Bilangan 31:7

31:7 They fought against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ¹ 

Bilangan 20:2

20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.

Bilangan 14:34

14:34 According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days – one day for a year – you will suffer for ²  your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me. ³ 

Bilangan 10:9

10:9 If you go to war in your land against an adversary who opposes ⁴  you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved ⁵  from your enemies.

Bilangan 14:35

14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’”

Bilangan 22:32

22:32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing ⁶  is perverse before me. ⁷ 

Bilangan 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ⁸  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ⁹  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Bilangan 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ¹⁰  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Bilangan 25:17

25:17 “Bring trouble ¹¹  to the Midianites, and destroy them,

Bilangan 21:7

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ¹²  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Bilangan 16:11

16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?” ¹³ 

Bilangan 16:19

16:19 When ¹⁴  Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

Bilangan 16:42

16:42 When the community assembled ¹⁵  against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting – and ¹⁶  the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

Bilangan 26:9

26:9 Eliab’s descendants were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram who as leaders of the community rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers ¹⁷  of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.

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, ¹⁸  as far as the Arnon.

Bilangan 22:11

22:11 “Look, a nation has come out ¹⁹  of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them ²⁰  and drive them out.” ²¹ 

Bilangan 23:23

23:23 For there is no spell against ²²  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ²³  it must be said ²⁴  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ²⁵  what God has done!’

Bilangan 24:8

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ²⁶ 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

Bilangan 31:3

31:3 So Moses spoke to the people: “Arm ²⁷  men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute ²⁸  the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.

Bilangan 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ²⁹  detest this worthless ³⁰  food.”

Bilangan 13:31

13:31 But the men ³¹  who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Bilangan 15:31

15:31 Because he has despised ³²  the word of the Lord and has broken ³³  his commandment, that person ³⁴  must be completely cut off. ³⁵  His iniquity will be on him.’” ³⁶ 

Bilangan 16:2

16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders ³⁷  of the community, chosen from the assembly, ³⁸  famous men. ³⁹ 

Bilangan 20:3

20:3 The people contended ⁴⁰  with Moses, saying, ⁴¹  “If only ⁴²  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Bilangan 20:13

20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained ⁴³  among them.

Bilangan 20:18

20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, ⁴⁴  or I will come out against ⁴⁵  you with the sword.”

Bilangan 12:8

12:8 With him I will speak face to face, ⁴⁶  openly, ⁴⁷  and not in riddles; and he will see the form ⁴⁸  of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Bilangan 14:11

The Punishment from God

14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ⁴⁹  me, and how long will they not believe ⁵⁰  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Bilangan 14:18

14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, ⁵¹  forgiving iniquity and transgression, ⁵²  but by no means clearing ⁵³  the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ ⁵⁴ 

Bilangan 14:23

14:23 they will by no means ⁵⁵  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

Bilangan 17:5

17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

Bilangan 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ⁵⁶  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ⁵⁷  rebelled against my word ⁵⁸  at the waters of Meribah.

Bilangan 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ⁵⁹  gathered all his forces ⁶⁰  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ⁶¹  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Bilangan 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ⁶²  Their protection ⁶³  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

Bilangan 16:30

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ⁶⁴  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ⁶⁵  along with all that they have, and they ⁶⁶  go down alive to the grave, ⁶⁷  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

Bilangan 21:1

Victory at Hormah

21:1 ⁶⁸ When the Canaanite king of Arad ⁶⁹  who lived in the Negev ⁷⁰  heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

Bilangan 25:18

25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived ⁷¹  you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, ⁷²  their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

Bilangan 26:5

Reuben

26:5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The Reubenites: from ⁷³  Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; from Pallu, the family of the Palluites;

Bilangan 27:3

27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, although ⁷⁴  he was not part of ⁷⁵  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ⁷⁶  and he had no sons.

Bilangan 27:14

27:14 For ⁷⁷  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ⁷⁸  rebelled against my command ⁷⁹  to show me as holy ⁸⁰  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

[31:7]  ¹ sn Many modern biblical scholars assume that this passage is fictitious. The text says that they killed every male, but Judges accounts for the Midianites. The texts can be harmonized rather simply – they killed every Midianite who was in the battle. Midianite tribes and cities dotted the whole region, but that does not mean Israel went and killed every single one of them. There apparently was a core of Midianites whom Balaam had influenced to pervert Israel.

[14:34]  ² tn Heb “you shall bear.”

[14:34]  ³ tn The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (tÿnu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 HT (30:5 ET) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137-58.

[10:9]  ⁴ tn Both the “adversary” and “opposes” come from the same root: צָרַר (tsarar), “to hem in, oppress, harass,” or basically, “be an adversary.”

[10:9]  ⁵ tn The Niphal perfect in this passage has the passive nuance and not a reflexive idea – the Israelites would be spared because God remembered them.

[22:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “your way.”

[22:32]  ⁷ tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.

[22:22]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[16:3]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[25:17]  ¹¹ tn The form is the infinitive absolute used in place of a verb here; it clearly is meant to be an instruction for Israel. The idea is that of causing trouble, harassing, vexing Midian. The verb is repeated as the active participle in the line, and so the punishment is talionic.

[21:7]  ¹² tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[16:11]  ¹³ sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the Lord that they had been murmuring because the Lord had put Aaron in that position.

[16:19]  ¹⁴ tn This clause is clearly foundational for the clause that follows, the appearance of the Lord; therefore it should be subordinated to the next as a temporal clause (one preterite followed by another preterite may be so subordinated).

[16:42]  ¹⁵ tn The temporal clause is constructed with the temporal indicator (“and it was”) followed by the Niphal infinitive construct and preposition.

[16:42]  ¹⁶ tn The verse uses וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). This is the deictic particle – it is used to point things out, suddenly calling attention to them, as if the reader were there. The people turned to look toward the tent – and there is the cloud!

[26:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “company” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); Heb “congregation.”

[21:26]  ¹⁸ 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.

[22:11]  ¹⁹ tn In this passage the text differs slightly; here it is “the nation that comes out,” using the article on the noun, and the active participle in the attributive adjective usage.

[22:11]  ²⁰ tn Here the infinitive construct is used to express the object or complement of the verb “to be able” (it answers the question of what he will be able to do).

[22:11]  ²¹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. It either carries the force of an imperfect tense, or it may be subordinated to the preceding verbs.

[23:23]  ²² tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

[23:23]  ²³ tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

[23:23]  ²⁴ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

[23:23]  ²⁵ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[24:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[31:3]  ²⁷ tn The Niphal imperative, literally “arm yourselves,” is the call to mobilize the nation for war. It is followed by the jussive, “and they will be,” which would then be subordinated to say “that they may be.” The versions changed the verb to a Hiphil, but that is unnecessary: “arm some of yourselves.”

[31:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “give.”

[21:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ³⁰ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[13:31]  ³¹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.

[15:31]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ³⁴ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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.

[16:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:2]  ³⁸ tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.

[16:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”

[20:3]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

[20:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

[20:3]  ⁴² tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

[20:13]  ⁴³ tn The form is unusual – it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.

[20:18]  ⁴⁴ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

[20:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “to meet.”

[12:8]  ⁴⁶ tn The emphasis of the line is clear enough – it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the Lord. And yet God is here stating that Moses has an immediacy and directness with communication with God. It goes beyond the idea of friendship, almost to that of a king’s confidant.

[12:8]  ⁴⁷ tn The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.

[12:8]  ⁴⁸ tn The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, tÿmunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the Lord.” This line expresses even more the uniqueness of Moses. The elders saw God on one special occasion (Exod 24:10), and the people never (Deut 4:12, 15), but Moses has direct and familiar contact with God.

[14:11]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.

[14:11]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.

[14:18]  ⁵¹ tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

[14:18]  ⁵² tn Or “rebellion.”

[14:18]  ⁵³ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

[14:18]  ⁵⁴ sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

[14:23]  ⁵⁵ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

[20:24]  ⁵⁶ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:23]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ⁶¹ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[14:9]  ⁶² sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

[14:9]  ⁶³ tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.

[16:30]  ⁶⁴ tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.

[16:30]  ⁶⁵ tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

[16:30]  ⁶⁶ tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.

[16:30]  ⁶⁷ tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

[21:1]  ⁶⁸ sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.

[21:1]  ⁶⁹ sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).

[21:1]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.

[25:18]  ⁷¹ tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”

[25:18]  ⁷² sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.

[26:5]  ⁷³ tc The Hebrew text has no preposition here, but one has been supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. vv. 23, 30, 31, 32.

[27:3]  ⁷⁴ tn This clause begins with a vav (ו) on a pronoun, marking it out as a disjunctive vav. In this context it fits best to take it as a circumstantial clause introducing concession.

[27:3]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

[27:3]  ⁷⁶ tn The word order is emphatic: “but in/on account of his own sins he died.”

[27:14]  ⁷⁷ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ⁷⁸ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  ⁸⁰ 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.