Numbers 14:42

14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be ¹  defeated before your enemies.

Numbers 11:4

Complaints about Food

11:4 ² Now the mixed multitude ³  who were among them craved more desirable foods, ⁴  and so the Israelites wept again ⁵  and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ⁶ 

Numbers 11:21

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ⁷  are 600,000 on foot; ⁸  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ⁹  that they may eat ¹⁰  for a whole month.’

Numbers 14:13

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ¹¹  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –

Numbers 14:44

14:44 But they dared ¹²  to go up to the crest of the hill, although ¹³  neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

Numbers 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ¹⁴  who acts defiantly, ¹⁵  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ¹⁶  the Lord. ¹⁷  That person ¹⁸  must be cut off ¹⁹  from among his people.

Numbers 5:27

5:27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness – her abdomen will swell, her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Numbers 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ²⁰  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ²¹  because you have despised ²²  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ²³  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Numbers 14:11

The Punishment from God

14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ²⁴  me, and how long will they not believe ²⁵  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Numbers 14:14

14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ²⁶  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ²⁷  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

[14:42]  ¹ tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”

[11:4]  ² sn The story of the sending of the quail is a good example of poetic justice, or talionic justice. God had provided for the people, but even in that provision they were not satisfied, for they remembered other foods they had in Egypt. No doubt there was not the variety of foods in the Sinai that might have been available in Egypt, but their life had been bitter bondage there as well. They had cried to the Lord for salvation, but now they forget, as they remember things they used to have. God will give them what they crave, but it will not do for them what they desire. For more information on this story, see B. J. Malina, The Palestinian Manna Tradition. For the attempt to explain manna and the other foods by natural phenomena, see F. W. Bodenheimer, “The Manna of Sinai,” BA 10 (1947): 1-6.

[11:4]  ³ tn The mixed multitude (or “rabble,” so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NLT “foreign rabble”) is the translation of an unusual word, הֲָאסַפְסֻף (ha’safsuf). It occurs in the Hebrew Bible only here. It may mean “a gathering of people” from the verb אָסַף (’asaf), yielding the idea of a mixed multitude (in line with Exod 12:38). But the root is different, and so no clear connection can be established. Many commentators therefore think the word is stronger, showing contempt through a word that would be equivalent to “riff-raff.”

[11:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew simply uses the cognate accusative, saying “they craved a craving” (הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה, hit’avvu ta’vah), but the context shows that they had this strong craving for food. The verb describes a strong desire, which is not always negative (Ps 132:13-14). But the word is a significant one in the Torah; it was used in the garden story for Eve’s desire for the tree, and it is used in the Decalogue in the warning against coveting (Deut 5:21).

[11:4]  ⁵ tc The Greek and the Latin versions read “and they sat down” for “and they returned,” involving just a change in vocalization (which they did not have). This may reflect the same expression in Judg 20:26. But the change does not improve this verse.

[11:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew expresses the strong wish or longing idiomatically: “Who will give us flesh to eat?” It is a rhetorical expression not intended to be taken literally, but merely to give expression to the longing they had. See GKC 476 §151.a.1.

[11:21]  ³ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ⁵ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

[11:21]  ⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[14:44]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

[15:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁷ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ⁸ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ⁹ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ¹¹ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[11:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

[11:20]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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?”

[14:11]  ⁸ tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.

[14:11]  ⁹ tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.

[14:14]  ⁹ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ¹⁰ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.