Numbers 4:3

4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company ¹  to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:23

4:23 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:30

4:30 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:39

4:39 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –

Numbers 4:43

4:43 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –

Numbers 4:47

4:47 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service and the work of carrying ²  relating to the tent of meeting –

Numbers 8:24-26

8:24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: ³  At the age of twenty-five years ⁴  and upward one may begin to join the company ⁵  in the work of the tent of meeting, 8:25 and at the age of fifty years they must retire from performing the work and may no longer work. 8:26 They may assist ⁶  their colleagues ⁷  in the tent of meeting, to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish ⁸  the Levites regarding their duties.”

Numbers 8:1

Lighting the Lamps

8:1 ⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ¹⁰  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ¹¹  I will tell you.” ¹²  Then he went to a deserted height. ¹³ 

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ¹⁴  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ¹⁵ 

Numbers 23:26-27

23:26 But Balaam replied ¹⁶  to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, ¹⁷  I must do’?”

23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God ¹⁸  to let you curse them for me from there.” ¹⁹ 

Numbers 28:13

28:13 and one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

Luke 3:23

The Genealogy of Jesus

3:23 So ²⁰  Jesus, when he began his ministry, ²¹  was about thirty years old. He was ²²  the son (as was supposed) ²³  of Joseph, the son ²⁴  of Heli,

Luke 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ²⁵  when Pontius Pilate ²⁶  was governor of Judea, and Herod ²⁷  was tetrarch ²⁸  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ²⁹  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ³⁰  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Luke 3:6

3:6 and all humanity ³¹  will see the salvation of God.’” ³² 

[4:3]  ¹ tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsava’). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”

[4:47]  ² tn The text multiplies the vocabulary of service here in the summary. In the Hebrew text the line reads literally: “everyone who came to serve the service of serving, and the service of burden.” The Levites came into service in the shrine, and that involved working in the sanctuary as well as carrying it from one place to the next.

[8:24]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “this [is that] which [pertains] to the Levites.” “This is what concerns the Levites, meaning, the following rulings are for them.

[8:24]  ⁴ tc The age of twenty-five indicated in v. 24 should be compared with the age of thirty indicated in Num 4:3,23,30. In order to harmonize the numbers given in chapter 4 with the number given in Num 8:24 the LXX (and perhaps its Hebrew Vorlage) has thirty in all of these references. See further G. J. Wenham, Numbers (TOTC 4), 97-98.

[8:24]  ⁵ tn The infinitive is לִצְבֹא (litsvo’), related to the word for “host, army, company,” and so “to serve as a company.” The meaning is strengthened by the cognate accusative following it.

[8:26]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of שָׁרַת (sharat, “to serve, minister”). Here the form has the vav (ו) consecutive, and so is equal to the imperfect tense stressing permission. After the Levites reached the age of retirement, they were permitted to assist the others, but were not permitted to do the work themselves.

[8:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers,” but the meaning in this context is “fellow Levites.”

[8:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “you shall do, make.”

[8:1]  ⁹ sn This chapter has three main sections to it: the lighting of the lamps (vv. 1-4), the separation of the Levites (vv. 5-22), and the work of the Levites (vv. 23-26). Many modern scholars assume that the chapter belongs to P and was added late. But the chapter reiterates some of the Mosaic material concerning the work of the Levites in the new sanctuary. For the chapter to make sense the historical setting must be accepted; if the historical setting is accepted, the chapter is necessary as part of that early legislation. For more reading, see M. Haran, “The Nature of the’ohel mo‘edh in the Pentateuchal Sources,” JSS 5 (1960): 50-65, and “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 191-226; and C. L. Meyers, The Tabernacle Menorah.

[23:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

[23:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

[23:3]  ¹² tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

[23:3]  ¹³ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.

[23:24]  ¹⁴ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

[23:24]  ¹⁵ sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

[23:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[23:26]  ¹⁷ tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”

[23:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”

[23:27]  ¹⁹ sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.

[3:23]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the summary nature of the statement.

[3:23]  ²¹ tn The words “his ministry” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the contemporary English reader.

[3:23]  ²² tn Grk “of age, being.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ὤν (wn) has been translated as a finite verb with the pronoun “he” supplied as subject, and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

[3:23]  ²³ sn The parenthetical remark as was supposed makes it clear that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. But a question still remains whose genealogy this is. Mary is nowhere mentioned, so this may simply refer to the line of Joseph, who would have functioned as Jesus’ legal father, much like stepchildren can have when they are adopted by a second parent.

[3:23]  ²⁴ tc Several of the names in the list have alternate spellings in the ms tradition, but most of these are limited to a few mss. Only significant differences are considered in the notes through v. 38.

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  ²⁶ sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ²⁷ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ²⁸ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ²⁹ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ³⁰ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[3:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “all flesh.”

[3:6]  ³² sn A quotation from Isa 40:3-5. Though all the synoptic gospels use this citation from Isaiah, only Luke cites the material of vv. 5-6. His goal may well be to get to the declaration of v. 6, where all humanity (i.e., all nations) see God’s salvation (see also Luke 24:47).