Numbers 11:2

11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ¹  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ² 

Numbers 11:14

11:14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, ³  because it ⁴  is too heavy for me!

Numbers 12:15

12:15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. ⁵ 

Numbers 14:1

The Israelites Respond in Unbelief

14:1 ⁶ Then all the community raised a loud cry, ⁷  and the people wept ⁸  that night.

Numbers 14:39

14:39 When Moses told ⁹  these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned ¹⁰  greatly.

Numbers 15:26

15:26 And the whole community ¹¹  of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.

Numbers 20:3

20:3 The people contended ¹²  with Moses, saying, ¹³  “If only ¹⁴  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Numbers 20:20

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ¹⁵  with a large and powerful force. ¹⁶ 

Numbers 21:18

21:18 The well which the princes ¹⁷  dug,

which the leaders of the people opened

with their scepters and their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;

Numbers 25:1

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1 ¹⁸ When ¹⁹  Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality ²⁰  with the daughters of Moab.

Numbers 27:13

27:13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered ²¹  to your ancestors, ²²  as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors. ²³ 

Numbers 31:2

31:2 “Exact vengeance ²⁴  for the Israelites on the Midianites ²⁵  – after that you will be gathered to your people.” ²⁶ 

Numbers 32:15

32:15 For if you turn away from following him, he will once again abandon ²⁷  them in the wilderness, and you will be the reason for their destruction.” ²⁸ 

Numbers 33:14

33:14 They traveled from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

[11:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Moses.”

[11:2]  ² sn Here is the pattern that will become in the wilderness experience so common – the complaining turns to a cry to Moses, which is then interpreted as a prayer to the Lord, and there is healing. The sequence presents a symbolic lesson, an illustration of the intercession of the Holy Spirit. The NT will say that in times of suffering Christians do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for them, changing their cries into the proper prayers (Rom 8).

[11:14]  ³ tn The word order shows the emphasis: “I am not able, I by myself, to bear all this people.” The infinitive לָשֵׂאת (lase’t) serves as the direct object of the verb. The expression is figurative, for bearing or carrying the people means being responsible for all their needs and cares.

[11:14]  ⁴ tn The subject of the verb “heavy” is unstated; in the context it probably refers to the people, or the burden of caring for the people. This responsibility was turning out to be a heavier responsibility than Moses anticipated. Alone he was totally inadequate.

[12:15]  ⁵ tn The clause has the Niphal infinitive construct after a temporal preposition.

[14:1]  ⁷ sn This chapter forms part of the story already begun. There are three major sections here: dissatisfaction with the reports (vv. 1-10), the threat of divine punishment (vv. 11-38), and the defeat of the Israelites (vv. 39-45). See K. D. Sakenfeld, “The Problem of Divine Forgiveness in Num 14,” CBQ 37 (1975): 317-30; also J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.

[14:1]  ⁸ tn The two verbs “lifted up their voice and cried” form a hendiadys; the idiom of raising the voice means that they cried aloud.

[14:1]  ⁹ tn There are a number of things that the verb “to weep” or “wail” can connote. It could reflect joy, grief, lamentation, or repentance, but here it reflects fear, hopelessness, or vexation at the thought of coming all this way and being defeated by the Canaanite armies. See Judg 20:23, 26.

[14:39]  ⁹ tn The preterite here is subordinated to the next preterite to form a temporal clause.

[14:39]  ¹⁰ tn The word אָבַל (’aval) is rare, used mostly for mourning over deaths, but it is used here of mourning over bad news (see also Exod 33:4; 1 Sam 15:35; 16:1; etc.).

[15:26]  ¹¹ tn Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.

[20:3]  ¹³ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

[20:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

[20:3]  ¹⁵ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

[20:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[21:18]  ¹⁷ sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

[25:1]  ¹⁹ sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.

[25:1]  ²⁰ tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.

[25:1]  ²¹ sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.

[27:13]  ²¹ tn The first verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, and the second verb is also. In such parallel clauses, the first may be subordinated, here as a temporal clause.

[27:13]  ²² tn Heb “people.”

[27:13]  ²³ tn Heb “was gathered.” The phrase “to his ancestors” is elided in the Hebrew text, but is an implied repetition from the beginning of the verse, and has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:2]  ²³ tn The imperative is followed by its cognate accusative to stress this vengeance. The Midianites had attempted to destroy Israel with their corrupt pagan practices, and now will be judged. The accounts indicate that the effort by Midian was calculated and evil.

[31:2]  ²⁴ sn The war was commanded by the Lord and was to be divine vengeance on the Midianites. So it was holy war. No Israelites then could take spoils in this – it was not a time for plunder and aggrandizement. It was part of the judgment of God upon those who would destroy or pervert his plan and his people.

[31:2]  ²⁵ sn This would be the last major enterprise that Moses would have to undertake. He would soon die and “be gathered to his people” as Aaron was.

[32:15]  ²⁵ tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys with the verb “to add” serving to modify the main verb.

[32:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and you will destroy all this people.”