11:4 5 Now the mixed multitude 6 who were among them craved more desirable foods, 7 and so the Israelites wept again 8 and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 9
11:21 Moses said, “The people around me 10 are 600,000 on foot; 11 but you say, ‘I will give them meat, 12 that they may eat 13 for a whole month.’
12:4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went.
14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. 17 But 18 the glory 19 of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent 20 of meeting.
14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear 21 it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –
21:16 And from there they traveled 42 to Beer; 43 that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”
23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary 46 you have only blessed them!” 47
23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God 48 to let you curse them for me from there.” 49
32:28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes.
1 tn Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah].
2 tn The imperfect tense functions here as a final imperfect, expressing the purpose of putting such folks outside the camp. The two preceding imperfects (repeated for emphasis) are taken here as instruction or legislation.
3 tn The perfect tense is here given a past perfect nuance to stress that the word of the
4 tc The Greek text adds the
5 sn The story of the sending of the quail is a good example of poetic justice, or talionic justice. God had provided for the people, but even in that provision they were not satisfied, for they remembered other foods they had in Egypt. No doubt there was not the variety of foods in the Sinai that might have been available in Egypt, but their life had been bitter bondage there as well. They had cried to the
6 tn The mixed multitude (or “rabble,” so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NLT “foreign rabble”) is the translation of an unusual word, הֲָאסַפְסֻף (ha’safsuf). It occurs in the Hebrew Bible only here. It may mean “a gathering of people” from the verb אָסַף (’asaf), yielding the idea of a mixed multitude (in line with Exod 12:38). But the root is different, and so no clear connection can be established. Many commentators therefore think the word is stronger, showing contempt through a word that would be equivalent to “riff-raff.”
7 tn The Hebrew simply uses the cognate accusative, saying “they craved a craving” (הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה, hit’avvu ta’vah), but the context shows that they had this strong craving for food. The verb describes a strong desire, which is not always negative (Ps 132:13-14). But the word is a significant one in the Torah; it was used in the garden story for Eve’s desire for the tree, and it is used in the Decalogue in the warning against coveting (Deut 5:21).
8 tc The Greek and the Latin versions read “and they sat down” for “and they returned,” involving just a change in vocalization (which they did not have). This may reflect the same expression in Judg 20:26. But the change does not improve this verse.
tn The Hebrew text uses a verbal hendiadys here, one word serving as an adverb for the other. It literally reads “and they returned and they wept,” which means they wept again. Here the weeping is put for the complaint, showing how emotionally stirred up the people had become by the craving. The words throughout here are metonymies. The craving is a metonymy of cause, for it would have then led to expressions (otherwise the desires would not have been known). And the weeping is either a metonymy of effect, or of adjunct, for the actual complaints follow.
9 tn The Hebrew expresses the strong wish or longing idiomatically: “Who will give us flesh to eat?” It is a rhetorical expression not intended to be taken literally, but merely to give expression to the longing they had. See GKC 476 §151.a.1.
10 tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.
11 tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”
12 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
13 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.
14 tc The Greek version uses gigantes (“giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”
sn The Nephilim are the legendary giants of antiquity. They are first discussed in Gen 6:4. This forms part of the pessimism of the spies’ report.
15 tn Heb “in our eyes.”
16 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
17 tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.
18 tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.
19 sn The glory of the
20 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”
21 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.”
22 tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The
23 sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the
24 tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the
25 tn Heb “in my ears.”
sn They had expressed the longing to have died in the wilderness, and not in war. God will now give them that. They would not say to God “your will be done,” so he says to them, “your will be done” (to borrow from C. S. Lewis).
26 tn Heb “came down.”
27 tn The verb used here means “crush by beating,” or “pounded” them. The Greek text used “cut them in pieces.”
28 tn The name “Hormah” means “destruction”; it is from the word that means “ban, devote” for either destruction or temple use.
29 tn Heb “the land of your habitations.”
30 tn The Hebrew participle here has the futur instans use of the participle, expressing that something is going to take place. It is not imminent, but it is certain that God would give the land to Israel.
31 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.
32 tn This clause is clearly foundational for the clause that follows, the appearance of the
33 tn Heb “all Israel.”
34 tn Heb “voice.”
35 tn Heb “lest.”
36 tn Heb “they fell on their faces.”
37 tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
38 sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.
39 sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).
40 tn The word “priestly” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
41 tn Heb “will be gathered”; this is a truncated form of the usual expression “gathered to his ancestors,” found in v. 24. The phrase “to his ancestors” is supplied in the translation here.
42 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.
43 sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.
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 The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
47 tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.
48 tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”
49 sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.
50 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in v. 62).
51 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
52 sn This is a significant reduction from the first count of 40,500.
53 tn Heb “heart.” So also in v. 9.
54 tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys with the verb “to add” serving to modify the main verb.
55 tn Heb “and you will destroy all this people.”