Bilangan 1:2

1:2 “Take a census ¹  of the entire ²  Israelite community ³  by their clans and families, ⁴  counting the name of every individual male. ⁵ 

Bilangan 4:7

4:7 “On the table of the presence ⁶  they must spread a blue ⁷  cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.

Bilangan 6:9

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly ⁸  beside him and he defiles ⁹  his consecrated head, ¹⁰  then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.

Bilangan 6:12

6:12 He must rededicate ¹¹  to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, ¹²  but the former days will not be counted ¹³  because his separation ¹⁴  was defiled.

Bilangan 9:6

9:6 It happened that some men ¹⁵  who were ceremonially defiled ¹⁶  by the dead body of a man ¹⁷  could not keep ¹⁸  the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

Bilangan 10:29

The Appeal to Hobab

10:29 ¹⁹ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ²⁰  “We are journeying to the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, ²¹  for the Lord has promised good things ²²  for Israel.”

Bilangan 11:8

11:8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil. ²³ 

Bilangan 11:26

Eldad and Medad

11:26 But two men remained in the camp; one’s name was Eldad, and the other’s name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, ²⁴  but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.

Bilangan 13:23

13:23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff ²⁵  between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs.

Bilangan 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ²⁶  me now these ten times, ²⁷  and have not obeyed me, ²⁸ 

Bilangan 15:15

15:15 One statute must apply ²⁹  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ³⁰  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ³¹  before the Lord.

Bilangan 16:38

16:38 As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, ³²  they must be made ³³  into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the Lord and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites.”

Bilangan 17:10

The Memorial

17:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end ³⁴  before me, that they will not die.” ³⁵ 

Bilangan 18:7

18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”

Bilangan 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ³⁶  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ³⁷  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Bilangan 25:18

25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived ³⁸  you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, ³⁹  their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

Bilangan 27:14

27:14 For ⁴⁰  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ⁴¹  rebelled against my command ⁴²  to show me as holy ⁴³  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

Bilangan 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ⁴⁴  will seek counsel ⁴⁵  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ⁴⁶  At his command ⁴⁷  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Bilangan 30:5

30:5 But if her father overrules her when he hears ⁴⁸  about it, then none ⁴⁹  of her vows or her obligations which she has pledged for herself will stand. And the Lord will release ⁵⁰  her from it, because her father overruled her.

Bilangan 32:29

32:29 Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, ⁵¹  then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession.

[1:2]  ¹ tn The construction is literally “lift up the head[s],” (שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ, sÿ’u ’et-ro’sh). This idiom for taking a census occurs elsewhere (Exod 30:12; Lev 5:24; Num 1:24; etc.). The idea is simply that of counting heads to arrive at the base for the standing army. This is a different event than the one recorded in Exod 30:11-16, which was taken for a different purpose altogether. The verb is plural, indicating that Moses had help in taking the census.

[1:2]  ² tc Smr lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “the congregation of Israel.”

[1:2]  ⁴ tn The tribe (מַטֶּה, matteh or שֵׁבֶט, shevet) is the main category. The family groups or clans (מִשְׁפְּחֹת, mishpÿkhot) and the households or families (בֵּית אֲבֹת, bet ’avot) were sub-divisions of the tribe.

[1:2]  ⁵ tn This clause simply has “in/with the number of the names of every male with respect to their skulls [individually].” Counting heads, or every skull, simply meant that each person was to be numbered in the census. Except for the Levites, no male was exempt from the count.

[4:7]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew actually has the “table of faces,” and this has been traditionally rendered “table of shewbread.”

[4:7]  ⁷ tn The Greek has “violet” instead of blue. This is also the case in vv. 8, 10, and 14.

[6:9]  ⁸ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.

[6:9]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.

[6:9]  ¹⁰ sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.

[6:12]  ¹¹ tn The same idea is to be found now in the use of the word נָזַר (nazar), which refers to a recommitment after the vow was interrupted.

[6:12]  ¹² tn The necessity of bringing the reparation offering was due to the reinstatement into the vow that had been interrupted.

[6:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “will fall”; KJV “shall be lost”; ASV, NASB, NRSV “shall be void.”

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tc The similar expression in v. 9 includes the word “head” (i.e., “his consecrated head”). The LXX includes this word in v. 12 as well.

[9:6]  ¹⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the noun has no definite article, and so it signifies “some” or “certain” men.

[9:6]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.

[9:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.

[9:6]  ¹⁸ tn This clause begins with the vav (ו) conjunction and negative before the perfect tense. Here is the main verb of the sentence: They were not able to observe the Passover. The first part of the verse provides the explanation for their problem.

[10:29]  ¹⁹ sn For additional bibliography for this short section, see W. F. Albright, “Jethro, Hobab, and Reuel in Early Hebrew Tradition,” CBQ 25 (1963): 1-11; G. W. Coats, “Moses in Midian,” JBL 92 (1973): 3-10; B. Mazar, “The Sanctuary of Arad and the Family of Hobab the Kenite,” JNES 24 (1965): 297-303; and T. C. Mitchell, “The Meaning of the Noun h£tn in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 93-112.

[10:29]  ²⁰ sn There is a problem with the identity of Hobab. The MT says that he is the son of Reuel, making him the brother-in-law of Moses. But Judg 4:11 says he is the father-in-law. In Judg 1:16; 4:11 Hobab is traced to the Kenites, but in Exod 3:1 and 18:1 Jethro (Reuel) is priest of Midian. Jethro is identified with Reuel on the basis of Exod 2:18 and 3:1, and so Hobab becomes Moses’ חֹתֵן (khoten), a relative by marriage and perhaps brother-in-law. There is not enough information to decide on the identity and relationships involved here. Some suggest that there is one person with the three names (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 93); others suggest Hobab is a family name (R. F. Johnson, IDB 2:615), and some suggest that the expression “the son of Reuel the Midianite” had dropped out of the genealogy of Judges, leading to the conflict (J. Crichton, ISBE 2:1055). If Hobab is the same as Jethro, then Exod 18:27 does not make much sense, for Jethro did go home. On this basis many conclude Hobab is a brother-in-law. This would mean that after Jethro returned home, Moses conversed with Hobab, his brother-in-law. For more discussion, see the articles and the commentaries.

[10:29]  ²¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil of the root “to be good” (יָטַב, yatav); it may be translated “treat well, deal favorably, generously with.” Here it is a perfect tense with vav (ו) following the imperative, showing a sequence in the verbal ideas.

[10:29]  ²² tn The Hebrew text simply has “has spoken good” for Israel.

[11:8]  ²³ tn Heb “And its taste was like the taste of fresh olive oil.”

[11:26]  ²⁴ tn The form of the word is the passive participle כְּתֻבִים (kÿtuvim, “written”). It is normally taken to mean “among those registered,” but it is not clear if that means they were to be among the seventy or not. That seems unlikely since there is no mention of the seventy being registered, and vv. 24-25 says all seventy went out and prophesied. The registration may be to eldership, or the role of the officer.

[13:23]  ²⁵ tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things, but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.

[14:22]  ²⁶ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ²⁷ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[15:15]  ²⁹ tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.

[15:15]  ³⁰ tn Or “a statute forever.”

[15:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”

[16:38]  ³² tn The expression is “in/by/against their life.” That they sinned against their life means that they brought ruin to themselves.

[16:38]  ³³ tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. But there is no expressed subject for “and they shall make them,” and so it may be treated as a passive (“they shall [must] be made”).

[17:10]  ³⁴ tn The verb means “to finish; to complete” and here “to bring to an end.” It is the imperfect following the imperative, and so introduces a purpose clause (as a final imperfect).

[17:10]  ³⁵ tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause.

[22:22]  ³⁶ sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

[22:22]  ³⁷ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[25:18]  ³⁸ tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”

[25:18]  ³⁹ sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.

[27:14]  ⁴⁰ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ⁴¹ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ⁴³ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.

[27:21]  ⁴⁴ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ⁴⁶ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[30:5]  ⁴⁸ tn The idiom is “in the day of,” but it is used in place of a preposition before the infinitive construct with its suffixed subjective genitive. The clause is temporal.

[30:5]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew “all will not stand” is best rendered “none will stand.”

[30:5]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb has often been translated “forgive” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but that would suggest a sin that needed forgiving. The idea of “release from obligation” is better; the idea is like that of having a debt “forgiven” or “retired.” In other words, she is free from the vow she had made. The Lord will not hold the woman responsible to do what she vowed.

[32:29]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and the land is subdued before you.”