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 20:2

20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 35:7

35:7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands.

[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.