Numbers 5:20

5:20 But if you ¹  have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you….” ² 

Numbers 6:9

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly ³  beside him and he defiles ⁴  his consecrated head, ⁵  then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.

Numbers 10:9

10:9 If you go to war in your land against an adversary who opposes ⁶  you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved ⁷  from your enemies.

Numbers 15:14

15:14 If a resident foreigner is living ⁸  with you – or whoever is among you ⁹  in future generations ¹⁰  – and prepares an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way you are to do it. ¹¹ 

Numbers 15:22

Rules for Unintentional Offenses

15:22 ¹² “‘If you ¹³  sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –

[5:20]  ¹ tn The pronoun is emphatic – “but you, if you have gone astray.”

[5:20]  ² tn This is an example of the rhetorical device known as aposiopesis, or “sudden silence.” The sentence is broken off due to the intensity or emphasis of the moment. The reader is left to conclude what the sentence would have said.

[6:9]  ³ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.

[6:9]  ⁵ sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Both the “adversary” and “opposes” come from the same root: צָרַר (tsarar), “to hem in, oppress, harass,” or basically, “be an adversary.”

[10:9]  ⁶ tn The Niphal perfect in this passage has the passive nuance and not a reflexive idea – the Israelites would be spared because God remembered them.

[15:14]  ⁷ tn The word גּוּר (gur) was traditionally translated “to sojourn,” i.e., to live temporarily in a land. Here the two words are from the root: “if a sojourner sojourns.”

[15:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “in your midst.”

[15:14]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4-7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.