Bilangan 10:36

10:36 And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!” ¹ 

Bilangan 12:4-5

The Response of the Lord

12:4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went. 12:5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.

Bilangan 15:31

15:31 Because he has despised ²  the word of the Lord and has broken ³  his commandment, that person ⁴  must be completely cut off. ⁵  His iniquity will be on him.’” ⁶ 

Bilangan 23:5

23:5 Then the Lord put a message ⁷  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁸ 

Bilangan 32:21

32:21 and if all your armed men cross the Jordan before the Lord until he drives out his enemies from his presence

[10:36]  ¹ sn These two formulaic prayers were offered by Moses at the beginning and at the end of the journeys. They prayed for the Lord to fight ahead of the nation when it was on the move, and to protect them when they camped. The theme of the first is found in Ps 68:1. The prayers reflect the true mentality of holy war, that it was the Lord who fought for Israel and defended her. The prayers have been included in the prayer book for synagogue services.

[15:31]  ² tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.

[15:31]  ³ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.

[15:31]  ⁶ sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “word.”

[23:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”