Keluaran 16:28

16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ¹  to obey my commandments and my instructions?

Bilangan 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ²  will seek counsel ³  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ⁴  At his command ⁵  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

[16:28]  ¹ tn The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.

[27:21]  ² tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ³ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ⁴ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.