Bilangan 9:10

9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ¹  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ²  observe the Passover to the Lord.

Bilangan 10:29

The Appeal to Hobab

10:29 ³ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ⁴  “We are journeying to the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, ⁵  for the Lord has promised good things ⁶  for Israel.”

Bilangan 11:17

11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ⁷  all by yourself.

Bilangan 11:25

11:25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses ⁸  and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, ⁹  they prophesied, ¹⁰  but did not do so again. ¹¹ 

Bilangan 15:38

15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make ¹²  tassels ¹³  for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread ¹⁴  on the tassel of the corners.

Bilangan 16:5

16:5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person ¹⁵  to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him.

Bilangan 16:26

16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked ¹⁶  men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because ¹⁷  of all their sins.” ¹⁸ 

Bilangan 16:40

16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of ¹⁹  Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority ²⁰  of Moses.

Bilangan 16:47

16:47 So Aaron did ²¹  as Moses commanded ²²  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, ²³  one from every tribal leader, ²⁴  twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.

Bilangan 17:6

17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ²⁵  according to their tribes ²⁶  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

Bilangan 18:8

The Portion of the Priests

18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ²⁷  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

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 ²⁸  from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.

Bilangan 19:2

19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ²⁹  the Israelites to bring ³⁰  you a red ³¹  heifer ³²  without blemish, which has no defect ³³  and has never carried a yoke.

Bilangan 20:8

20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak ³⁴  to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth ³⁵  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 21:7

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 ³⁶  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Bilangan 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Bilangan 36:1

Women and Land Inheritance

36:1 Then the heads of the family groups ³⁷  of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses ³⁸  and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. ³⁹ 

[9:10]  ¹ tn This sense is conveyed by the repetition of “man” – “if a man, a man becomes unclean.”

[9:10]  ² tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive functions as the equivalent of an imperfect tense. In the apodosis of this conditional sentence, the permission nuance fits well.

[10:29]  ³ sn For additional bibliography for this short section, see W. F. Albright, “Jethro, Hobab, and Reuel in Early Hebrew Tradition,” CBQ 25 (1963): 1-11; G. W. Coats, “Moses in Midian,” JBL 92 (1973): 3-10; B. Mazar, “The Sanctuary of Arad and the Family of Hobab the Kenite,” JNES 24 (1965): 297-303; and T. C. Mitchell, “The Meaning of the Noun h£tn in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 93-112.

[10:29]  ⁴ sn There is a problem with the identity of Hobab. The MT says that he is the son of Reuel, making him the brother-in-law of Moses. But Judg 4:11 says he is the father-in-law. In Judg 1:16; 4:11 Hobab is traced to the Kenites, but in Exod 3:1 and 18:1 Jethro (Reuel) is priest of Midian. Jethro is identified with Reuel on the basis of Exod 2:18 and 3:1, and so Hobab becomes Moses’ חֹתֵן (khoten), a relative by marriage and perhaps brother-in-law. There is not enough information to decide on the identity and relationships involved here. Some suggest that there is one person with the three names (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 93); others suggest Hobab is a family name (R. F. Johnson, IDB 2:615), and some suggest that the expression “the son of Reuel the Midianite” had dropped out of the genealogy of Judges, leading to the conflict (J. Crichton, ISBE 2:1055). If Hobab is the same as Jethro, then Exod 18:27 does not make much sense, for Jethro did go home. On this basis many conclude Hobab is a brother-in-law. This would mean that after Jethro returned home, Moses conversed with Hobab, his brother-in-law. For more discussion, see the articles and the commentaries.

[10:29]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil of the root “to be good” (יָטַב, yatav); it may be translated “treat well, deal favorably, generously with.” Here it is a perfect tense with vav (ו) following the imperative, showing a sequence in the verbal ideas.

[10:29]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text simply has “has spoken good” for Israel.

[11:17]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[11:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:25]  ⁹ tn The temporal clause is introduced by the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which need not be translated. It introduces the time of the infinitive as past time narrative. The infinitive construct is from נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). The figurative expression of the Spirit resting upon them indicates the temporary indwelling and empowering by the Spirit in their lives.

[11:25]  ¹⁰ tn The text may mean that these men gave ecstatic utterances, much like Saul did when the Spirit came upon him and he made the same prophetic utterances (see 1 Sam 10:10-13). But there is no strong evidence for this (see K. L. Barker, “Zechariah,” EBC 7:605-6). In fact there is no consensus among scholars as to the origin and meaning of the verb “prophesy” or the noun “prophet.” It has something to do with speech, being God’s spokesman or spokeswoman or making predictions or authoritative utterances or ecstatic utterances. It certainly does mean that the same Holy Spirit, the same divine provision that was for Moses to enable him to do the things that God had commanded him to do, was now given to them. It would have included wisdom and power with what they were saying and doing – in a way that was visible and demonstrable to the people! The people needed to know that the same provision was given to these men, authenticating their leadership among the clans. And so it could not simply be a change in their understanding and wisdom.

[11:25]  ¹¹ tn The final verb of the clause stresses that this was not repeated: “they did not add” is the literal rendering of וְלֹא יָסָפוּ (vÿlo’ yasafu). It was a one-time spiritual experience associated with their installation.

[15:38]  ¹² tn The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”

[15:38]  ¹³ sn This is a reference to the צִיצִת (tsitsit), the fringes on the borders of the robes. They were meant to hang from the corners of the upper garment (Deut 22:12), which was worn on top of the clothing. The tassel was probably made by twisting the overhanging threads of the garment into a knot that would hang down. This was a reminder of the covenant. The tassels were retained down through history, and today more elaborate prayer shawls with tassels are worn during prayer. For more information, see F. J. Stephens, “The Ancient Significance of Sisith,” JBL 50 (1931): 59-70; and S. Bertman, “Tasselled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean,” BA 24 (1961): 119-28.

[15:38]  ¹⁴ sn The blue color may represent the heavenly origin of the Law, or perhaps, since it is a royal color, the majesty of the Lord.

[16:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him.”

[16:26]  ¹⁶ tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) has the sense of a guilty criminal. The word “wicked” sometimes gives the wrong connotation. These men were opposing the Lord, and so were condemned as criminals – they were guilty. The idea of “wickedness” therefore applies in that sense.

[16:26]  ¹⁷ tn The preposition bet (בְּ) in this line is causal – “on account of their sins.”

[16:26]  ¹⁸ sn The impression is that the people did not hear what the Lord said to Moses, but only what Moses said to the people as a result. They saw the brilliant cloud, and perhaps heard the sound of his voice, but the relaying of the instructions indicates they did not hear the actual instruction from the Lord himself.

[16:40]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the seed of.”

[16:40]  ²⁰ tn Heb “hand.”

[16:47]  ²¹ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ²² tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[17:2]  ²³ tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”

[17:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”

[17:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”

[17:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[18:8]  ²⁷ tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).

[18:26]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “speak to.”

[19:2]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “wherein there is no defect.”

[20:8]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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….”

[21:7]  ³⁶ 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.

[36:1]  ³⁷ tn The expression is “the heads of the fathers by the family of the Gileadites.”

[36:1]  ³⁸ tn The Greek and the Syriac add “and before Eleazar the priest.”

[36:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “heads of the fathers.”