Numbers 6:23

6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way ¹  you are to bless ²  the Israelites. Say ³  to them:

Numbers 12:2

12:2 They ⁴  said, “Has the Lord only ⁵  spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” ⁶  And the Lord heard it. ⁷ 

Numbers 23:5

23:5 Then the Lord put a message ⁸  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁹ 

Numbers 23:16

23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message ¹⁰  in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”

Numbers 23:18

Balaam Prophesies Again

23:18 Balaam ¹¹  uttered ¹²  his oracle, and said,

“Rise up, ¹³  Balak, and hear;

Listen to me, son of Zippor:

[6:23]  ¹ tn Or “thus.”

[6:23]  ² tn The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.

[6:23]  ³ tn Here is the only use of the verb אָמַר (’amar) as an infinitive absolute; it functions as a verb form, an imperative or an imperfect of instruction. Several commentators have attempted to emend the text to get around the difficulty, but such emendations are unnecessary.

[12:2]  ⁴ tn Now the text changes to use a plural form of the verb. The indication is that Miriam criticized the marriage, and then the two of them raised questions about his sole leadership of the nation.

[12:2]  ⁵ tn The use of both רַק and אַךְ (raq and ’akh) underscore the point that the issue is Moses’ uniqueness.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn There is irony in the construction in the text. The expression “speak through us” also uses דִּבֵּר + בְּ(dibber + bÿ). They ask if God has not also spoken through them, after they have spoken against Moses. Shortly God will speak against them – their words are prophetic, but not as they imagined.

[12:2]  ⁷ sn The statement is striking. Obviously the Lord knows all things. But the statement of the obvious here is meant to indicate that the Lord was about to do something about this.

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “word.”

[23:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”

[23:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “word.”

[23:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:18]  ¹⁵ tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.