Bilangan 14:5

14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground ¹  before the whole assembled community ²  of the Israelites.

Mazmur 68:27

68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, ³ 

and the princes of Judah in their robes, ⁴ 

along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

[14:5]  ¹ sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign Lord. They are not bowing before the people here, but in front of the people they bow before God. According to Num 17:6-15 this prostration is for the purpose of intercessory prayer. Here it prevents immediate wrath from God.

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”

[68:27]  ³ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

[68:27]  ⁴ tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.