16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect 7 for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”
18:20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property 8 among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a human being, 11 that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? 12
23:21 He 13 has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, 14
nor has he seen trouble 15 in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
his acclamation 16 as king is among them.
23:23 For there is no spell against 17 Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time 18 it must be said 19 of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at 20 what God has done!’
1 tn Heb “and a man lies with her with the emission of semen.” This makes it clear that there was adultery involved, so that the going astray is going astray morally. The indication in the text is that if she had never behaved suspiciously the sin might not have been detected.
2 tc The sign of the accusative אֹתָהּ (’otah) is probably to be repointed to the preposition with the suffix, אִתָּהּ (’ittah).
3 tn Heb “and it is concealed from the eyes of her husband.”
4 tn The noun clause beginning with the simple conjunction is here a circumstantial clause, explaining that there was no witness to the sin.
5 tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.
6 tn Heb “will you bore out the eyes of these men?” The question is “Will you continue to mislead them?” (or “hoodwink” them). In Deut 16:19 it is used for taking a bribe; something like that kind of deception is intended here. They are simply stating that Moses is a deceiver who is misleading the people with false promises.
7 tn The verb means “to turn toward”; it is a figurative expression that means “to pay attention to” or “to have regard for.” So this is a prayer against Dathan and Abiram.
8 tn The phrase “of property” is supplied as a clarification.
9 tn Heb “and why.”
10 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
11 tn Heb “son of man.”
12 tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.
13 tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”
14 sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.
15 tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.
16 tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the
17 tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.
18 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.
19 tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”
20 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.