3:49 So Moses took the redemption money 3 from those who were in excess of those redeemed by the Levites.
4:34 So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community numbered the Kohathites by their families and by clans,
12:3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, 6 more so than any man on the face of the earth.)
14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground 7 before the whole assembled community 8 of the Israelites.
15:22 11 “‘If you 12 sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –
20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended 17 with Moses, saying, 18 “If only 19 we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!
20:27 So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight 20 of the whole community.
30:1 25 Moses told the leaders 26 of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what 27 the Lord has commanded:
32:6 Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Must your brothers go to war while you 28 remain here?
32:20 Then Moses replied, 29 “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 30 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. 31 He said:
1 tn Heb “at the mouth of the
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 sn The word used is “silver.” Coins were not in existence until after 700
4 tn The verb is simply “stand,” but in the more general sense of waiting to hear the answer.
5 tn The cohortative may be subordinated to the imperative: “stand…[that I] may hear.”
6 tc The spelling of the word is a Kethib-Qere reading with only a slight difference between the two.
tn The word עָנָו (’anav) means “humble.” The word may reflect a trustful attitude (as in Pss 25:9, 37:11), but perhaps here the idea of “more tolerant” or “long-suffering.” The point is that Moses is not self-assertive. God singled out Moses and used him in such a way as to show that he was a unique leader. For a suggestion that the word means “miserable,” see C. Rogers, “Moses: Meek or Miserable?” JETS 29 (1986): 257-63.
sn Humility is a quality missing today in many leaders. Far too many are self-promoting, or competitive, or even pompous. The statement in this passage would have been difficult for Moses to write – and indeed, it is not impossible that an editor might have added it. One might think that for someone to claim to be humble is an arrogant act. But the statement is one of fact – he was not self-assertive (until Num 20 when he strikes the rock).
7 sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign
8 tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”
9 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?”
10 tn Heb “mouth.”
11 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.
12 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.
13 tn Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”
14 tn Heb “Moses sent to summon.” The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition does not mean “call to” but “summon.” This is a command performance; for them to appear would be to submit to Moses’ authority. This they will not do.
15 tn The imperfect tense נַעֲלֶה (na’aleh) expresses their unwillingness to report: “we are not willing,” or “we will not.” The verb means “to go up.” It is used in the sense of appearing before an authority or a superior (see, e.g., Gen 46:31; Deut 25:7; Judg 4:5).
16 tn Heb “rose up.”
17 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.
18 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
19 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 tn Heb “eyes.”
21 tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”
22 tn Heb “daughters.”
23 tn Heb “spoke.”
24 tn Heb “hand.”
25 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.
26 tn Heb “heads.”
27 tn Heb “This is the word which.”
28 tn The vav (ו) is a vav disjunctive prefixed to the pronoun; it fits best here as a circumstantial clause, “while you stay here.”
29 tn Heb “said to them.”
30 sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).
31 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.