Numbers 9:18

9:18 At the commandment ¹  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ²  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

Numbers 23:9

23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; ³ 

from the hills I watch them. ⁴ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ⁵  among the nations.

Numbers 9:17

9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up ⁶  from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place ⁷  the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.

[9:18]  ¹ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ² 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.”

[23:9]  ³ tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ⁴ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ⁵ tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.

[9:17]  ⁵ tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the place where it settled there”; the relative clause modifies the noun “place,” and the resumptive adverb completes the related idea – “which it settled there” means “where it settled.”