Numbers 5:2

5:2 “Command the Israelites to expel ¹  from the camp every leper, ²  everyone who has a discharge, ³  and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. ⁴ 

Numbers 5:17

5:17 The priest will then take holy water ⁵  in a pottery jar, and take some ⁶  of the dust ⁷  that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.

Numbers 5:26

5:26 Then the priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

Numbers 9:12

9:12 They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover.

Numbers 13:31

13:31 But the men ⁸  who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Numbers 13:33

13:33 We even saw the Nephilim ⁹  there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves ¹⁰  and to them.” ¹¹ 

Numbers 14:38

14:38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among ¹²  the men who went to investigate the land, lived.

Numbers 15:23

15:23 all that the Lord has commanded you by the authority ¹³  of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses and continuing through your future generations –

Numbers 18:32

18:32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’” ¹⁴ 

Numbers 21:1

Victory at Hormah

21:1 ¹⁵ When the Canaanite king of Arad ¹⁶  who lived in the Negev ¹⁷  heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

Numbers 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ¹⁸  uttered ¹⁹  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ²⁰  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ²¹ 

Numbers 31:35

31:35 and 32,000 young women who had never had sexual intercourse with a man. ²² 

Numbers 31:43

31:43 there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community,

Numbers 31:49

31:49 and said to him, ²³  “Your servants have taken a count ²⁴  of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, ²⁵  and not one is missing.

[5:2]  ¹ tn The construction uses the Piel imperative followed by this Piel imperfect/jussive form; it is here subordinated to the preceding volitive, providing the content of the command. The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) in this verbal stem is a strong word, meaning “expel, put out, send away, or release” (as in “let my people go”).

[5:2]  ² sn The word צָרוּעַ (tsarua’), although translated “leper,” does not primarily refer to leprosy proper (i.e., Hansen’s disease). The RSV and the NASB continued the KJV tradition of using “leper” and “leprosy.” More recent studies have concluded that the Hebrew word is a generic term covering all infectious skin diseases (including leprosy when that actually showed up). True leprosy was known and feared certainly by the time of Amos (ca. 760 b.c.). There is evidence that the disease was known in Egypt by 1500 b.c. So this term would include that disease in all probability. But in view of the diagnosis and healing described in Leviticus 13 and 14, the term must be broader. The whole basis for the laws of separation may be found in the book of Leviticus. The holiness of the Lord who dwelt among his people meant that a high standard was imposed on them for their living arrangements as well as access to the sanctuary. Anything that was corrupted, diseased, dying, or contaminated was simply not compatible with the holiness of God and was therefore excluded. This is not to say that it was treated as sin, or the afflicted as sinners. It simply was revealing – and safeguarding – the holiness of the Lord. It thus provided a revelation for all time that in the world to come nothing unclean will enter into the heavenly sanctuary. As the Apostle Paul says, we will all be changed from this corruptible body into one that is incorruptible (1 Cor 15:53). So while the laws of purity and holiness were practical for the immediate audience, they have far-reaching implications for theology. The purity regulations have been done away with in Christ – the problem is dealt with differently in the new covenant. There is no earthly temple, and so the separation laws are not in force. Wisdom would instruct someone with an infectious disease to isolate, however. But just because the procedure is fulfilled in Christ does not mean that believers today are fit for glory just as they are. On the contrary, they must be changed before going into his presence. In like manner the sacrifices have been done away in Christ – not what they covered. Sin is still sin, even though it is dealt with differently on this side of the cross. But the ritual and the regulations of the old covenant at Sinai have been fulfilled in Christ.

[5:2]  ³ sn The rules of discharge (Lev 12 and 15) include everything from menstruation to chronic diseases (see G. Wyper, ISBE 1:947, as well as R. K. Harrison, Leviticus (TOTC), 158-66, and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus (NICOT), 217-25.

[5:2]  ⁴ tn The word is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), which usually simply means “[whole] life,” i.e., the soul in the body, the person. But here it must mean the corpse, the dead person, since that is what will defile (although it was also possible to become unclean by touching certain diseased people, such as a leper).

[5:17]  ⁵ tn This is probably water taken from the large bronze basin in the courtyard. It is water set apart for sacred service. “Clean water” (so NEB) does not capture the sense very well, but it does have the support of the Greek that has “pure running water.” That pure water would no doubt be from the bronze basin anyway.

[5:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “from.” The preposition is used here with a partitive sense.

[5:17]  ⁷ sn The dust may have come from the sanctuary floor, but it is still dust, and therefore would have all the pollutants in it.

[13:31]  ⁹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.

[13:33]  ¹³ tc The Greek version uses gigantes (“giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”

[13:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in our eyes.”

[13:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[14:38]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the preposition “from,” “some of” – “from those men.” The relative pronoun is added to make a smoother reading.

[15:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[18:32]  ²⁵ tn The final clause could also be rendered “in order that you do not die.” The larger section can also be interpreted differently; rather than take it as a warning, it could be taken as an assurance that when they do all of this they will not be profaning it and so will not die (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 253).

[21:1]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.

[23:7]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ³⁵ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ³⁶ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[31:35]  ³⁷ sn Here again we encounter one of the difficulties of the book, the use of the large numbers. Only twelve thousand soldiers fought the Midianites, but they brought back this amount of plunder, including 32,000 girls. Until a solution for numbers in the book can be found, or the current translation confirmed, one must remain cautious in interpretation.

[31:49]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to Moses”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:49]  ⁴² tn Heb “lifted up the head.”

[31:49]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in our hand.”