Bilangan 1:3

1:3 You and Aaron are to number ¹  all in Israel who can serve in the army, ²  those who are ³  twenty years old or older, ⁴  by their divisions. ⁵ 

Bilangan 1:18

1:18 and they assembled ⁶  the entire community together on the first day of the second month. ⁷  Then the people recorded their ancestry ⁸  by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed ⁹  by name individually,

Bilangan 1:20

1:20 And they were as follows:

The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually.

Bilangan 1:22

1:22 From the descendants of Simeon: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them ¹⁰  twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually.

Bilangan 1:24

1:24 ¹¹ From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:26

1:26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:28

1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:30

1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:32

1:32 From the sons of Joseph:

From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:34

1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:36

1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:38

1:38 From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:40

1:40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:42

1:42 From ¹²  the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Bilangan 1:45

1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered ¹³  according to their families.

Bilangan 3:15

3:15 “Number the Levites by their clans ¹⁴  and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.” ¹⁵ 

Bilangan 3:22

3:22 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 7,500.

Bilangan 3:28

3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care ¹⁶  of the sanctuary.

Bilangan 3:34

3:34 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

Bilangan 3:39-40

3:39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word ¹⁷  of the Lord, according to their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000. ¹⁸ 

The Substitution for the Firstborn

3:40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take ¹⁹  the number of their names.

Bilangan 3:43

3:43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names from a month old and upward, totaled 22,273.

Bilangan 4:3

4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company ²⁰  to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 4:5

4:5 When it is time for the camp to journey, ²¹  Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

Bilangan 4:19

4:19 but in order that they will live ²²  and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint ²³  each man ²⁴  to his service and his responsibility.

Bilangan 4:23

4:23 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 4:30

4:30 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 4:35

4:35 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting;

Bilangan 4:39

4:39 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –

Bilangan 4:43

4:43 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –

Bilangan 4:47

4:47 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service and the work of carrying ²⁵  relating to the tent of meeting –

Bilangan 6:21

6:21 “This is the law ²⁶  of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. ²⁷  Thus he must fulfill ²⁸  his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

Bilangan 8:24-25

8:24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: ²⁹  At the age of twenty-five years ³⁰  and upward one may begin to join the company ³¹  in the work of the tent of meeting, 8:25 and at the age of fifty years they must retire from performing the work and may no longer work.

Bilangan 10:5

10:5 When you blow an alarm, ³²  then the camps that are located ³³  on the east side must begin to travel. ³⁴ 

Bilangan 11:15

11:15 But if you are going to deal ³⁵  with me like this, then kill me immediately. ³⁶  If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” ³⁷ 

Bilangan 11:18

11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves ³⁸  for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing ³⁹  of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, ⁴⁰  for life ⁴¹  was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

Bilangan 11:31

Provision of Quail

11:31 Now a wind ⁴²  went out ⁴³  from the Lord and brought quail ⁴⁴  from the sea, and let them fall ⁴⁵  near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet ⁴⁶  high on the surface of the ground.

Bilangan 13:22

13:22 When they went up through the Negev, they ⁴⁷  came ⁴⁸  to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, ⁴⁹  descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan ⁵⁰  in Egypt.)

Bilangan 14:2

14:2 And all the Israelites murmured ⁵¹  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ⁵²  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ⁵³  in this wilderness!

Bilangan 14:29

14:29 Your dead bodies ⁵⁴  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me.

Bilangan 15:12

15:12 You must do so for each one according to the number that you prepare.

Bilangan 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ⁵⁵  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Bilangan 18:9-10

18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved ⁵⁶  from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 18:10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.

Bilangan 20:3

20:3 The people contended ⁵⁷  with Moses, saying, ⁵⁸  “If only ⁵⁹  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Bilangan 22:6

22:6 So ⁶⁰  now, please come and curse this nation ⁶¹  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ⁶²  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ⁶³  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Bilangan 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ⁶⁴  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ⁶⁵  of the Lord my God ⁶⁶  to do less or more.

Bilangan 22:26

22:26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

Bilangan 23:9

23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; ⁶⁷ 

from the hills I watch them. ⁶⁸ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ⁶⁹  among the nations.

Bilangan 24:7

24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, ⁷⁰ 

and their descendants will be like abundant ⁷¹  water; ⁷² 

their king will be greater than Agag, ⁷³ 

and their kingdom will be exalted.

Bilangan 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ⁷⁴  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁷⁵ 

Bilangan 26:2

26:2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans, ⁷⁶  everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.” ⁷⁷ 

Bilangan 26:4

26:4 “Number the people ⁷⁸  from twenty years old and upward, just as the Lord commanded Moses and the Israelites who went out from the land of Egypt.”

Bilangan 26:54-55

26:54 To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance, ⁷⁹  and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. ⁸⁰  To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it. ⁸¹  26:55 The land must be divided by lot; and they will inherit in accordance with the names of their ancestral tribes.

Bilangan 26:62

26:62 Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

Bilangan 30:6

Vows Made by Married Women

30:6 “And if she marries a husband while under a vow, ⁸²  or she uttered ⁸³  anything impulsively by which she has pledged herself,

Bilangan 31:27

31:27 Divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war – who went out to battle – and the other for all the community.

Bilangan 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ⁸⁴  not ⁸⁵  one of the men twenty years old and upward ⁸⁶  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ⁸⁷  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Bilangan 32:14

32:14 Now look, you are standing in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinners, to increase still further the fierce wrath of the Lord against the Israelites.

Bilangan 32:16-17

The Offer of the Reubenites and Gadites

32:16 Then they came very close to him and said, “We will build sheep folds here for our flocks and cities for our families, ⁸⁸  32:17 but we will maintain ourselves in armed readiness ⁸⁹  and go before the Israelites until whenever we have brought them to their place. Our descendants will be living in fortified towns as a protection against ⁹⁰  the inhabitants of the land.

Bilangan 32:19

32:19 For we will not accept any inheritance on the other side of the Jordan River ⁹¹  and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

Bilangan 33:4

33:4 Now the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them; the Lord also executed judgments on their gods.

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 ⁹²  tribes.

Bilangan 35:8

35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

Bilangan 35:30

35:30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony ⁹³  of witnesses; but one witness cannot ⁹⁴  testify against any person to cause him to be put to death.

[1:3]  ¹ tn The verb (פָּקַד, paqad) means “to visit, appoint, muster, number.” The word is a common one in scripture. It has as its basic meaning the idea of “determining the destiny” of someone, by appointing, mustering, or visiting. When God “visits,” it is a divine intervention for either blessing or cursing. Here it is the taking of a census for war (see G. André, Determining the Destiny [ConBOT], 16).

[1:3]  ² tn The construction uses the participle “going out” followed by the noun “army.” It describes everyone “going out in a military group,” meaning serving in the army. It was the duty of every able-bodied Israelite to serve in this “peoples” army. There were probably exemptions for the infirm or the crippled, but every male over twenty was chosen. For a discussion of warfare, see P. C. Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, and P. D. Miller, “The Divine Council and the Prophetic Call to War,” VT 18 (1968): 100-107.

[1:3]  ³ tn The text simply has “from twenty years old and higher.”

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and up.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The noun (צָבָא, tsava’) means “army” or “military group.” But the word can also be used for nonmilitary divisions of labor (Num 4:3).

[1:18]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil of the root קָהַל (qahal), meaning “to call, assemble”; the related noun is an “assembly.”

[1:18]  ⁷ tc The LXX adds “of the second year.”

[1:18]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hitpael preterite form וַיִּתְיַלְדוּ (vayyityaldu). The cognate noun תּוֹלְדוֹת (tolÿdot) is the word that means “genealogies, family records, records of ancestry.” The root is יָלַד (yalad, “to bear, give birth to”). Here they were recording their family connections, and not, of course, producing children. The verbal stem seems to be both declarative and reflexive.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn The verb is supplied. The Hebrew text simply has “in/with the number of names of those who are twenty years old and higher according to their skulls.”

[1:22]  ¹⁰ tc Some witnesses have omitted “those that were numbered of them,” to preserve the literary pattern of the text. The omission is supported by the absence of the expression in the Greek as well as in some MT mss. Most modern commentators follow this.

[1:24]  ¹¹ tc The LXX has vv. 24-35 after v. 37.

[1:42]  ¹² tc The verse does not have the preposition, only “the descendants of Naphtali.”

[1:45]  ¹³ tn Literally the text has, “and all the numbered of the Israelites were according to their families.” The verb in the sentence is actually without a complement (see v. 46).

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 20.

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you are to/shall number them.”

[3:28]  ¹⁶ tn The construction here is a little different. The Hebrew text uses the participle in construct plural: שֹׁמְרֵי (shomÿrey, literally “keepers of”). The form specifies the duties of the 8,600 Kohathites. The genitive that follows this participle is the cognate מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret) that has been used before. So the expression indicates that they were responsible for the care of this part of the cult center. There is no reason to delete one of the forms (as does J. A. Paterson, Numbers, 42), for the repetition stresses the central importance of their work.

[3:39]  ¹⁷ tn Here again the Hebrew has “at the mouth of,” meaning in accordance with what the Lord said. So also in v. 51.

[3:39]  ¹⁸ tn The total is a rounded off number; it does not duplicate the precise total of 22,300. Some modern scholars try to explain it by positing an error in v. 28, suggesting that “six” should be read as “three” (שֵׁשׁ [shesh] as שָׁלֹשׁ [shalosh]).

[3:40]  ¹⁹ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “take”) has here the sense of collect, take a census, or register the names.

[4:3]  ²⁰ tn The word “company” is literally “host, army” (צָבָא, tsava’). The repetition of similar expressions makes the translation difficult: Heb “all [who] come to the host to do work in the tent.”

[4:5]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct in an adverbial clause of time; literally it says “in the journeying of the camp.” The genitive in such constructions is usually the subject. Here the implication is that people would be preparing to transport the camp and its equipment.

[4:19]  ²² tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text: Do this…and they will live. Consequently, the verb “and they will live” is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive to express the future consequence of “doing this” for them.

[4:19]  ²³ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction for Aaron.

[4:19]  ²⁴ tn The distributive sense is obtained by the repetition, “a man” and “a man.”

[4:47]  ²⁵ tn The text multiplies the vocabulary of service here in the summary. In the Hebrew text the line reads literally: “everyone who came to serve the service of serving, and the service of burden.” The Levites came into service in the shrine, and that involved working in the sanctuary as well as carrying it from one place to the next.

[6:21]  ²⁶ tn Actually, “law” here means a whole set of laws, the basic rulings on this topic.

[6:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “whatever else his hand is able to provide.” The imperfect tense has the nuance of potential imperfect – “whatever he can provide.”

[6:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “according to the vow that he vows, so he must do.”

[8:24]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text has “this [is that] which [pertains] to the Levites.” “This is what concerns the Levites, meaning, the following rulings are for them.

[8:24]  ³⁰ tc The age of twenty-five indicated in v. 24 should be compared with the age of thirty indicated in Num 4:3,23,30. In order to harmonize the numbers given in chapter 4 with the number given in Num 8:24 the LXX (and perhaps its Hebrew Vorlage) has thirty in all of these references. See further G. J. Wenham, Numbers (TOTC 4), 97-98.

[8:24]  ³¹ tn The infinitive is לִצְבֹא (litsvo’), related to the word for “host, army, company,” and so “to serve as a company.” The meaning is strengthened by the cognate accusative following it.

[10:5]  ³² tn The word for an alarm is תְּרוּעָה (tÿru’ah). The root verb of this word means “to give a blast on the trumpet.” It may also on occasion mean “give a shout” in battle (Josh 6:10). In this passage it must refer to the sound of the trumpet.

[10:5]  ³³ tn Heb “the camps that are camping.”

[10:5]  ³⁴ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of the imperfect tense. Here the emphasis is on the start of the journey.

[11:15]  ³⁵ tn The participle expresses the future idea of what God is doing, or what he is going to be doing. Moses would rather be killed than be given a totally impossible duty over a people that were not his.

[11:15]  ³⁶ tn The imperative of הָרַג (harag) is followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The point is more that the infinitive adds to the emphasis of the imperative mood, which would be immediate compliance.

[11:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “my own ruin” (NIV). The word “trouble” here probably refers to the stress and difficulty of caring for a complaining group of people. The suffix on the noun would be objective, perhaps stressing the indirect object of the noun – trouble for me. The expression “on my trouble” (בְּרָעָתִי, bÿra’ati) is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the original reading in v. 15 was [to look] “on your evil” (בְּרָעָתֶךָ, bÿra’atekha), meaning “the calamity that you bring about” for Israel. However, since such an expression could be mistakenly thought to attribute evil to the Lord, the ancient scribes changed it to the reading found in the MT.

[11:18]  ³⁸ tn The Hitpael is used to stress that they are to prepare for a holy appearance. The day was going to be special and so required their being set apart for it. But it is a holy day in the sense of the judgment that was to follow.

[11:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in the ears.”

[11:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Possibly this could be given an optative translation, to reflect the earlier one: “O that someone would give….” But the verb is not the same; here it is the Hiphil of the verb “to eat” – “who will make us eat” (i.e., provide meat for us to eat).

[11:18]  ⁴¹ tn The word “life” is not in the text. The expression is simply “it was for us,” or “we had good,” meaning “we had it good,” or “life was good.”

[11:31]  ⁴² sn The irony in this chapter is expressed in part by the use of the word רוּחַ (ruakh). In the last episode it clearly meant the Spirit of the Lord that empowered the men for their spiritual service. But here the word is “wind.” Both the spiritual service and the judgment come from God.

[11:31]  ⁴³ tn The verb means “burst forth” or “sprang up.” See the ways it is used in Gen 33:12, Judg 16:3, 14; Isa 33:20.

[11:31]  ⁴⁴ sn The “quail” ordinarily cross the Sinai at various times of the year, but what is described here is not the natural phenomenon. Biblical scholars looking for natural explanations usually note that these birds fly at a low height and can be swatted down easily. But the description here is more of a supernatural supply and provision. See J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54.

[11:31]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “left them fluttering.”

[11:31]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “two cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length.

[13:22]  ⁴⁷ tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and Smr have the plural.

[13:22]  ⁴⁸ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.

[13:22]  ⁴⁹ sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.

[13:22]  ⁵⁰ sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).

[14:2]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.

[14:2]  ⁵² tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.

[14:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “died.”

[14:29]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

[16:3]  ⁵⁵ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[18:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.

[20:3]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

[20:3]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

[20:3]  ⁵⁹ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

[22:6]  ⁶⁰ tn The two lines before this verse begin with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), and so they lay the foundation for these imperatives. In view of those circumstances, this is what should happen.

[22:6]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 10, 17, 41.

[22:6]  ⁶² tn The construction uses the imperfect tense אוּכַל (’ukhal, “I will be able”) followed by the imperfect tense נַכֶּה (nakkeh, “we will smite/attack/defeat”). The second verb is clearly the purpose or the result of the first, even though there is no conjunction or particle.

[22:6]  ⁶³ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of בָּרַךְ (barakh), with the nuance of possibility: “whomever you may bless.” The Pual participle מְבֹרָךְ (mÿvorakh) serves as the predicate.

[22:18]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ⁶⁶ sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[23:9]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ⁶⁸ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ⁶⁹ tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.

[24:7]  ⁷⁰ tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.

[24:7]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “many.”

[24:7]  ⁷² sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.

[24:7]  ⁷³ sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.

[24:14]  ⁷⁴ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

[26:2]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “house of their fathers.”

[26:2]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “everyone who goes out in the army in Israel.”

[26:4]  ⁷⁸ tn “Number the people” is added here to the text for a smooth reading.

[26:54]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “to many you will multiply his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “to a few you will lessen his inheritance.”

[26:54]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “according to those that were numbered of him,” meaning, in accordance with the number of people in his clan.

[30:6]  ⁸² tn Heb “and her vows are upon her.” It may be that the woman gets married while her vows are still unfulfilled.

[30:6]  ⁸³ tn The Hebrew text indicates that this would be some impetuous vow that she uttered with her lips, a vow that her husband, whether new or existing, would not approve of. Several translate it “a binding obligation rashly uttered.”

[32:11]  ⁸⁴ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

[32:11]  ⁸⁵ tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

[32:11]  ⁸⁶ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

[32:11]  ⁸⁷ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:16]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “our little ones.”

[32:17]  ⁸⁹ tn The MT has חֻשִׁים (khushim); the verbal root is חוּשׁ (khush, “to make haste” or “hurry”). But in light of the Greek and Latin Vulgate the Hebrew should probably be emended to חֲמֻשִׁים (hamushim), a qal passive participle meaning “in battle array.” See further BDB 301 s.v. I חוּשׁ, BDB 332 s.v. חֲמֻשִׁים; HALOT 300 s.v. I חושׁ, חישׁ; HALOT 331 s.v. I חמשׁ.

[32:17]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “from before.”

[32:19]  ⁹¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[33:54]  ⁹² tn Heb “of your fathers.”

[35:30]  ⁹³ tn Heb “ at the mouth of”; the metonymy stresses it is at their report.

[35:30]  ⁹⁴ tn The verb should be given the nuance of imperfect of potentiality.