Numbers 15:22

Rules for Unintentional Offenses

15:22 ¹ “‘If you ²  sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –

Numbers 22:10

22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

Numbers 23:12

23:12 Balaam replied, ³  “Must I not be careful ⁴  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ⁵ 

Numbers 27:10

27:10 and if he has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his father’s brothers;

Numbers 30:1

Vows Made by Men

30:1 ⁶ Moses told the leaders ⁷  of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what ⁸  the Lord has commanded:

Numbers 30:9

Vows Made by Widows

30:9 “But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman which she has pledged for herself will remain intact. ⁹ 

Numbers 30:15

30:15 But if he should nullify them after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.” ¹⁰ 

Numbers 31:17

31:17 Now therefore kill every boy, ¹¹  and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. ¹² 

---

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ 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 Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “heads.”

⁸ tn Heb “This is the word which.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew text says her vow “shall stand against her.” In other words, she must fulfill, or bear the consequences of, whatever she vowed.

¹⁰ sn In other words, he will pay the penalty for making her break her vows if he makes her stop what she vowed. It will not be her responsibility.

¹¹ 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.

¹² tn Heb “every woman who has known [a] man by lying with a man.”