Numbers 9:1

Passover Regulations

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:

Numbers 11:5

11:5 We remember ³  the fish we used to eat ⁴  freely ⁵  in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

Numbers 14:19

14:19 Please forgive ⁶  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ⁷  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

Numbers 15:41

15:41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Numbers 26:4

26:4 “Number the people ⁸  from twenty years old and upward, just as the Lord commanded Moses and the Israelites who went out from the land of Egypt.”

Numbers 33:1

Wanderings from Egypt to Sinai

33:1 ⁹ These are the journeys of the Israelites, who went out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the authority ¹⁰  of Moses and Aaron.

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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 The perfect tense here expresses the experience of a state of mind.

sn As with all who complain in such situations, their memory was selective. It was their bitter cries to the Lord from the suffering in bondage that God heard and answered. And now, shortly after being set free, their memory of Egypt is for things they do not now have. It is also somewhat unlikely that they as slaves had such abundant foods in Egypt.

⁴ tn The imperfect tense would here be the customary imperfect, showing continual or incomplete action in past time.

⁵ tn The adverb “freely” is from the word חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”), from which is derived the noun “grace.” The word underscores the idea of “free, without cost, for no reason, gratis.” Here the simple sense is “freely,” without any cost. But there may be more significance in the choice of the words in this passage, showing the ingratitude of the Israelites to God for His deliverance from bondage. To them now the bondage is preferable to the salvation – this is what angered the Lord.

⁶ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

⁷ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

⁸ tn “Number the people” is added here to the text for a smooth reading.

⁹ sn This material can be arranged into four sections: from Egypt to Sinai (vv. 1-15), the wilderness wanderings (vv. 16-36), from Kadesh to Moab (vv. 37-49), and final orders for Canaan (vv. 50-56).

¹⁰ tn Heb “hand.”