6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly 1 beside him and he defiles 2 his consecrated head, 3 then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.
16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect 5 for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”
24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. 6 Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless 7 them these three times!
1 tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.
2 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.
3 sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.
4 tn The verb is a prefixed conjugation, normally an imperfect tense. But coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem) it is treated as a preterite.
5 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.
6 sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).
7 tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”