Numbers 8:7

8:7 And do this ¹  to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification ²  on them; then have them shave ³  all their body ⁴  and wash ⁵  their clothes, and so purify themselves. ⁶ 

Numbers 9:18

9:18 At the commandment ⁷  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ⁸  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

Numbers 9:22

9:22 Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, ⁹  that the cloud prolonged its stay ¹⁰  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ¹¹  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

Numbers 14:18

14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, ¹²  forgiving iniquity and transgression, ¹³  but by no means clearing ¹⁴  the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 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 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ¹⁸  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ¹⁹  rebelled against my word ²⁰  at the waters of Meribah.

Numbers 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ²¹  gathered all his forces ²²  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ²³  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Numbers 27:7

27:7 “The daughters of Zelophehad have a valid claim. ²⁴  You must indeed ²⁵  give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s relatives, and you must transfer ²⁶  the inheritance of their father to them.

Numbers 30:2

30:2 If a man ²⁷  makes a vow ²⁸  to the Lord or takes an oath ²⁹  of binding obligation on himself, ³⁰  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ³¹ 

Numbers 30:14

30:14 But if her husband remains completely silent ³²  about her from day to day, he thus confirms all her vows or all her obligations which she is under; he confirms them because he remained silent about when he heard them.

Numbers 33:38

33:38 Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command ³³  of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

Numbers 35:6

35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. ³⁴  And you must give them forty-two other towns.

Numbers 35:32

35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ³⁵ 

[8:7]  ¹ tn Or, more literally, “and thus you shall do.” The verb is the imperfect tense of instruction or legislation. Here it introduces the procedures to be followed.

[8:7]  ² tn The genitive in this expression indicates the purpose of the water – it is for their purification. The expression is literally “the waters of sin.” The word “purification” is the same as for the “sin/purification offering” – חַטָּאת (khatta’at). This water seems to have been taken from the main laver and is contrasted with the complete washing of the priests in Lev 8:6.

[8:7]  ³ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) of sequence. This verb, and those to follow, has the force of a jussive since it comes after the imperative. Here the instruction is for them to remove the hair from their bodies (“flesh”). There is no indication that this was repeated (as the Egyptian priests did every few days). It seems to have been for this special occasion only. A similar requirement was for the leper (Lev 14:7-9).

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “flesh.”

[8:7]  ⁵ tn Or “let/have them wash”; the priests were given new clothes (Lev 8:13), but the Levites simply washed their own.

[8:7]  ⁶ tn The verb is a reflexive (or possibly passive) in this verse, indicating the summary of the process. The ritual steps that have been prescribed will lead to this conclusion. The verb could be treated as a final imperfect (being a perfect with vav [ו] consecutive), and so translated “that they may….” The major difference here is that the ritual made the Levites “clean,” whereas the ritual for the priests made them “holy” or “sanctified” (Lev 8:12).

[9:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the days of – that the cloud settled over the tabernacle.” “All” is the adverbial accusative of time telling how long they camped in one spot – all. The word is then qualified by the genitive of the thing measured – “all of the days” – and this in turn is qualified by a noun clause functioning as a genitive after “days of.”

[9:22]  ¹³ tn The MT has אוֹ־יָמִים (’o-yamim). Most translators use “or a year” to interpret this expression in view of the sequence of words leading up to it, as well as in comparison with passages like Judg 17:10 and 1 Sam 1:3 and 27:7. See also the uses in Gen 40:4 and 1 Kgs 17:15. For the view that it means four months, see F. S. North, “Four Month Season of the Hebrew Bible,” VT 11 (1961): 446-48.

[9:22]  ¹⁴ tn In the Hebrew text this sentence has a temporal clause using the preposition with the Hiphil infinitive construct of אָרַךְ (’arakh) followed by the subjective genitive, “the cloud.” But this infinitive is followed by the infinitive construct לִשְׁכֹּן (lishkon), the two of them forming a verbal hendiadys: “the cloud made long to stay” becomes “the cloud prolonged its stay.”

[9:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they would not journey”; the clause can be taken adverbially, explaining the preceding verbal clause.

[14:18]  ¹⁹ tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

[14:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “rebellion.”

[14:18]  ²¹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

[14:18]  ²² sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

[15:39]  ²⁵ tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

[15:39]  ²⁶ 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.”

[20:24]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ³⁸ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ³⁹ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[27:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “[the daughters of Zelophehad] speak right” (using the participle דֹּבְרֹת [dovÿrot] with כֵּן [ken]).

[27:7]  ⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense. The imperfect is functioning as the imperfect of instruction, and so the infinitive strengthens the force of the instruction.

[27:7]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive, from the root עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”). Here it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction: “and you shall cause to pass,” meaning, “transfer.”

[30:2]  ⁴⁹ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

[30:2]  ⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

[30:2]  ⁵¹ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

[30:2]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

[30:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”

[30:14]  ⁵⁵ tn The sentence uses the infinitive absolute to strengthen the idea.

[33:38]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[35:6]  ⁶⁷ tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.”

[35:32]  ⁷³ tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.