3:1 1 Now these are the records 2 of Aaron and Moses when 3 the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact 6 a dead body. 7
6:16 “‘Then the priest must present all these 8 before the Lord and offer 9 his purification offering and his burnt offering.
15:22 26 “‘If you 27 sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –
20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained 34 among them.
20:27 So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight 35 of the whole community.
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous 36 snakes 37 among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.
30:1 52 Moses told the leaders 53 of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what 54 the Lord has commanded:
32:20 Then Moses replied, 56 “If you will do this thing, and if you will arm yourselves for battle before the Lord,
32:25 So the Gadites and the Reubenites replied to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.
33:50 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said:
35:1 57 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. 58 He said:
1 sn For significant literature for this chapter, see M. Aberbach and L. Smolar, “Aaron, Jeroboam, and their Golden Calves,” JBL 86 (1967): 129-40; G. Brin, “The First-born in Israel in the Biblical Period” (Ph.D. diss., University of Tel Aviv, 1971); S. H. Hooke, “Theory and Practice of Substitution,” VT 2 (1952): 2-17; and J. Morgenstern, “A Chapter in the History of the High Priesthood,” AJSL 55 (1938): 1-24.
2 tn The construction is וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (vÿ’elleh tolÿdot), which was traditionally translated “now these are the generations,” much as it was translated throughout the book of Genesis. The noun can refer to records, stories, genealogies, names, and accounts of people. Here it is the recorded genealogical list with assigned posts included. Like Genesis, it is a heading of a section, and not a colophon as some have suggested. It is here similar to Exodus: “these are the names of.” R. K. Harrison, Numbers (WEC), 62, insists that it is a colophon and should end chapter 2, but if that is followed in the Pentateuch, it creates difficulty throughout the narratives. See the discussion by A. P. Ross, Creation and Blessing, 69-74.
3 tn The expression in the Hebrew text (“in the day of”) is idiomatic for “when.”
4 tn Heb “at the mouth of the
5 tn The Pual perfect may be given the past perfect translation in this sentence because the act of commanding preceded the act of numbering.
6 tn The Hebrew verb is simply “enter, go,” no doubt with the sense of go near.
7 tn The Hebrew has נֶפֶשׁ מֵת (nefesh met), literally a “dead person.” But since the word נֶפֶשׁ can also be used for animals, the restriction would be for any kind of corpse. Death was very much a part of the fallen world, and so for one so committed to the
8 tn “all these” is supplied as the object.
9 tn Heb “make.”
10 tn The verb is simply “stand,” but in the more general sense of waiting to hear the answer.
11 tn The cohortative may be subordinated to the imperative: “stand…[that I] may hear.”
12 tc The scribes sensed that there was a dislocation with vv. 34-36, and so they used the inverted letters nun (נ) as brackets to indicate this.
13 tn The adverbial clause of time is composed of the infinitive construct with a temporal preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive.
14 sn These two formulaic prayers were offered by Moses at the beginning and at the end of the journeys. They prayed for the
15 tn The name תַּבְעֵרָה (tav’erah) is given to the spot as a commemorative of the wilderness experience. It is explained by the formula using the same verbal root, “to burn.” Such naming narratives are found dozens of times in the OT, and most frequently in the Pentateuch. The explanation is seldom an exact etymology, and so in the literature is called a popular etymology. It is best to explain the connection as a figure of speech, a paronomasia, which is a phonetic wordplay that may or may not be etymologically connected. Usually the name is connected to the explanation by a play on the verbal root – here the preterite explaining the noun. The significance of commemorating the place by such a device is to “burn” it into the memory of Israel. The narrative itself would be remembered more easily by the name and its motif. The namings in the wilderness wanderings remind the faithful of unbelief, and warn us all not to murmur as they murmured. See further A. P. Ross, “Paronomasia and Popular Etymologies in the Naming Narrative of the Old Testament,” Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1982.
16 tn The form is the Piel participle מְשָׁרֵת (mÿsharet), meaning “minister, servant, assistant.” The word has a loftier meaning than the ordinary word for slave.
17 tn The verb is בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”); here the form is the masculine plural participle with a suffix, serving as the object of the preposition מִן (min). It would therefore mean “[one of] his chosen men,” or “[one of] his choice men.”
18 tn Heb “answered and said.”
19 sn The effort of Joshua is to protect Moses’ prerogative as leader by stopping these men in the camp from prophesying. Joshua did not understand the significance in the
20 sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.
21 tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”
22 tn Heb “mouth.”
23 tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”
24 tn The verse has a temporal clause that actually continues or supplements the temporal clause of the preceding verse. It is made up of the temporal indicator, the infinitive construct with the preposition, and the suffixed subjective genitive: “and it shall be when you eat.” Here it is translated simply “and eat” since the temporal element was introduced in the last verse.
25 tn This is the תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), the “raised offering” or “heave offering” (cf. KJV, ASV). It may simply be called a “contribution” (so NAB). The verb of the sentence is from the same root: “you shall lift up/raise up.” It was to be an offering separated from the rest and raised up to the
26 sn These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4-7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.
27 tn The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.
28 tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”
29 sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
30 tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).
31 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.
32 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
33 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.
34 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.
35 tn Heb “eyes.”
36 tn Heb “fiery.”
37 tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.
38 tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).
39 tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the
40 tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the
42 tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.
43 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the
45 tn Heb “answered and said.”
46 tn This first clause, “all that the
47 tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal-peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.
sn The evidence indicates that Moab was part of the very corrupt Canaanite world, a world that was given over to the fertility ritual of the times.
48 tn Heb “flesh”; cf. NAB, NIV “all mankind”; NCV “all people”; NLT “all living things.”
49 tn This is the same verb פָּקַד (paqad) that is used throughout the book for the aspect of “numbering” the people.
50 tn Heb “spoke.”
51 tn Heb “hand.”
52 sn Num 30 deals with vows that are different than the vows discussed in Lev 27 and Num 6. The material is placed here after all the rulings of the offerings, but it could have been revealed to Moses at any time, such as the Nazirite vows, or the question of the daughters’ inheritance. The logic of placing it here may be that a festival was the ideal place for discharging a vow. For additional material on vows, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 465-66.
53 tn Heb “heads.”
54 tn Heb “This is the word which.”
55 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נָכָה (nakhah), a term that can mean “smite, strike, attack, destroy.”
56 tn Heb “said to them.”
57 sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).
58 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.