Numbers 8:2

8:2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up ¹  the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light ²  in front of the lampstand.’”

Numbers 23:14

23:14 So Balak brought Balaam ³  to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ⁴  where ⁵  he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

[8:2]  ¹ tn The verb is עָלָה (’alah). The Hiphil infinitive construct functions in a temporal clause. The idea of arranging the lamps on the lampstand certainly involved raising the lamps and placing them on the tops of each shaft and branch. Some have taken the idea to mean cause the flame to go up, or light the lamps.

[8:2]  ² tn The imperfect tense forms part of the instruction, and so the translation has to indicate that. The instruction would seem obvious, but the light was to shine in the area immediately in front of the lampstand, so that it would illumine the way and illumine the table that was across the room (hence, “in front of”).

[23:14]  ³ tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:14]  ⁴ tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”

[23:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he built.”