2:10 “On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. 2 The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur.
2:18 “On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Amihud.
2:25 “On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan, under their standards. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
11:21 Moses said, “The people around me 9 are 600,000 on foot; 10 but you say, ‘I will give them meat, 11 that they may eat 12 for a whole month.’
12:15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. 13
13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up 16 and occupy it, 17 for we are well able to conquer it.” 18 13:31 But the men 19 who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”
14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear 20 it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –
15:30 “‘But the person 22 who acts defiantly, 23 whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults 24 the Lord. 25 That person 26 must be cut off 27 from among his people.
20:1 29 Then the entire community of Israel 30 entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, 31 and the people stayed in Kadesh. 32 Miriam died and was buried there. 33
21:2 So Israel made a vow 34 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 35 this people into our 36 hand, then we will utterly destroy 37 their cities.”
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 38 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 39 became impatient along the way.
21:16 And from there they traveled 40 to Beer; 41 that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”
21:18 The well which the princes 42 dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;
21:29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! 43
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
31:3 So Moses spoke to the people: “Arm 49 men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute 50 the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.
1 tn Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah].
2 tn Here and throughout the line is literally “[under] the standard of the camp of Reuben…according to their divisions.”
3 sn This type of law is known as casuistic. The law is introduced with “when/if” and then the procedure to be adopted follows it. The type of law was common in the Law Code of Hammurabi.
4 tn The verse simply says “any sin of a man,” but the genitive could mean that it is any sin that a man would commit (subjective genitive), or one committed against a man (objective genitive). Because of the similarity with Lev 5:22, the subjective is better. The sin is essentially “missing the mark” which is the standard of the Law of the
5 tn The verb is מַעַל (ma’al), which means to “defraud, violate, trespass against,” or “to deal treacherously, do an act of treachery.” In doing any sin that people do, the guilty have been unfaithful to the
6 tn The word used here for this violation is אָשָׁם (’asham). It can be translated “guilt, to be guilty”; it can also be used for the reparation offering. The basic assumption here is that the individual is in a state of sin – is guilty. In that state he or she feels remorse for the sin and seeks forgiveness through repentance. See further P. P. Saydon, “Sin Offering and Trespass Offering,” CBQ 8 (1946): 393-98; H. C. Thompson, “The Significance of the Term ’Asham in the Old Testament,” TGUOS 14 (1953): 20-26.
7 tn The Hebrew text simply has “from where to me flesh?” which means “from where will I have meat?”
8 tn The cohortative coming after the imperative stresses purpose (it is an indirect volitive).
9 tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.
10 tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”
11 tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the
12 tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.
13 tn The clause has the Niphal infinitive construct after a temporal preposition.
14 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; the word therefore carries the volitional mood of the preceding imperatives. It may be either another imperative, or it may be subordinated as a purpose clause.
15 tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”
16 tn The construction is emphatic, using the cohortative with the infinitive absolute to strengthen it: עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה (’aloh na’aleh, “let us go up”) with the sense of certainty and immediacy.
17 tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive brings the cohortative idea forward: “and let us possess it”; it may also be subordinated to form a purpose or result idea.
18 tn Here again the confidence of Caleb is expressed with the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense: יָכוֹל נוּכַל (yakhol nukhal), “we are fully able” to do this. The verb יָכַל (yakhal) followed by the preposition lamed means “to prevail over, to conquer.”
19 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
20 tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”
21 tn Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.
22 tn Heb “soul.”
23 tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the
24 tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”
25 tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the
26 tn Heb “soul.”
27 tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.
28 sn The whole congregation here is trying to project its guilt on Moses and Aaron. It was they and their rebellion that brought about the deaths, not Moses and Aaron. The
29 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the
30 tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”
31 sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.
32 sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.
33 sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.
34 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
35 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”
36 tn Heb “my.”
37 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.
38 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
39 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
40 tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.
41 sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.
42 sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.
43 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.
44 tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.
45 tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).
46 tn Heb “head.”
47 sn The passage makes it clear that this individual was a leader, one who was supposed to be preventing this thing from happening. The judgment was swift and severe, because the crime was so great, and the danger of it spreading was certain. Paul refers to this horrible incident when he reminds Christians not to do similar things (1 Cor 10:6-8).
48 tn “Number the people” is added here to the text for a smooth reading.
49 tn The Niphal imperative, literally “arm yourselves,” is the call to mobilize the nation for war. It is followed by the jussive, “and they will be,” which would then be subordinated to say “that they may be.” The versions changed the verb to a Hiphil, but that is unnecessary: “arm some of yourselves.”
50 tn Heb “give.”
51 tn The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.