Numbers 5:12

5:12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,

Numbers 14:15

14:15 If you kill ¹  this entire people at once, ²  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,

Numbers 15:22

Rules for Unintentional Offenses

15:22 ³ “‘If you ⁴  sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –

Numbers 15:27

15:27 “‘If any person ⁵  sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering.

Numbers 20:3

20:3 The people contended ⁶  with Moses, saying, ⁷  “If only ⁸  we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

Numbers 27:10

27:10 and if he has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his father’s brothers;

Numbers 30:10

30:10 If she made the vow in her husband’s house or put herself under obligation with an oath,

Numbers 30:15

30:15 But if he should nullify them after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.” ⁹ 

Numbers 32:30

32:30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must receive possessions among you in Canaan.”

Numbers 35:20

35:20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally ¹⁰  so that he dies,

Numbers 35:26

35:26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled,

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¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

² tn Heb “as one man.”

³ sn These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4-7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.

⁴ tn The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.

⁶ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

⁷ tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

⁸ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

⁹ sn In other words, he will pay the penalty for making her break her vows if he makes her stop what she vowed. It will not be her responsibility.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.”