Numbers 11:16

The Response of God

11:16 ¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ²  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Numbers 15:38

15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make ³  tassels ⁴  for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread ⁵  on the tassel of the corners.

Numbers 16:15

16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect ⁶  for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”

Numbers 16:46

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!”

Numbers 17:6

17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ⁷  according to their tribes ⁸  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

Numbers 18:3

18:3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

Numbers 18:26

18:26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up ⁹  from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.

Numbers 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ¹⁰  the Israelites to bring ¹¹  you a red ¹²  heifer ¹³  without blemish, which has no defect ¹⁴  and has never carried a yoke.

Numbers 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ¹⁵  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ¹⁶  rebelled against my word ¹⁷  at the waters of Meribah.

Numbers 21:7

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ¹⁸  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Numbers 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ¹⁹  the word that I will speak to you.” ²⁰  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ²¹  to speak ²²  just anything? I must speak ²³  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 23:13

23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ²⁴  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ²⁵  them these three times!

Numbers 25:8

25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent ²⁶  and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. ²⁷  So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. ²⁸ 

Numbers 34:2

34:2 “Give these instructions ²⁹  to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance, ³⁰  the land of Canaan with its borders,

[11:16]  ¹ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ² tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[15:38]  ³ tn The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”

[15:38]  ⁴ sn This is a reference to the צִיצִת (tsitsit), the fringes on the borders of the robes. They were meant to hang from the corners of the upper garment (Deut 22:12), which was worn on top of the clothing. The tassel was probably made by twisting the overhanging threads of the garment into a knot that would hang down. This was a reminder of the covenant. The tassels were retained down through history, and today more elaborate prayer shawls with tassels are worn during prayer. For more information, see F. J. Stephens, “The Ancient Significance of Sisith,” JBL 50 (1931): 59-70; and S. Bertman, “Tasselled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean,” BA 24 (1961): 119-28.

[15:38]  ⁵ sn The blue color may represent the heavenly origin of the Law, or perhaps, since it is a royal color, the majesty of the Lord.

[16:15]  ⁵ tn The verb means “to turn toward”; it is a figurative expression that means “to pay attention to” or “to have regard for.” So this is a prayer against Dathan and Abiram.

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[18:26]  ⁹ tn The verb in this clause is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it has the same force as an imperfect of instruction: “when…then you are to offer up.”

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ¹² tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ¹⁴ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[20:24]  ¹³ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:7]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[22:35]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[22:38]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ²⁰ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ²¹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[24:10]  ²¹ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

[24:10]  ²² tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”

[25:8]  ²³ tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).

[25:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.

[25:8]  ²⁵ sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.

[34:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “command.”

[34:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance.”