Bilangan 15:35

15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone ¹  him with stones outside the camp.”

Bilangan 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ²  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ³  this people into our ⁴  hand, then we will utterly destroy ⁵  their cities.”

Bilangan 26:3

26:3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River ⁶  across from Jericho. ⁷  They said,

[15:35]  ¹ tn The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם (ragom) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.

[21:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ⁵ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[26:3]  ⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in v. 62).

[26:3]  ⁷ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.