Numbers 14:41

14:41 But Moses said, “Why ¹  are you now transgressing the commandment ²  of the Lord? It will not succeed!

Numbers 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ³  detest this worthless ⁴  food.”

Numbers 22:37

22:37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again ⁵  to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ⁶ 

Numbers 27:4

27:4 Why should the name of our father be lost from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession ⁷  among the relatives ⁸  of our father.”

Numbers 9:7

9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

Numbers 11:11

11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted ⁹  your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that ¹⁰  you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

Numbers 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ¹¹  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ¹²  because you have despised ¹³  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ¹⁴  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

[14:41]  ¹ tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”

[14:41]  ² tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:5]  ³ tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ⁴ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[22:37]  ⁵ tn The emphatic construction is made of the infinitive absolute and the perfect tense from the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “to send”). The idea must be more intense than something like, “Did I not certainly send.” Balak is showing frustration with Balaam for refusing him.

[22:37]  ⁶ sn Balak again refers to his ability to “honor” the seer. This certainly meant payment for his service, usually gold ornaments, rings and jewelry, as well as some animals.

[27:4]  ⁷ tn That is, the possession of land, or property, among the other families of their tribe.

[27:4]  ⁸ tn The word is “brothers,” but this can be interpreted more loosely to relatives. So also in v. 7.

[11:11]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Hiphil of רָעַע (ra’a’, “to be evil”). Moses laments (with the rhetorical question) that God seems to have caused him evil.

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition is expressing the result of not finding favor with God (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57). What Moses is claiming is that because he has been given this burden God did not show him favor.

[11:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

[11:20]  ¹² tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

[11:20]  ¹³ sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

[11:20]  ¹⁴ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”