Numbers 3:39

3:39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word ¹  of the Lord, according to their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000. ² 

Numbers 4:27

4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether ³  carrying loads ⁴  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ⁵  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ⁶  as their responsibility.

Numbers 4:49

4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ⁷  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ⁸  Thus were they numbered by him, ⁹  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 6:21

6:21 “This is the law ¹⁰  of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. ¹¹  Thus he must fulfill ¹²  his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

Numbers 9:17

9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up ¹³  from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place ¹⁴  the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.

Numbers 16:30

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ¹⁵  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ¹⁶  along with all that they have, and they ¹⁷  go down alive to the grave, ¹⁸  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

Numbers 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ¹⁹  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ²⁰  rebelled against my word ²¹  at the waters of Meribah.

Numbers 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ²²  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ²³  of the Lord my God ²⁴  to do less or more.

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ²⁵  to speak ²⁶  just anything? I must speak ²⁷  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 24:13

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ²⁸  the commandment ²⁹  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ³⁰  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Numbers 30:2

30:2 If a man ³¹  makes a vow ³²  to the Lord or takes an oath ³³  of binding obligation on himself, ³⁴  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ³⁵ 

Numbers 33:38

33:38 Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command ³⁶  of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

Numbers 35:8

35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

[3:39]  ¹ tn Here again the Hebrew has “at the mouth of,” meaning in accordance with what the Lord said. So also in v. 51.

[3:39]  ² tn The total is a rounded off number; it does not duplicate the precise total of 22,300. Some modern scholars try to explain it by positing an error in v. 28, suggesting that “six” should be read as “three” (שֵׁשׁ [shesh] as שָׁלֹשׁ [shalosh]).

[4:27]  ³ tn The term “whether” is supplied to introduce the enumerated parts of the explanatory phrase.

[4:27]  ⁴ tn Here again is the use of the noun “burden” in the sense of the loads they were to carry (see the use of carts in Num 7:7).

[4:27]  ⁵ tn The expression is literally “upon/at the mouth of” (עַל־פִּי, ’al-pi); it means that the work of these men would be under the direct orders of Aaron and his sons.

[4:27]  ⁶ tn Or “burden.”

[4:49]  ⁵ tn The verb is the simple perfect tense – “he numbered them.” There is no expressed subject; therefore, the verb can be rendered as a passive.

[4:49]  ⁶ tn Or “his burden.”

[4:49]  ⁷ tn The passive form simply reads “those numbered by him.” Because of the cryptic nature of the word, some suggest reading a preterite, “and they were numbered.” This is supported by the Greek, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate. It would follow in the emendation that the relative pronoun be changed to “just as” (כַּאֲשֶׁר, ka’asher). The MT is impossible the way it stands; it can only be rendered into smooth English by adding something that is missing.

[6:21]  ⁷ tn Actually, “law” here means a whole set of laws, the basic rulings on this topic.

[6:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “whatever else his hand is able to provide.” The imperfect tense has the nuance of potential imperfect – “whatever he can provide.”

[6:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to the vow that he vows, so he must do.”

[9:17]  ⁹ tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.

[9:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the place where it settled there”; the relative clause modifies the noun “place,” and the resumptive adverb completes the related idea – “which it settled there” means “where it settled.”

[16:30]  ¹¹ tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.

[16:30]  ¹² tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

[16:30]  ¹³ tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.

[16:30]  ¹⁴ tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

[20:24]  ¹³ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ¹⁷ sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[22:38]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[24:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “from my heart.”

[30:2]  ²¹ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

[30:2]  ²² tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

[30:2]  ²³ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

[30:2]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

[30:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”

[33:38]  ²³ tn Heb “mouth.”