Bilangan 16:46-49

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did ¹  as Moses commanded ²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. 16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah.

Bilangan 25:9

25:9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

Bilangan 25:1

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1 ³ When ⁴  Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality ⁵  with the daughters of Moab.

1 Samuel 6:19

6:19 But the Lord ⁶  struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 ⁷  of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.

1 Samuel 6:1

The Philistines Return the Ark

6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land ⁸  of the Philistines for seven months, ⁹ 

1 Samuel 21:14

21:14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me?

1 Samuel 27:4

27:4 When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.

Matius 24:7

24:7 For nation will rise up in arms ¹⁰  against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines ¹¹  and earthquakes ¹²  in various places.

Wahyu 6:8

6:8 So ¹³  I looked ¹⁴  and here came ¹⁵  a pale green ¹⁶  horse! The ¹⁷  name of the one who rode it ¹⁸  was Death, and Hades followed right behind. ¹⁹  They ²⁰  were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill its population with the sword, ²¹  famine, and disease, ²²  and by the wild animals of the earth.

¹ tn Heb “took.”

² tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

³ sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8,” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.

⁴ tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.

⁵ sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew mss lack “50,000,” reading simply “70” instead. However, there does not seem to be sufficient external evidence to warrant reading 70 rather than 50,070, although that is done by a number of recent translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The present translation (reluctantly) follows the MT and the ancient versions here.

⁸ tn Heb “field.”

⁹ tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”

¹⁰ tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.

¹¹ sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.

¹² tc Most witnesses (C Θ 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï) have “and plagues” (καὶ λοιμοί, kai loimoi) between “famines” (λιμοί, limoi) and “earthquakes” (σεισμοί, seismoi), while others have “plagues and famines and earthquakes” (L W 33 pc lat). The similarities between λιμοί and λοιμοί could explain how καὶ λοιμοί might have accidentally dropped out, but since the Lukan parallel has both terms (and W lat have the order λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοί there too, as they do in Matthew), it seems more likely that scribes added the phrase here. The shorter reading does not enjoy overwhelming support ([א] B D 892 pc, as well as versional witnesses), but it is nevertheless significant; coupled with the internal evidence it should be given preference.

¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the summons by the fourth creature.

¹⁴ tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to have come through the mss that have already placed “and look” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) after the verb “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) in 6:1. Thus, for these copyists it was redundant to add “and I looked” again.

¹⁵ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

¹⁶ tn A sickly pallor, when referring to persons, or the green color of plants. BDAG 1085 s.v. χλωρός 2 states, “pale, greenish gray…as the color of a pers. in sickness contrasted with appearance in health…so the horse ridden by Death…ἵππος χλωρός Rv 6:8.” Because the color of the horse is symbolic, “pale green” is used in the translation. Cf. NIV, NCV “pale”; NASB “ashen.”

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁸ tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “And Hades was following with him.” The Greek expression μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ (met’ autou, “with him”) is Semitic and indicates close proximity. The translation “followed right behind” reflects this.

²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²² tn Grk “with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).