Numbers 16:47

16:47 So Aaron did ¹  as Moses commanded ²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

Numbers 17:8

17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and ³  the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! ⁴ 

Numbers 18:8

The Portion of the Priests

18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ⁵  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

Numbers 22:32

22:32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing ⁶  is perverse before me. ⁷ 

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁸  to speak ⁹  just anything? I must speak ¹⁰  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ¹¹  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ¹²  them these three times!

Numbers 25:6

25:6 Just then ¹³  one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers ¹⁴  a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of ¹⁵  the whole community of the Israelites, while they ¹⁶  were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 32:1

The Petition of the Reubenites and Gadites

32:1 ¹⁷ Now the Reubenites and the Gadites possessed a very large number of cattle. When they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideal for cattle, ¹⁸ 

[16:47]  ¹ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ² tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[17:8]  ³ tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.

[17:8]  ⁴ sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).

[18:8]  ⁵ tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).

[22:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “your way.”

[22:32]  ⁸ tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.

[22:38]  ⁹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ¹⁰ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[24:10]  ¹¹ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

[24:10]  ¹² tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”

[25:6]  ¹³ tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.

[25:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”

[25:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”

[25:6]  ¹⁶ tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.

[32:1]  ¹⁵ sn While the tribes are on the other side of Jordan, the matter of which tribes would settle there has to be discussed. This chapter begins the settlement of Israel into the tribal territories, something to be continued in Joshua. The chapter has the petitions (vv. 1-5), the response by Moses (vv. 6-15), the proposal (vv. 16-27), and the conclusion of the matter (vv. 28-42). For literature on this subject, both critical and conservative, see S. E. Loewenstein, “The Relation of the Settlement of Gad and Reuben in Numbers 32:1-38, Its Background and Its Composition,” Tarbiz 42 (1972): 12-26; J. Mauchline, “Gilead and Gilgal, Some Reflections on the Israelite Occupation of Palestine,” VT 6 (1956): 19-33; and A. Bergmann, “The Israelite Tribe of Half-Manasseh,” JPOS 16 (1936): 224-54.

[32:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the place was a place of/for cattle.”