Numbers 6:6

6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact ¹  a dead body. ² 

Numbers 11:6

11:6 But now we ³  are dried up, ⁴  and there is nothing at all before us ⁵  except this manna!”

Numbers 15:27

15:27 “‘If any person ⁶  sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering.

Numbers 19:22

19:22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Numbers 30:9-10

Vows Made by Widows

30:9 “But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman which she has pledged for herself will remain intact. ⁷  30:10 If she made the vow in her husband’s house or put herself under obligation with an oath,

Numbers 30:13

30:13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her, ⁸  her husband can confirm or nullify. ⁹ 

Numbers 35:31

35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death.

[6:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb is simply “enter, go,” no doubt with the sense of go near.

[6:6]  ² tn The Hebrew has נֶפֶשׁ מֵת (nefesh met), literally a “dead person.” But since the word נֶפֶשׁ can also be used for animals, the restriction would be for any kind of corpse. Death was very much a part of the fallen world, and so for one so committed to the Lord, avoiding all such contamination would be a witness to the greatest separation, even in a family.

[11:6]  ³ tn Heb “our souls.”

[11:6]  ⁴ sn The Hebrews were complaining both about the bland taste of the manna and dehydration – they were parched in the wilderness.

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “before our eyes,” meaning that “we see nothing except this manna.”

[15:27]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.

[30:9]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text says her vow “shall stand against her.” In other words, she must fulfill, or bear the consequences of, whatever she vowed.

[30:13]  ⁹ tn The sentence uses the infinitive construct לְעַנֹּת (lÿ’annot, “to afflict”), which is the same word used in the instructions for the day of atonement in which people are to afflict themselves (their souls). The case here may be that the woman would take a religious vow on such an occasion to humble herself, to mortify her flesh, to abstain from certain things, perhaps even sexual relations within marriage.

[30:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or her husband can nullify.”