Numbers 16:26

16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked ¹  men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because ²  of all their sins.” ³ 

Numbers 20:19

20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ⁴  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁵  to speak ⁶  just anything? I must speak ⁷  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

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¹ tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) has the sense of a guilty criminal. The word “wicked” sometimes gives the wrong connotation. These men were opposing the Lord, and so were condemned as criminals – they were guilty. The idea of “wickedness” therefore applies in that sense.

² tn The preposition bet (בְּ) in this line is causal – “on account of their sins.”

³ sn The impression is that the people did not hear what the Lord said to Moses, but only what Moses said to the people as a result. They saw the brilliant cloud, and perhaps heard the sound of his voice, but the relaying of the instructions indicates they did not hear the actual instruction from the Lord himself.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

⁵ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

⁶ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

⁷ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.