Numbers 2:17

The Tribe in the Center

2:17 “Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place ¹  under his standard.

Numbers 16:28

16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how ²  you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. ³ 

Numbers 24:13-14

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ⁴  the commandment ⁵  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ⁶  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’? 24:14 And now, I am about to go ⁷  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁸ 

Numbers 27:3

27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, although ⁹  he was not part of ¹⁰  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ¹¹  and he had no sons.

Numbers 35:32

35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ¹² 

---

¹ tn The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (’al-yado, “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man.

² tn Heb “in this.”

³ tn The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak – and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.

⁴ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

⁶ tn Heb “from my heart.”

⁷ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

⁸ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

⁹ tn This clause begins with a vav (ו) on a pronoun, marking it out as a disjunctive vav. In this context it fits best to take it as a circumstantial clause introducing concession.

¹⁰ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

¹¹ tn The word order is emphatic: “but in/on account of his own sins he died.”

¹² tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.