construction uses the temporal expression with the Hiphil infinitive construct followed by the object, the tabernacle. “On the day of the setting up of the tabernacle” leaves the subject unstated, and so the entire clause may be expressed in the passive voice.

[9:15]  ⁸ sn The explanation and identification of this cloud has been a subject of much debate. Some commentators have concluded that it was identical with the cloud that led the Israelites away from Egypt and through the sea, but others have made a more compelling case that this is a different phenomenon (see ZPEB 4:796). A number of modern scholars see the description as a retrojection from later, perhaps Solomonic times (see G. H. Davies, IDB 3:817). Others have tried to connect it with Ugaritic terminology, but unconvincingly (see T. W. Mann, “The Pillar of Cloud in the Reed Sea Narrative,” JBL 90 [1971]: 15-30; G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 32-66, 209-13; and R. Good, “Cloud Messengers?” UF 10 [1978]: 436-37).

[9:15]  ⁹ sn The cloud apparently was centered over the tent, over the spot of the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. It thereafter spread over the whole tabernacle.

[9:15]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect tense in this and the next line should be classified as a customary imperfect, stressing incomplete action but in the past time – something that used to happen, or would happen.

[9:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like the appearance of fire.”

[9:20]  ⁷ tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (vÿyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (’asher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”

[9:20]  ⁸ tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.

[9:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[9:21]  ⁹ tn The construction is the same in the preceding verse.

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn “Only” is supplied to reflect the contrast between the two verses.

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn The construction in this half of the verse uses two vav (ו) consecutive clauses. The first is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause: “when…then….”

[12:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he.”

[12:6]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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”).

[14:31]  ¹³ tn Or “plunder.”

[14:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “know.”

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

[15:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a statute forever.”

[15:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”

[18:5]  ¹⁷ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.

[18:20]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “of property” is supplied as a clarification.

[28:14]  ²¹ tn The word “include” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied. It is supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

[28:14]  ²² tn Heb “a month in its month.”

[29:7]  ²³ tn Heb “afflict yourselves”; NAB “mortify yourselves”; NIV, NRSV “deny yourselves.”

[36:4]  ²⁵ tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) is most often translated “to be,” but it can also mean “to happen, to take place, to come to pass,” etc.

[36:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the tribe of our fathers.”