Discovery BoxNumbers 21:2
Context21:2 So Israel made a vow 1 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 2 this people into our 3 hand, then we will utterly destroy 4 their cities.”
Numbers 21:1
Context21:1 5 When the Canaanite king of Arad 6 who lived in the Negev 7 heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
Numbers 17:1-13
Context17:1 8 The Lord spoke to Moses: 17:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, 9 one from every tribal leader, 10 twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff. 17:3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe. 11 17:4 You must place them 12 in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant 13 where I meet with you. 17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”
17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, 14 according to their tribes 15 – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. 16
17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and 17 the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! 18 17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, 19 and each man took his staff.
17:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end 20 before me, that they will not die.” 21 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! 22 We perish, we all perish! 17:13 (17:28) 23 Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?” 24
[21:2] 1 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
[21:2] 2 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”
[21:2] 4 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.
[21:1] 5 sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.
[21:1] 6 sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).
[21:1] 7 tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.
[17:1] 9 sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
[17:2] 13 tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”
[17:2] 14 tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”
[17:3] 17 tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.”
[17:4] 21 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”), and so “to set at rest, lay, place, put.” The form with the vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction of the previous verse.
[17:4] 22 tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.”
[17:6] 25 tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”
[17:6] 26 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
[17:7] 29 tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).
[17:8] 33 tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.
[17:8] 34 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).
[17:9] 37 tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
[17:10] 41 tn The verb means “to finish; to complete” and here “to bring to an end.” It is the imperfect following the imperative, and so introduces a purpose clause (as a final imperfect).
[17:10] 42 tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause.
[17:12] 45 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] 49 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] 50 tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).
