Numbers 8:26

8:26 They may assist ¹  their colleagues ²  in the tent of meeting, to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish ³  the Levites regarding their duties.”

Numbers 9:10

9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ⁴  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ⁵  observe the Passover to the Lord.

Numbers 11:21

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ⁶  are 600,000 on foot; ⁷  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ⁸  that they may eat ⁹  for a whole month.’

Numbers 12:8

12:8 With him I will speak face to face, ¹⁰  openly, ¹¹  and not in riddles; and he will see the form ¹²  of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Numbers 18:16

18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs).

Numbers 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ¹³  the Israelites to bring ¹⁴  you a red ¹⁵  heifer ¹⁶  without blemish, which has no defect ¹⁷  and has never carried a yoke.

Numbers 20:5

20:5 Why ¹⁸  have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to ¹⁹  this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Numbers 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ²⁰  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ²¹  rebelled against my word ²²  at the waters of Meribah.

Numbers 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ²³  detest this worthless ²⁴  food.”

Numbers 21:7

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ²⁵  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ²⁶  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ²⁷  I will tell you.” ²⁸  Then he went to a deserted height. ²⁹ 

[8:26]  ¹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of שָׁרַת (sharat, “to serve, minister”). Here the form has the vav (ו) consecutive, and so is equal to the imperfect tense stressing permission. After the Levites reached the age of retirement, they were permitted to assist the others, but were not permitted to do the work themselves.

[8:26]  ² tn Heb “brothers,” but the meaning in this context is “fellow Levites.”

[8:26]  ³ tn Heb “you shall do, make.”

[9:10]  ⁴ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

[9:10]  ⁵ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.

[11:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ⁹ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

[11:21]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

[12:8]  ¹⁰ tn The emphasis of the line is clear enough – it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the Lord. And yet God is here stating that Moses has an immediacy and directness with communication with God. It goes beyond the idea of friendship, almost to that of a king’s confidant.

[12:8]  ¹¹ tn The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.

[12:8]  ¹² tn The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, tÿmunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the Lord.” This line expresses even more the uniqueness of Moses. The elders saw God on one special occasion (Exod 24:10), and the people never (Deut 4:12, 15), but Moses has direct and familiar contact with God.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ¹⁵ tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ¹⁶ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[20:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and why.”

[20:5]  ¹⁷ tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.

[20:24]  ¹⁹ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ²⁰ tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:5]  ²² tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ²³ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[21:7]  ²⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[23:3]  ²⁸ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

[23:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

[23:3]  ³⁰ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

[23:3]  ³¹ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.