Numbers 8:4

8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: ¹  It was beaten work in gold; ²  from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Numbers 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back ³  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ⁴  They reported ⁵  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Numbers 13:32

13:32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging ⁶  report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through ⁷  to investigate is a land that devours ⁸  its inhabitants. ⁹  All the people we saw there ¹⁰  are of great stature.

Numbers 14:14

14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ¹¹  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ¹²  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ¹³  me now these ten times, ¹⁴  and have not obeyed me, ¹⁵ 

Numbers 15:39

15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow ¹⁶  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ¹⁷ 

Numbers 22:23

22:23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with ¹⁸  his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ¹⁹ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ²⁰  he did not go as at the other times ²¹  to seek for omens, ²²  but he set his face ²³  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 24:17

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand. ²⁴ 

A star ²⁵  will march forth ²⁶  out of Jacob,

and a scepter ²⁷  will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls ²⁸  of Moab,

and the heads ²⁹  of all the sons of Sheth. ³⁰ 

Numbers 32:1

The Petition of the Reubenites and Gadites

32:1 ³¹ Now the Reubenites and the Gadites possessed a very large number of cattle. When they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideal for cattle, ³² 

Numbers 32:9

32:9 When ³³  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ³⁴  the land that the Lord had given ³⁵  them.

Numbers 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ³⁶  not ³⁷  one of the men twenty years old and upward ³⁸  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ³⁹  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

[8:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text literally has “and this is the work of the lampstand,” but that rendering does not convey the sense that it is describing how it was made.

[8:4]  ² sn The idea is that it was all hammered from a single plate of gold.

[13:26]  ³ tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.

[13:26]  ⁴ sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

[13:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

[13:32]  ⁵ tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.

[13:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.

[13:32]  ⁷ tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from אָכַל (’akhal); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.

[13:32]  ⁸ sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways by commentators, such as that the land was infertile, that the Canaanites were cannibals, that it was a land filled with warlike dissensions, or that it denotes a land geared for battle. It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.

[13:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “in its midst.”

[14:14]  ⁷ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ⁸ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[14:22]  ⁹ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ¹⁰ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[15:39]  ¹¹ tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

[15:39]  ¹² tn This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”

[22:23]  ¹³ tn The word has the conjunction “and” on the noun, indicating this is a disjunctive vav (ו), here serving as a circumstantial clause.

[24:1]  ¹⁵ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ¹⁸ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ¹⁹ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[24:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “near.”

[24:17]  ¹⁸ sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.

[24:17]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like tread on, walk, march.”

[24:17]  ²⁰ sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”

[24:17]  ²¹ tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

[24:17]  ²² tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.

[24:17]  ²³ sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.

[32:1]  ¹⁹ sn While the tribes are on the other side of Jordan, the matter of which tribes would settle there has to be discussed. This chapter begins the settlement of Israel into the tribal territories, something to be continued in Joshua. The chapter has the petitions (vv. 1-5), the response by Moses (vv. 6-15), the proposal (vv. 16-27), and the conclusion of the matter (vv. 28-42). For literature on this subject, both critical and conservative, see S. E. Loewenstein, “The Relation of the Settlement of Gad and Reuben in Numbers 32:1-38, Its Background and Its Composition,” Tarbiz 42 (1972): 12-26; J. Mauchline, “Gilead and Gilgal, Some Reflections on the Israelite Occupation of Palestine,” VT 6 (1956): 19-33; and A. Bergmann, “The Israelite Tribe of Half-Manasseh,” JPOS 16 (1936): 224-54.

[32:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the place was a place of/for cattle.”

[32:9]  ²¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

[32:9]  ²² tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

[32:9]  ²³ tn The Lord had not given it yet, but was going to give it. Hence, the perfect should be classified as a perfect of resolve.

[32:11]  ²³ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

[32:11]  ²⁴ tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

[32:11]  ²⁵ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

[32:11]  ²⁶ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.