Numbers 1:19

1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

Numbers 3:16

3:16 So Moses numbered them according to the word ¹  of the Lord, just as he had been commanded. ² 

Numbers 20:3

20:3 The people contended ³  with Moses, saying, ⁴  “If only ⁵  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Numbers 23:30

23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 31:17-18

31:17 Now therefore kill every boy, ⁶  and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. ⁷  31:18 But all the young women ⁸  who have not had sexual intercourse with a man ⁹  will be yours. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 31:32

31:32 The spoil that remained of the plunder which the fighting men ¹¹  had gathered ¹²  was 675,000 sheep,

Numbers 35:26

35:26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled,

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¹ tn Heb “at the mouth of the Lord.”

² tn The Pual perfect may be given the past perfect translation in this sentence because the act of commanding preceded the act of numbering.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “every male among the little ones.”

sn The command in holy war to kill women and children seems in modern times a terrible thing to do (and it was), and something they ought not to have done. But this criticism fails to understand the situation in the ancient world. The entire life of the ancient world was tribal warfare. God’s judgment is poured out on whole groups of people who act with moral abandonment and in sinful pursuits. See E. J. Young, My Servants, the Prophets, 24; and J. W. Wenham, The Enigma of Evil.

⁷ tn Heb “every woman who has known [a] man by lying with a man.”

⁸ tn Or “girls.” The Hebrew indicates they would be female children, making the selection easy.

⁹ tn Heb “who have not known [a] man by lying with a man.”

¹⁰ sn Many contemporary scholars see this story as fictitious, composed by the Jews during the captivity. According to this interpretation, the spoils of war here indicate the wealth of the Jews in captivity, which was to be given to the Levites and priests for the restoration of the sanctuary in Jerusalem. The conclusion drawn from this interpretation is that returning Jews had the same problem as the earlier ones: to gain a foothold in the land. Against this interpretation of the account is a lack of hard evidence, a lack which makes this interpretation appear contrived and subjective. If this was the intent of a later writer, he surely could have stated this more clearly than by making up such a story.

¹¹ tn Heb “people.”

¹² tn Heb “had plundered.”