Numbers 14:4

14:4 So they said to one another, ¹  “Let’s appoint ²  a leader ³  and return ⁴  to Egypt.”

Numbers 1:4

1:4 And to help you ⁵  there is to be a man from each ⁶  tribe, each man ⁷  the head ⁸  of his family. ⁹ 

Numbers 4:2

4:2 “Take a census ¹⁰  of the Kohathites from among the Levites, by their families and by their clans,

Numbers 4:22

4:22 “Also take a census of the Gershonites, by their clans and by their families.

Numbers 21:20

21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wilderness. ¹¹ 

Numbers 23:28

23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. ¹² 

Numbers 6:18

6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head ¹³  at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire ¹⁴  where the peace offering is burning. ¹⁵ 

Numbers 1:2

1:2 “Take a census ¹⁶  of the entire ¹⁷  Israelite community ¹⁸  by their clans and families, ¹⁹  counting the name of every individual male. ²⁰ 

Numbers 6:9

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly ²¹  beside him and he defiles ²²  his consecrated head, ²³  then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.

Numbers 8:12

8:12 When ²⁴  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ²⁵  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ²⁶  to make atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 14:40

14:40 And early ²⁷  in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, ²⁸  saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, ²⁹  for we have sinned.” ³⁰ 

Numbers 14:44

14:44 But they dared ³¹  to go up to the crest of the hill, although ³²  neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

Numbers 23:14

23:14 So Balak brought Balaam ³³  to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ³⁴  where ³⁵  he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 25:15

25:15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader ³⁶  over the people of a clan of Midian. ³⁷ 

Numbers 26:2

26:2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans, ³⁸  everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.” ³⁹ 

Numbers 31:26

31:26 “You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum ⁴⁰  of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals.

Numbers 31:49

31:49 and said to him, ⁴¹  “Your servants have taken a count ⁴²  of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, ⁴³  and not one is missing.

Numbers 5:18

5:18 Then the priest will have the woman stand before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. ⁴⁴ 

[14:4]  ¹ tn Heb “a man to his brother.”

[14:4]  ² tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.

[14:4]  ³ tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).

[14:4]  ⁴ tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause – in order that we may return.

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and with you.”

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the noun in a distributive sense: “a man, a man for a tribe,” meaning a man for each tribe.

[1:4]  ⁷ tn The clause expresses a distributive function, “a man” means “each man.”

[1:4]  ⁸ sn See J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word ראשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “the house of his fathers.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “lift up the head.” The form נָשֹׂא (naso’) is the Qal infinitive absolute functioning here as a pure verb form. This serves to emphasize the basic verbal root idea (see GKC 346 §113.bb).

[21:20]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon.”

[23:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon” (cf. 21:20).

[6:18]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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.

[1:2]  ²⁵ tn The construction is literally “lift up the head[s],” (שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ, sÿ’u ’et-ro’sh). This idiom for taking a census occurs elsewhere (Exod 30:12; Lev 5:24; Num 1:24; etc.). The idea is simply that of counting heads to arrive at the base for the standing army. This is a different event than the one recorded in Exod 30:11-16, which was taken for a different purpose altogether. The verb is plural, indicating that Moses had help in taking the census.

[1:2]  ²⁶ tc Smr lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.

[1:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the congregation of Israel.”

[1:2]  ²⁸ tn The tribe (מַטֶּה, matteh or שֵׁבֶט, shevet) is the main category. The family groups or clans (מִשְׁפְּחֹת, mishpÿkhot) and the households or families (בֵּית אֲבֹת, bet ’avot) were sub-divisions of the tribe.

[1:2]  ²⁹ tn This clause simply has “in/with the number of the names of every male with respect to their skulls [individually].” Counting heads, or every skull, simply meant that each person was to be numbered in the census. Except for the Levites, no male was exempt from the count.

[6:9]  ²⁹ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.

[6:9]  ³⁰ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.

[6:9]  ³¹ sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.

[8:12]  ³³ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

[8:12]  ³⁴ tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

[8:12]  ³⁵ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

[14:40]  ³⁷ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ (vayyashkimu) is often found in a verbal hendiadys construction: “They rose early…and they went up” means “they went up early.”

[14:40]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew text says literally “the top of the hill,” but judging from the location and the terrain it probably means the heights of the hill country.

[14:40]  ³⁹ tn The verb is simply “said,” but it means the place that the Lord said to go up to in order to fight.

[14:40]  ⁴⁰ sn Their sin was unbelief. They could have gone and conquered the area if they had trusted the Lord for their victory. They did not, and so they were condemned to perish in the wilderness. Now, thinking that by going they can undo all that, they plan to go. But this is also disobedience, for the Lord said they would not now take the land, and yet they think they can. Here is their second sin, presumption.

[14:44]  ⁴¹ tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The wordעֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”

[14:44]  ⁴² tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

[23:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”

[23:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and he built.”

[25:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “head.”

[25:15]  ⁵⁰ sn The passage makes it clear that this individual was a leader, one who was supposed to be preventing this thing from happening. The judgment was swift and severe, because the crime was so great, and the danger of it spreading was certain. Paul refers to this horrible incident when he reminds Christians not to do similar things (1 Cor 10:6-8).

[26:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “house of their fathers.”

[26:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “everyone who goes out in the army in Israel.”

[31:26]  ⁵⁷ tn The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.

[31:49]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “to Moses”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:49]  ⁶² tn Heb “lifted up the head.”

[31:49]  ⁶³ tn Heb “in our hand.”

[5:18]  ⁶⁵ tn The expression has been challenged. The first part, “bitter water,” has been thought to mean “water of contention” (so NEB), but this is not convincing. It has some support in the versions which read “contention” and “testing,” no doubt trying to fit the passage better. N. H. Snaith (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 129) suggests from an Arabic word that it was designed to cause an abortion – but that would raise an entirely different question, one of who the father of a child was. And that has not been introduced here. The water was “bitter” in view of the consequences it held for her if she was proven to be guilty. That is then enforced by the wordplay with the last word, the Piel participle הַמְאָרֲרִים (ham’ararim). The bitter water, if it convicted her, would pronounce a curse on her. So she was literally holding her life in her hands.