Numbers 14:43

14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”

Numbers 16:13

16:13 Is it a small thing ¹  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ²  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ³  over us?

Numbers 16:28

16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how ⁴  you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. ⁵ 

Numbers 22:29

22:29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish ⁶  there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.”

Numbers 32:19

32:19 For we will not accept any inheritance on the other side of the Jordan River ⁷  and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

[16:13]  ¹ tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.

[16:13]  ² tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.

[16:13]  ³ tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).

[16:28]  ¹ tn Heb “in this.”

[16:28]  ² tn The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak – and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.

[22:29]  ¹ tn The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).

[32:19]  ¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.