9:1 1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out 2 of the land of Egypt:
10:4 “But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, must come to you. 3
12:4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went.
20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, 7 or I will come out against 8 you with the sword.”
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let the city of Sihon be established! 10
23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God 12 to let you curse them for me from there.” 13
24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, 14
and will afflict Asshur, 15 and will afflict Eber,
and he will also perish forever.” 16
31:14 But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war.
1 sn The chapter has just the two sections, the observance of the Passover (vv. 1-14) and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness (vv. 15-23). It must be remembered that the material in vv. 7-9 is chronologically earlier than vv. 1-6, as the notices in the text will make clear. The two main discussions here are the last major issues to be reiterated before dealing with the commencement of the journey.
2 tn The temporal clause is formed with the infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’, “to go out; to leave”). This verse indicates that a full year had passed since the exodus and the original Passover; now a second ruling on the Passover is included at the beginning of the second year. This would have occurred immediately after the consecration of the tabernacle, in the month before the census at Sinai.
3 tn Heb “they shall assemble themselves.”
4 tn Heb “and it shall be.”
5 sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the
6 tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”
7 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.
8 tn Heb “to meet.”
9 sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.
10 tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”
11 tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive כַּבֵּד (kabbed) to intensify the verb, which is the Piel imperfect/cohortative אֲכַבֶּדְךָ (’akhabbedkha). The great honor could have been wealth, prestige, or position.
12 tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”
13 sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.
14 tc The MT is difficult. The Kittim refers normally to Cyprus, or any maritime people to the west. W. F. Albright proposed emending the line to “islands will gather in the north, ships from the distant sea” (“The Oracles of Balaam,” JBL 63 [1944]: 222-23). Some commentators accept that reading as the original state of the text, since the present MT makes little sense.
15 tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
16 tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”