Numbers 8:12

8:12 When the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times!


tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.

sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”