Numbers 11:11

11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted ¹  your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that ²  you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

Numbers 15:24

15:24 then if anything is done unintentionally ³  without the knowledge of ⁴  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.

Numbers 15:39

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 ⁵  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ⁶ 

Numbers 16:14

16:14 Moreover, ⁷  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 ⁸  these men? We will not come up.”

Numbers 20:8

20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak ⁹  to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth ¹⁰  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.”

Numbers 20:12

The Lord’s Judgment

20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ¹¹  to show me as holy ¹²  before ¹³  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ¹⁴ 

Numbers 22:5

22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam ¹⁵  son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River ¹⁶  in the land of Amaw, ¹⁷  to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face ¹⁸  of the earth, and they are settling next to me.

Numbers 22:34

22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ¹⁹  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ²⁰  I will go back home.” ²¹ 

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ²² When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ²³  he did not go as at the other times ²⁴  to seek for omens, ²⁵  but he set his face ²⁶  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 33:3

33:3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day ²⁷  after the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly ²⁸  in plain sight ²⁹  of all the Egyptians.

Numbers 33:55

33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living.

[11:11]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[15:24]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “[away] from the eyes of the community.”

[15:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

[15:39]  ⁶ 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.”

[16:14]  ⁷ tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.

[16:14]  ⁸ 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.

[20:8]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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….”

[20:12]  ¹¹ tn Or “to sanctify me.”

[20:12]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:12]  ¹⁴ 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.

[22:5]  ¹³ sn There is much literature on pagan diviners and especially prophecy in places in the east like Mari (see, for example, H. B. Huffmon, “Prophecy in the Mari Letters,” BA 31 [1968]: 101-24). Balaam appears to be a pagan diviner who was of some reputation; he was called to curse the Israelites, but God intervened and gave him blessings only. The passage forms a nice complement to texts that deal with blessings and curses. It shows that no one can curse someone whom God has blessed.

[22:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[22:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the land of Amaw” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV); traditionally “in the land of the sons of his people.” The LXX has “by the river of the land.”

[22:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.

[22:34]  ¹⁵ sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ¹⁶ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[24:1]  ¹⁷ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ²⁰ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ²¹ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[33:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “morrow.”

[33:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly; boldly” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver the blow (Job 38:15).

[33:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “in the eyes.”