20:14 17 Moses 18 sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 19 “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 20
27:12 23 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, 24 and see 25 the land I have given 26 to the Israelites. 27:13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered 27 to your ancestors, 28 as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors. 29
29:7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; 30 you must not do any work on it.
32:23 “But if you do not do this, then look, you will have sinned 34 against the Lord. And know that your sin will find you out.
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
2 tn Literally “in the place of.”
3 tc The Greek text adds the
4 tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.
5 tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.
6 tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.
7 sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.
8 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
9 tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the
10 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).
11 tn Or “plunder.”
12 tn Heb “know.”
13 sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the
14 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
15 tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.
16 tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”
17 sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.
18 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
19 sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.
20 tn Heb “found.”
21 tn The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).
22 tc Many commentators consider אוּלַי (’ulay, “perhaps”) to be a misspelling in the MT in place of לוּלֵי (luley, “if not”).
23 sn See further J. Lindblom, “Lot Casting in the Old Testament,” VT 12 (1962): 164-78; E. Lipinski, “Urim and Thummim,” VT 20 (1970): 495-96; and S. E. Loewenstamm, “The Death of Moses,” Tarbiz 27 (1957/58): 142-57.
24 tc The Greek version adds “which is Mount Nebo.” This is a typical scribal change to harmonize two passages.
sn The area is in the mountains of Moab; Deut 34:1 more precisely identifies it as Mount Nebo.
25 tn The imperative could be subordinated to the first to provide a purpose clause, although a second instruction fits well enough.
26 tn This perfect tense would best be classified as a perfect of resolve: “which I have decided to give.” God had not yet given the land to them, but it was certain he would.
27 tn The first verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, and the second verb is also. In such parallel clauses, the first may be subordinated, here as a temporal clause.
28 tn Heb “people.”
29 tn Heb “was gathered.” The phrase “to his ancestors” is elided in the Hebrew text, but is an implied repetition from the beginning of the verse, and has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn Heb “afflict yourselves”; NAB “mortify yourselves”; NIV, NRSV “deny yourselves.”
sn The verb seems to mean “humble yourself.” There is no explanation given for it. In the days of the prophets fasting seems to be associated with it (see Isa 58:3-5), and possibly the symbolic wearing of ashes.
31 tn Heb “to Moses”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
32 tn Heb “lifted up the head.”
33 tn Heb “in our hand.”
34 tn The nuance of the perfect tense here has to be the future perfect.
35 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also a little later in this verse.
36 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.