Numbers 3:12

3:12 “Look, 1  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of 2  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

Numbers 10:11

The Journey From Sinai to Kadesh

10:11 3 On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony. 4 

Numbers 31:49

31:49 and said to him, 5  “Your servants have taken a count 6  of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, 7  and not one is missing.

1 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.

2 tn Literally “in the place of.”

3 sn This section is somewhat mechanical: It begins with an introduction (vv. 11, 12), and then begins with Judah (vv. 13-17), followed by the rest of the tribes (vv. 18-27), and finally closes with a summary (v. 28). The last few verses (vv. 29-36) treat the departure of Hobab.

4 tc Smr inserts a lengthy portion from Deut 1:6-8, expressing the command for Israel to take the land from the Amorites.

tn The expression is difficult; it is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan ha’edut). The reference is to the sacred shrine that covered the ark with the commandments inside. NEB renders the expression as “tabernacle of the Token”; NAB has “the dwelling of the commandments.”

5 tn Heb “to Moses”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

6 tn Heb “lifted up the head.”

7 tn Heb “in our hand.”