Numbers 3:41

3:41 And take ¹  the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

Numbers 11:16

The Response of God

11:16 ² The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ³  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Numbers 18:9

18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved ⁴  from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons.

Numbers 22:6

22:6 So ⁵  now, please come and curse this nation ⁶  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ⁷  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ⁸  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Numbers 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ⁹  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ¹⁰  of the Lord my God ¹¹  to do less or more.

Numbers 22:34

22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ¹²  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ¹³  I will go back home.” ¹⁴ 

Numbers 23:13

23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

Numbers 24:13

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹⁵  the commandment ¹⁶  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ¹⁷  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

[3:41]  ¹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries forward the instructions from the preceding verse. The verb “take” now has the sense of appointing or designating the Levites.

[11:16]  ² sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ³ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[18:9]  ³ tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn The two lines before this verse begin with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), and so they lay the foundation for these imperatives. In view of those circumstances, this is what should happen.

[22:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 10, 17, 41.

[22:6]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense אוּכַל (’ukhal, “I will be able”) followed by the imperfect tense נַכֶּה (nakkeh, “we will smite/attack/defeat”). The second verb is clearly the purpose or the result of the first, even though there is no conjunction or particle.

[22:6]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of בָּרַךְ (barakh), with the nuance of possibility: “whomever you may bless.” The Pual participle מְבֹרָךְ (mÿvorakh) serves as the predicate.

[22:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ⁷ 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.

[22:34]  ⁶ sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ⁷ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ⁸ tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[24:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “from my heart.”