Bilangan 11:26

Eldad and Medad

11:26 But two men remained in the camp; one’s name was Eldad, and the other’s name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, ¹  but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.

Bilangan 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ²  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ³  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Bilangan 27:14

27:14 For ⁴  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ⁵  rebelled against my command ⁶  to show me as holy ⁷  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

[11:26]  ¹ tn The form of the word is the passive participle כְּתֻבִים (kÿtuvim, “written”). It is normally taken to mean “among those registered,” but it is not clear if that means they were to be among the seventy or not. That seems unlikely since there is no mention of the seventy being registered, and vv. 24-25 says all seventy went out and prophesied. The registration may be to eldership, or the role of the officer.

[22:22]  ² sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

[22:22]  ³ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[27:14]  ⁴ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ⁵ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ⁷ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.