Numbers 17:11-13

17:11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him – this is what he did.

17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die! ¹  We perish, we all perish! 17:13 (17:28) ²  Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?” ³ 

[17:12]  ¹ tn The use of הֵן (hen) and the perfect tense in the nuance of a prophetic perfect expresses their conviction that they were bound to die – it was certain (see GKC 312-13 §106.n).

[17:13]  ² sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.

[17:13]  ³ tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).