19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies 7 in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
23:14 So Balak brought Balaam 11 to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, 12 where 13 he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
28:11 “‘On the first day of each month 14 you must offer as a burnt offering to the Lord two young bulls, one ram, and seven unblemished lambs a year old,
28:19 “‘But you must offer to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs one year old; they must all be unblemished. 15
29:12 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work, and you must keep a festival to the Lord for seven days.
31:19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
1 tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and Smr have the plural.
2 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.
3 sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.
4 sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).
5 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.
6 sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.
7 tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”
8 tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.
9 tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.
10 sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.
11 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
13 tn Heb “and he built.”
14 tn Heb “of your months.”
15 tn Heb “unblemished they will be to you.” So also in v. 31.
16 tn Heb “they shall be to you without blemish.”