Bilangan 3:41

3:41 And take ¹  the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

Bilangan 4:9

4:9 “They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it.

Bilangan 4:12

4:12 Then they must take all the utensils of the service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying beam.

Bilangan 6:18-19

6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head ²  at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire ³  where the peace offering is burning. ⁴  6:19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head; ⁵ 

Bilangan 8:16

8:16 For they are entirely given ⁶  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ⁷  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

Bilangan 11:16

The Response of God

11:16 ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ⁹  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Bilangan 13:20

13:20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, ¹⁰  and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year ¹¹  for the first ripe grapes. ¹² 

Bilangan 16:46-47

16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!” 16:47 So Aaron did ¹³  as Moses commanded ¹⁴  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

Bilangan 17:2

17:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, ¹⁵  one from every tribal leader, ¹⁶  twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.

Bilangan 18:26

18:26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up ¹⁷  from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.

Bilangan 18:28

18:28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest.

Bilangan 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ¹⁸  the Israelites to bring ¹⁹  you a red ²⁰  heifer ²¹  without blemish, which has no defect ²²  and has never carried a yoke.

Bilangan 19:18

19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave.

Bilangan 20:8

20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak ²³  to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth ²⁴  its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

Bilangan 21:26

21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, ²⁵  as far as the Arnon.

Bilangan 25:4

God’s Punishment

25:4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders ²⁶  of the people, and hang them up ²⁷  before the Lord in broad daylight, ²⁸  so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”

Bilangan 31:30

31:30 From the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

Bilangan 31:47

31:47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Bilangan 31:54

31:54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders ²⁹  of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial ³⁰  for the Israelites before the Lord.

[3:41]  ¹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries forward the instructions from the preceding verse. The verb “take” now has the sense of appointing or designating the Levites.

[6:18]  ² tn Some versions simply interpret this to say that he shaves his hair, for it is the hair that is the sign of the consecration to God. But the text says he shaves his consecrated head. The whole person is obviously consecrated to God – not just the head. But the symbolic act of cutting the hair shows that the vow has been completed (see Acts 21:23-24). The understanding of the importance of the hair in the ancient world has been the subject of considerable study over the years (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 436; and J. A. Thompson, “Numbers,” New Bible Commentary: Revised, 177).

[6:18]  ³ sn Some commentators see this burning of the hair as an offering (McNeile, Numbers, 35; G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 68). But others probably with more foundation see it as destroying something that has served a purpose, something that if left alone might be venerated (see R. de Vaux, Israel, 436).

[6:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “which is under the peace offering.” The verse does not mean that the hair had to be put under that sacrifice and directly on the fire.

[6:19]  ⁵ tn The line does not include the word “head”; it literally has “after the consecrating of himself his consecrated [head].” The infinitive construct is here functioning in the temporal clause with the suffix as the subject and the object following.

[8:16]  ⁶ tn As before, the emphasis is obtained by repeating the passive participle: “given, given to me.”

[8:16]  ⁷ tn Or “as substitutes” for all the firstborn of the Israelites.

[11:16]  ⁸ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[13:20]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, from the root חָזַק (khazaq, “to be strong”). Here it could mean “strengthen yourselves” or “be courageous” or “determined.” See further uses in 2 Sam 10:12; 1 Kgs 20:22; 1 Chr 19:13.

[13:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Now the days were the days of.”

[13:20]  ¹² sn The reference to the first ripe grapes would put the time somewhere at the end of July.

[16:47]  ¹³ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ¹⁴ tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[17:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”

[17:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”

[18:26]  ¹⁷ tn The verb in this clause is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it has the same force as an imperfect of instruction: “when…then you are to offer up.”

[19:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ¹⁹ tn The line literally reads, “speak to the Israelites that [and] they bring [will bring].” The imperfect [or jussive] is subordinated to the imperative either as a purpose clause, or as the object of the instruction – speak to them that they bring, or tell them to bring.

[19:2]  ²⁰ tn The color is designated as red, although the actual color would be a tanned red-brown color for the animal (see the usage in Isa 1:18 and Song 5:10). The reddish color suggested the blood of ritual purification; see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

[19:2]  ²¹ sn Some modern commentators prefer “cow” to “heifer,” thinking that the latter came from the influence of the Greek. Young animals were usually prescribed for the ritual, especially here, and so “heifer” is the better translation. A bull could not be given for this purification ritual because that is what was given for the high priests or the community according to Lev 4.

[19:2]  ²² tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[20:8]  ²³ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.

[20:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”

[21:26]  ²⁵ sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose – conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads – “those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.

[25:4]  ²⁶ sn The meaning must be the leaders behind the apostasy, for they would now be arrested. They were responsible for the tribes’ conformity to the Law, but here they had not only failed in their duty, but had participated. The leaders were executed; the rest of the guilty died by the plague.

[25:4]  ²⁷ sn The leaders who were guilty were commanded by God to be publicly exposed by hanging, probably a reference to impaling, but possibly some other form of harsh punishment. The point was that the swaying of their executed bodies would be a startling warning for any who so blatantly set the Law aside and indulged in apostasy through pagan sexual orgies.

[25:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the sun.” This means in broad daylight.

[31:54]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text does not repeat the word “commanders” here, but it is implied.

[31:54]  ³⁰ tn The purpose of the offering was to remind the Lord to remember Israel. But it would also be an encouragement for Israel as they remembered the great victory.