Numbers 9:22

9:22 Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, ¹  that the cloud prolonged its stay ²  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ³  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

Numbers 14:30

14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where ⁴  I swore ⁵  to settle ⁶  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

[9:22]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “and they would not journey”; the clause can be taken adverbially, explaining the preceding verbal clause.

[14:30]  ⁴ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

[14:30]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

[14:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”