Numbers 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ¹  detest this worthless ²  food.”

Numbers 21:7

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ³  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ⁴  gathered all his forces ⁵  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ⁶  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Numbers 23:23

23:23 For there is no spell against ⁷  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ⁸  it must be said ⁹  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ¹⁰  what God has done!’

Numbers 26:9

26:9 Eliab’s descendants were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram who as leaders of the community rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers ¹¹  of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.

Numbers 27:14

27:14 For ¹²  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ¹³  rebelled against my command ¹⁴  to show me as holy ¹⁵  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

---

¹ tn Heb “our souls.”

² tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

³ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

⁴ tn Heb “Sihon.”

⁵ tn Heb “people.”

⁶ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

⁷ tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

⁸ tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

⁹ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

¹⁰ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Or “company” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); Heb “congregation.”

¹² tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

¹³ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

¹⁴ tn Heb “mouth.”

¹⁵ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.