Numbers 11:29

11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? ¹  I wish that ²  all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Numbers 5:10

5:10 Every man’s holy things ³  will be his; whatever any man gives the priest will be his.’”

Numbers 26:54

26:54 To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance, ⁴  and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. ⁵  To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it. ⁶ 

Numbers 32:5

32:5 So they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, ⁷  let this land be given to your servants for our inheritance. Do not have us cross ⁸  the Jordan River.” ⁹ 

Numbers 5:15

5:15 then ¹⁰  the man must bring his wife to the priest, and he must bring the offering required for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he must not pour olive oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of suspicion, ¹¹  a grain offering for remembering, ¹²  for bringing ¹³  iniquity to remembrance.

Numbers 5:21

5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse ¹⁴  and will say ¹⁵  to the her, “The Lord make you an attested curse ¹⁶  among your people, ¹⁷  if the Lord makes ¹⁸  your thigh fall away ¹⁹  and your abdomen swell; ²⁰ 

Numbers 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ²¹  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ²²  of the Lord my God ²³  to do less or more.

Numbers 24:13

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ²⁴  the commandment ²⁵  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ²⁶  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Numbers 35:8

35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

[11:29]  ¹ tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?

[11:29]  ² tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.

[5:10]  ³ sn The “holy gifts” are described with the root of קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) to convey that they were separate. Such things had been taken out of the ordinary and normal activities of life.

[26:54]  ⁵ tn Heb “to many you will multiply his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁶ tn Heb “to a few you will lessen his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to those that were numbered of him,” meaning, in accordance with the number of people in his clan.

[32:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “eyes.”

[32:5]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive from עָבַר (’avar, “to cross over”). The idea of “cause to cross” or “make us cross” might be too harsh, but “take across” with the rest of the nation is what they are trying to avoid.

[32:5]  ⁹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:15]  ⁹ tn All the conditions have been laid down now for the instruction to begin – if all this happened, then this is the procedure to follow.

[5:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word is “jealousy,” which also would be an acceptable translation here. But since the connotation is that suspicion has been raised about the other person, “suspicion” seems to be a better rendering in this context.

[5:15]  ¹¹ tn The word “remembering” is זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron); the meaning of the word here is not so much “memorial,” which would not communicate much, but the idea of bearing witness before God concerning the charges. The truth would come to light through this ritual, and so the attestation would stand. This memorial would bring the truth to light. It was a somber occasion, and so no sweet smelling additives were placed on the altar.

[5:15]  ¹² tn The final verbal form, מַזְכֶּרֶת (mazkeret), explains what the memorial was all about – it was causing iniquity to be remembered.

[5:21]  ¹¹ sn For information on such curses, see M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92; A. C. Thiselton, “The Supposed Power of Words in the Biblical Writings,” JTS 25 (1974): 283-99; and F. C. Fensham, “Malediction and Benediction in Ancient Vassal Treaties and the Old Testament,” ZAW 74 (1962): 1-9.

[5:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the priest will say.”

[5:21]  ¹³ tn This interpretation takes the two nouns as a hendiadys. The literal wording is “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among the people.” In what sense would she be an oath? The point of the whole passage is that the priest is making her take an oath to see if she has been sinful and will be cursed.

[5:21]  ¹⁴ sn The outcome of this would be that she would be quoted by people in such forms of expression as an oath or a curse (see Jer 29:22).

[5:21]  ¹⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition to form an adverbial clause: “in the giving of the Lord…,” meaning, “if and when the Lord makes such and such to happen.”

[5:21]  ¹⁶ tn TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”

[5:21]  ¹⁷ sn Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”

[22:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ¹⁵ sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[24:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from my heart.”