Numbers 5:6

5:6 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When ¹  a man or a woman commits any sin that people commit, ²  thereby breaking faith ³  with the Lord, and that person is found guilty, ⁴ 

Numbers 15:35

15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone ⁵  him with stones outside the camp.”

Numbers 17:5

17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

Numbers 17:9

17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, ⁶  and each man took his staff.

Numbers 24:3

24:3 Then he uttered this oracle: ⁷ 

“The oracle ⁸  of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; ⁹ 

Numbers 24:15

Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time

24:15 Then he uttered this oracle: ¹⁰ 

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;

Numbers 27:8

27:8 And you must tell the Israelites, ‘If a man dies ¹¹  and has no son, then you must transfer his inheritance to his daughter;

Numbers 27:18

27:18 The Lord replied ¹²  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ¹³  and lay your hand on him; ¹⁴ 

Numbers 32:27

32:27 but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, to do battle in the Lord’s presence, just as my lord says.”

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¹ sn This type of law is known as casuistic. The law is introduced with “when/if” and then the procedure to be adopted follows it. The type of law was common in the Law Code of Hammurabi.

² tn The verse simply says “any sin of a man,” but the genitive could mean that it is any sin that a man would commit (subjective genitive), or one committed against a man (objective genitive). Because of the similarity with Lev 5:22, the subjective is better. The sin is essentially “missing the mark” which is the standard of the Law of the Lord. The sin is not in this case accidental or inadvertent. It means here simply failing to live up to the standard of the Lord. Since both men and women are mentioned in the preceding clause, the translation uses “people” here.

³ tn The verb is מַעַל (ma’al), which means to “defraud, violate, trespass against,” or “to deal treacherously, do an act of treachery.” In doing any sin that people do, the guilty have been unfaithful to the Lord, and therefore must bring him a sacrifice.

⁴ tn The word used here for this violation is אָשָׁם (’asham). It can be translated “guilt, to be guilty”; it can also be used for the reparation offering. The basic assumption here is that the individual is in a state of sin – is guilty. In that state he or she feels remorse for the sin and seeks forgiveness through repentance. See further P. P. Saydon, “Sin Offering and Trespass Offering,” CBQ 8 (1946): 393-98; H. C. Thompson, “The Significance of the Term ’Asham in the Old Testament,” TGUOS 14 (1953): 20-26.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”

⁸ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is usually followed by a subjective genitive, indicating the doer of the action. The word could be rendered “says,” but this translations is more specific.

⁹ tn The Greek version reads “the one who sees truly.” The word has been interpreted in both ways, “shut” or “open.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”

¹¹ tn Heb “a man, if he dies.”

¹² tn Or “said.”

¹³ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

¹⁴ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.