3:40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take 1 the number of their names.
11:4 7 Now the mixed multitude 8 who were among them craved more desirable foods, 9 and so the Israelites wept again 10 and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 11
11:21 Moses said, “The people around me 12 are 600,000 on foot; 13 but you say, ‘I will give them meat, 14 that they may eat 15 for a whole month.’
12:11 So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, 22 please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned!
14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear 25 it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –
16:16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company present yourselves before the Lord – you and they, and Aaron – tomorrow.
20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, 32 or I will come out against 33 you with the sword.”
21:2 So Israel made a vow 34 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 35 this people into our 36 hand, then we will utterly destroy 37 their cities.”
21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks 38 at it, he will live.”
“Waheb in Suphah 39 and the wadis,
the Arnon
22:28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 22:29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish 43 there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.”
23:4 Then God met Balaam, who 45 said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message 46 in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 47
23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary 48 you have only blessed them!” 49
23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God 51 to let you curse them for me from there.” 52
27:12 57 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, 58 and see 59 the land I have given 60 to the Israelites.
31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses:
32:16 Then they came very close to him and said, “We will build sheep folds here for our flocks and cities for our families, 64
1 tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “take”) has here the sense of collect, take a census, or register the names.
2 tn The distributive sense is achieved by repetition: “one leader for the day, one leader for the day.”
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hobab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The form with אַל־נָא (’al-na’) is a jussive; negated it stresses a more immediate request, as if Hobab is starting to leave, or at least determined to leave.
6 tn In the Hebrew text the expression is more graphic: “you will be for us for eyes.” Hobab was familiar with the entire Sinai region, and he could certainly direct the people where they were to go. The text does not record Hobab’s response. But the fact that Kenites were in Canaan as allies of Judah (Judg 1:16) would indicate that he gave in and came with Moses. The first refusal may simply be the polite Semitic practice of declining first so that the appeal might be made more urgently.
7 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
8 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.”
9 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).
10 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.
11 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.
12 tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.
13 tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”
14 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
15 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.
16 sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the
17 tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”
18 tn Now the text changes to use a plural form of the verb. The indication is that Miriam criticized the marriage, and then the two of them raised questions about his sole leadership of the nation.
19 tn The use of both רַק and אַךְ (raq and ’akh) underscore the point that the issue is Moses’ uniqueness.
20 tn There is irony in the construction in the text. The expression “speak through us” also uses דִּבֵּר + בְּ(dibber + bÿ). They ask if God has not also spoken through them, after they have spoken against Moses. Shortly God will speak against them – their words are prophetic, but not as they imagined.
sn The questions are rhetorical. They are affirming that God does not only speak through Moses, but also speaks through them. They see themselves as equal with Moses. The question that was asked of the earlier presumptuous Moses – “Who made you a ruler over us?” – could also be asked of them. God had not placed them as equals with Moses. The passage is relevant for today when so many clamor for equal authority and leadership with those whom God has legitimately called.
21 sn The statement is striking. Obviously the
22 tn The expression בִּי אֲדֹנִי (bi ’adoni, “O my lord”) shows a good deal of respect for Moses by Aaron. The expression is often used in addressing God.
23 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
24 tn The repetition of the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od) is used to express this: “very, very [good].”
25 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.”
26 tn Or “plunder.”
27 tn Heb “know.”
28 tn The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם (ragom) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.
29 tn Heb “all Israel.”
30 tn Heb “voice.”
31 tn Heb “lest.”
32 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.
33 tn Heb “to meet.”
34 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
35 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”
36 tn Heb “my.”
37 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.
38 tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”
39 tc The ancient versions show a wide variation here: Smr has “Waheb on the Sea of Reeds,” the Greek version has “he has set Zoob on fire and the torrents of Arnon.” Several modern versions treat the first line literally, taking the two main words as place names: Waheb and Suphah. This seems most likely, but then there would then be no subject or verb. One would need something like “the Israelites marched through.” The KJV, following the Vulgate, made the first word a verb and read the second as “Red Sea” – “what he did in the Red Sea.” But subject of the passage is the terrain. D. L. Christensen proposed emending the first part from אֶת וָהֵב (’et vahev) to אַתָּה יְהוָה (’attah yehvah, “the
40 tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.
41 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).
42 tn The infinitive construct is the object of the preposition.
43 tn The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).
44 tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.
45 tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.
46 tn Heb “word.”
47 tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”
48 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
49 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.
50 tn Heb “word.”
51 tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”
52 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.
53 tn Heb “flee to your place.”
54 tn Heb “slay – a man his men.” The imperative is plural, and so “man” is to be taken collectively as “each of you men.”
55 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in v. 62).
56 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
57 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.
58 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.
59 tn The imperative could be subordinated to the first to provide a purpose clause, although a second instruction fits well enough.
60 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.
61 tn Heb “to Moses”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
62 tn Heb “lifted up the head.”
63 tn Heb “in our hand.”
64 tn Heb “our little ones.”