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 2:31

2:31 All those numbered of the camp of Dan are 157,600. They will travel last, under their standards.”

Bilangan 3:35

3:35 Now the leader of the clan of the families of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

Bilangan 4:10

4:10 Then they must put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a carrying beam. ⁶ 

Bilangan 6:13

Fulfilling the Vows

6:13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought ⁷  to the entrance of the tent of meeting,

Bilangan 6:27

6:27 So they will put my name ⁸  on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Bilangan 8:15

8:15 “After this, the Levites will go in ⁹  to do the work ¹⁰  of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them ¹¹  and offer them like a wave offering. ¹² 

Bilangan 8:24

8:24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: ¹³  At the age of twenty-five years ¹⁴  and upward one may begin to join the company ¹⁵  in the work of the tent of meeting,

Bilangan 10:4

10:4 “But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, must come to you. ¹⁶ 

Bilangan 14:25

14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) ¹⁷  Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”

Bilangan 15:4

15:4 then the one who presents his offering to the Lord must bring ¹⁸  a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of olive oil. ¹⁹ 

Bilangan 15:27-28

15:27 “‘If any person ²⁰  sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering. 15:28 And the priest must make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally – when he sins unintentionally before the Lord – to make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

Bilangan 17:4

17:4 You must place them ²¹  in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant ²²  where I meet with you.

Bilangan 18:29

18:29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due ²³  the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’ ²⁴ 

Bilangan 18:31

18:31 And you may ²⁵  eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 19:4

19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take ²⁶  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ²⁷  directly in front of the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 19:6

19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, ²⁸  and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. ²⁹ 

Bilangan 19:8

19:8 The one who burns it ³⁰  must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

Bilangan 28:17

28:17 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the festival. For seven days bread made without yeast must be eaten.

Bilangan 31:20

31:20 You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goat’s hair, and everything made of wood.” ³¹ 

[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).

[4:10]  ⁶ tn The “pole” or “bar” (מוֹט, mot) is of a different style than the poles used for transporting the ark. It seems to be a flexible bar carried by two men with the implements being transported tied to the bar. The NEB suggests the items were put in a bag and slung over the bar, but there is no indication of the manner.

[6:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “he/one shall bring him”; since there is no expressed subject, this verb should be taken in the passive sense – “he shall be brought.” Since the context suggests an obligatory nuance, the translation “he must be brought” has been used. Some scholars solve the problem by emending the Hebrew text here, but there is no manuscript evidence to support the emendation.

[6:27]  ⁸ tn The idea of their putting the name of Yahweh on the people is somewhat problematic. The pronouncing of the name of Yahweh in this context over the people was taken to be the effectual means of blessings. “Putting the name on them” is an expression that emphasizes the truth that he is their God and they are his people or that having his name is having his blessing.

[8:15]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense could also be given the nuance of the imperfect of permission: “the Levites may go in.”

[8:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to serve.”

[8:15]  ¹¹ tn The two verbs in the rest of this verse are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive constructions, making them equal to the imperfect. Some commentators try to get around the difficulty of repetition by making these future perfects, “and you will have cleansed,” as opposed to a summary statement, “for thus you will cleanse….”

[8:15]  ¹² tc The Greek text adds “before the Lord.”

[8:24]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[10:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they shall assemble themselves.”

[14:25]  ¹⁷ sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.

[15:4]  ¹⁸ tn The three words at the beginning of this verse are all etymologically related: “the one who offers his offering shall offer.”

[15:4]  ¹⁹ sn Obviously, as the wording of the text affirms, this kind of offering would be made after they were in the land and able to produce the grain and oil for the sacrifices. The instructions anticipated their ability to do this, and this would give hope to them. The amounts are difficult to determine, but it may be that they were to bring 4.5 liters of flour and 1.8 liters each of oil and wine.

[15:27]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.

[17:4]  ²¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”), and so “to set at rest, lay, place, put.” The form with the vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction of the previous verse.

[17:4]  ²² tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.”

[18:29]  ²³ tn The construction is “every raised offering of the Lord”; the genitive here is probably to be taken as a genitive of worth – the offering that is due the Lord.

[18:29]  ²⁴ tn Or “its hallowed thing.”

[18:31]  ²⁵ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of permission.

[19:4]  ²⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.

[19:4]  ²⁷ sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.

[19:6]  ²⁸ sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.

[19:6]  ²⁹ sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).

[19:8]  ³⁰ sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.

[31:20]  ³¹ sn These verses are a reminder that taking a life, even if justified through holy war, still separates one from the holiness of God. It is part of the violation of the fallen world, and only through the ritual of purification can one be once again made fit for the presence of the Lord.