Numbers 9:17

9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up ¹  from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place ²  the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.

Numbers 22:8

22:8 He replied to them, “Stay ³  here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the Lord may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

Numbers 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ⁴  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ⁵  I will tell you.” ⁶  Then he went to a deserted height. ⁷ 

Numbers 24:13

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ⁸  the commandment ⁹  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ¹⁰  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Numbers 30:2

30:2 If a man ¹¹  makes a vow ¹²  to the Lord or takes an oath ¹³  of binding obligation on himself, ¹⁴  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ¹⁵ 

Numbers 30:8

30:8 But if when her husband hears it he overrules her, then he will nullify ¹⁶  the vow she has taken, ¹⁷  and whatever she uttered impulsively which she has pledged for herself. And the Lord will release her from it.

Numbers 30:12

30:12 But if her husband clearly nullifies ¹⁸  them when he hears them, then whatever she says ¹⁹  by way of vows or obligations will not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her from them.

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¹ tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.

² tn Heb “in the place where it settled there”; the relative clause modifies the noun “place,” and the resumptive adverb completes the related idea – “which it settled there” means “where it settled.”

³ tn The verb לִין (lin) means “to lodge, spend the night.” The related noun is “a lodge” – a hotel of sorts. Balaam needed to consider the offer. And after darkness was considered the best time for diviners to consult with their deities. Balaam apparently knows of the Lord; he testifies to this effect in 22:18.

⁴ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

⁵ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

⁷ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.

⁸ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

⁹ tn Heb “mouth.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from my heart.”

¹¹ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

¹² tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

¹³ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

¹⁵ tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”

¹⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb פָּרַר (parar, “to annul”). The verb functions here as the equivalent of an imperfect tense; here it is the apodosis following the conditional clause – if this is the case, then this is what will happen.

¹⁷ tn Heb “which [she is] under it.”

¹⁸ tn The verb is the imperfect tense in the conditional clause. It is intensified with the infinitive absolute, which would have the force of saying that he nullified them unequivocally, or he made them null and void.

¹⁹ tn Heb whatever proceeds from her lips.”