Numbers 11:2

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

Numbers 16:37

16:37 “Tell ³  Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up ⁴  the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire ⁵  at a distance.

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 6:18

6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head ⁶  at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire ⁷  where the peace offering is burning. ⁸ 

Numbers 18:9

18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved ⁹  from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons.

[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).

[16:37]  ³ tn Heb “say to.”

[16:37]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[6:18]  ⁵ tn Some versions simply interpret this to say that he shaves his hair, for it is the hair that is the sign of the consecration to God. But the text says he shaves his consecrated head. The whole person is obviously consecrated to God – not just the head. But the symbolic act of cutting the hair shows that the vow has been completed (see Acts 21:23-24). The understanding of the importance of the hair in the ancient world has been the subject of considerable study over the years (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 436; and J. A. Thompson, “Numbers,” New Bible Commentary: Revised, 177).

[6:18]  ⁶ sn Some commentators see this burning of the hair as an offering (McNeile, Numbers, 35; G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 68). But others probably with more foundation see it as destroying something that has served a purpose, something that if left alone might be venerated (see R. de Vaux, Israel, 436).

[6:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “which is under the peace offering.” The verse does not mean that the hair had to be put under that sacrifice and directly on the fire.

[18:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.