Numbers 5:20

5:20 But if you ¹  have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you….” ² 

Numbers 16:13

16:13 Is it a small thing ³  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ⁴  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ⁵  over us?

Numbers 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ⁶  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ⁷  I will tell you.” ⁸  Then he went to a deserted height. ⁹ 

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¹ tn The pronoun is emphatic – “but you, if you have gone astray.”

² tn This is an example of the rhetorical device known as aposiopesis, or “sudden silence.” The sentence is broken off due to the intensity or emphasis of the moment. The reader is left to conclude what the sentence would have said.

³ tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.

⁴ tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.

⁵ tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).

⁶ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

⁷ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

⁸ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

⁹ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.