Numbers 12:12

12:12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its ¹  mother’s womb!”

Numbers 3:12

3:12 “Look, ²  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ³  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

Numbers 8:16

8:16 For they are entirely given ⁴  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ⁵  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

Numbers 18:15

18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, ⁶  and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem.

[12:12]  ¹ tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.

[3:12]  ² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.

[3:12]  ³ tn Literally “in the place of.”

[8:16]  ³ tn As before, the emphasis is obtained by repeating the passive participle: “given, given to me.”

[8:16]  ⁴ tn Or “as substitutes” for all the firstborn of the Israelites.

[18:15]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point – they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (ga’al) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).