Numbers 14:39

14:39 When Moses told ¹  these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned ²  greatly.

Numbers 16:31

16:31 When he had finished ³  speaking ⁴  all these words, the ground that was under them split open,

[14:39]  ¹ tn The preterite here is subordinated to the next preterite to form a temporal clause.

[14:39]  ² 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.).

[16:31]  ³ tn The initial temporal clause is standard: It begins with the temporal indicator “and it was,” followed here by the Piel infinitive construct with the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix. “And it happened when he finished.”

[16:31]  ⁴ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition lamed (ל) functions here as the direct object of the preceding infinitive. It tells what he finished.