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 9:6

9:6 It happened that some men ⁶  who were ceremonially defiled ⁷  by the dead body of a man ⁸  could not keep ⁹  the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

Bilangan 18:8

The Portion of the Priests

18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ¹⁰  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

Bilangan 18:19

18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt ¹¹  forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”

Bilangan 33:54

33:54 You must divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families. To a larger group you must give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you must give a smaller inheritance. Everyone’s inheritance must be in the place where his lot falls. You must inherit according to your ancestral ¹²  tribes.

[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.

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

[9:6]  ⁷ tn The meaning, of course, is to be ceremonially unclean, and therefore disqualified from entering the sanctuary.

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Or “a human corpse” (so NAB, NKJV). So also in v.7; cf. v. 10.

[9:6]  ⁹ 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.

[18:8]  ¹⁰ tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).

[18:19]  ¹¹ sn Salt was used in all the offerings; its importance as a preservative made it a natural symbol for the covenant which was established by sacrifice. Even general agreements were attested by sacrifice, and the phrase “covenant of salt” speaks of such agreements as binding and irrevocable. Note the expression in Ezra 4:14, “we have been salted with the salt of the palace.” See further J. F. Ross, IDB 4:167.

[33:54]  ¹² tn Heb “of your fathers.”