Numbers 4:19

4:19 but in order that they will live ¹  and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint ²  each man ³  to his service and his responsibility.

Numbers 4:49

4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ⁴  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ⁵  Thus were they numbered by him, ⁶  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 5:19

5:19 Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to the her, “If no other ⁷  man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. ⁸ 

Numbers 9:10

9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ⁹  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ¹⁰  observe the Passover to the Lord.

Numbers 9:13

9:13 But ¹¹  the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails ¹²  to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. ¹³  Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin. ¹⁴ 

Numbers 13:2

13:2 “Send out men to investigate ¹⁵  the land of Canaan, which I am giving ¹⁶  to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, ¹⁷  each one a leader among them.”

Numbers 25:8

25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent ¹⁸  and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. ¹⁹  So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. ²⁰ 

Numbers 30:12

30:12 But if her husband clearly nullifies ²¹  them when he hears them, then whatever she says ²²  by way of vows or obligations will not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her from them.

[4:19]  ¹ tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text: Do this…and they will live. Consequently, the verb “and they will live” is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive to express the future consequence of “doing this” for them.

[4:19]  ² tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction for Aaron.

[4:19]  ³ tn The distributive sense is obtained by the repetition, “a man” and “a man.”

[4:49]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “his burden.”

[4:49]  ⁶ 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.

[5:19]  ⁷ tn The word “other” is implied, since the woman would not be guilty of having sexual relations with her own husband.

[5:19]  ⁸ sn Although there would be stress involved, a woman who was innocent would have nothing to hide, and would be confident. The wording of the priest’s oath is actually designed to enable the potion to keep her from harm and not produce the physical effects it was designed to do.

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) signals a contrastive clause here: “but the man” on the other hand….

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn The verb חָדַל (khadal) means “to cease; to leave off; to fail.” The implication here is that it is a person who simply neglects to do it. It does not indicate that he forgot, but more likely that he made the decision to leave it undone.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ sn The pronouncement of such a person’s penalty is that his life will be cut off from his people. There are at least three possible interpretations for this: physical death at the hand of the community (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 84-85), physical and/or spiritual death at the hand of God (J. Milgrom, “A Prolegomenon to Lev 17:11,” JBL 90 [1971]: 154-55), or excommunication or separation from the community (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 109). The direct intervention of God seem to be the most likely in view of the lack of directions for the community to follow. Excommunication from the camp in the wilderness would have been tantamount to a death sentence by the community, and so there really are just two views.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn The word for “sin” here should be interpreted to mean the consequences of his sin (so a metonymy of effect). Whoever willingly violates the Law will have to pay the consequences.

[13:2]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It can thus be translated “send…to investigate.”

[13:2]  ¹⁷ tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”

[13:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”

[25:8]  ¹⁹ tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).

[25:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.

[25:8]  ²¹ sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.

[30:12]  ²² tn The verb is the imperfect tense in the conditional clause. It is intensified with the infinitive absolute, which would have the force of saying that he nullified them unequivocally, or he made them null and void.

[30:12]  ²³ tn Heb whatever proceeds from her lips.”