Numbers 16:12

16:12 Then Moses summoned ¹  Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up. ² 

Numbers 21:32

21:32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter ³  Jaazer, and they captured its villages ⁴  and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Numbers 22:10

22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

Numbers 22:40

22:40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some ⁵  to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.

Numbers 31:4

31:4 You must send to the battle a thousand men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel.” ⁶ 

Numbers 32:8

32:8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

[16:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Moses sent to summon.” The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition does not mean “call to” but “summon.” This is a command performance; for them to appear would be to submit to Moses’ authority. This they will not do.

[16:12]  ² tn The imperfect tense נַעֲלֶה (na’aleh) expresses their unwillingness to report: “we are not willing,” or “we will not.” The verb means “to go up.” It is used in the sense of appearing before an authority or a superior (see, e.g., Gen 46:31; Deut 25:7; Judg 4:5).

[21:32]  ³ tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”

[21:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “daughters.”

[22:40]  ⁵ sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.

[31:4]  ⁷ sn Some commentators argue that given the size of the nation (which they reject) the small number for the army is a sign of the unrealistic character of the story. The number is a round number, but it is also a holy war, and God would give them the victory. They are beginning to learn here, and at Jericho, and later against these Midianites under Gideon, that God does not want or need a large army in order to obtain victory.