Bilangan 14:13

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ¹  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –

Bilangan 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ²  uttered ³  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁴  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁵ 

Bilangan 26:54

26:54 To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance, ⁶  and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. ⁷  To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it. ⁸ 

[14:13]  ¹ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[23:7]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ³ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁵ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[26:54]  ⁶ tn Heb “to many you will multiply his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁷ tn Heb “to a few you will lessen his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to those that were numbered of him,” meaning, in accordance with the number of people in his clan.