Bilangan 1:49

1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi ¹  you must not number ²  or count ³  with ⁴  the other Israelites.

Bilangan 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ⁵  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ⁶  the numbering.

Bilangan 17:5

17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

Bilangan 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ⁷  with you and minister to you while ⁸  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

Bilangan 20:11

20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

Bilangan 30:1

Vows Made by Men

30:1 ⁹ Moses told the leaders ¹⁰  of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what ¹¹  the Lord has commanded:

Bilangan 31:6

Campaign Against the Midianites

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge ¹²  of the holy articles ¹³  and the signal trumpets.

Bilangan 32:28

32:28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes.

Bilangan 36:5-6

Moses’ Decision

36:5 Then Moses gave a ruling ¹⁴  to the Israelites by the word ¹⁵  of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right. 36:6 This is what ¹⁶  the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry ¹⁷  whomever they think best, ¹⁸  only they must marry within the family of their father’s tribe.

Bilangan 36:12

36:12 They were married into the families of the Manassehites, the descendants of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.

[1:49]  ¹ sn From the giving of the Law on the priesthood comes the prerogative of the tribe of Levi. There were, however, members of other tribes who served as priests from time to time (see Judg 17:5).

[1:49]  ² tn The construction has literally, “only the tribe of Levi you shall not number.” The Greek text rendered the particle אַךְ (’akh) forcefully with “see to it that” or “take care that.” For the uses of this form, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 65, §388-89.

[1:49]  ³ tn Heb “lift up their head.”

[1:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the midst of the sons of Israel.”

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[7:2]  ⁶ tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.

[18:2]  ⁷ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[30:1]  ⁹ sn Num 30 deals with vows that are different than the vows discussed in Lev 27 and Num 6. The material is placed here after all the rulings of the offerings, but it could have been revealed to Moses at any time, such as the Nazirite vows, or the question of the daughters’ inheritance. The logic of placing it here may be that a festival was the ideal place for discharging a vow. For additional material on vows, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 465-66.

[30:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “heads.”

[30:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “This is the word which.”

[31:6]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses the idiom that these “were in his hand,” meaning that he had the responsibility over them.

[31:6]  ¹³ sn It is not clear what articles from the sanctuary were included. Tg. Ps.-J. adds (interpretively) “the Urim and Thummim.”

[36:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “commanded.”

[36:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[36:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the word that.”

[36:6]  ¹⁷ tn The idiom again is “let them be for wives for….”

[36:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to the one who is good in their eyes.”