Numbers 3:10

3:10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; ¹  but the unauthorized person ²  who comes near must be put to death.”

Numbers 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ³  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ⁴  because you have despised ⁵  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ⁶  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Numbers 19:14

19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies ⁷  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.

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¹ tc The LXX includes the following words here: “and all things pertaining to the altar and within the veil.” Cf. Num 18:7.

² tn The word is זָר (zar), usually rendered “stranger, foreigner, pagan.” But in this context it simply refers to anyone who is not a Levite or a priest, an unauthorized person or intruder in the tabernacle. That person would be put to death.

³ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

⁴ tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

⁵ sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

⁶ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”

⁷ tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”