Discovery BoxNumbers 1:19 
Context1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
Numbers 3:3
Context3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed 1 priests, whom he consecrated 2 to minister as priests. 3
Numbers 3:16
Context3:16 So Moses numbered them according to the word 4 of the Lord, just as he had been commanded. 5
Numbers 3:50
Context3:50 From the firstborn males of the Israelites he collected the money, 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
Numbers 10:36
Context10:36 And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!” 6
Numbers 11:3
Context11:3 So he called the name of that place Taberah 7 because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.
Numbers 15:27
Context15:27 “‘If any person 8 sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering.
Numbers 20:20
Context20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them 9 with a large and powerful force. 10
Numbers 27:10
Context27:10 and if he has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his father’s brothers;
Numbers 27:23
Context27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, 11 by the authority 12 of Moses.
Numbers 33:50
Context33:50 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said:
Numbers 35:1
Context35:1 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. 14 He said:
Numbers 35:26
Context35:26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled,
1 tn The verb מָשַׁח (mashakh) means “to anoint”; here the form modifies the “priests.” The service of consecration was carried out with anointing oil (Exod 30:30). The verb is used for the anointing of kings as well as priests in the OT, and so out of that derived the technical title “Messiah” for the coming ideal king – the “Anointed One.”
2 tn In this verse the expression is in a relative clause: “who he filled their hand” means “whose hands he filled,” or “whom he consecrated.” The idiomatic expression used here is from Lev 8; it literally is “he filled their hand” (מִלֵּא יָדָם, mille’ yadam). In the ordination service Moses placed some of the meat from the sacrifice in the hand of the ordinand, and this signified what he was going to be about – having his hand full, or being consecrated to the priesthood. There is some evidence that this practice or expression was also known in Mesopotamia. In modern ordination services a NT or a Bible may be placed in the ordinand’s hand – it is what the ministry will be about.
3 tn The form is an infinitival construction for the word for the priest, showing the purpose for the filling of the hands.
4 tn Heb “at the mouth of the
5 tn The Pual perfect may be given the past perfect translation in this sentence because the act of commanding preceded the act of numbering.
6 sn These two formulaic prayers were offered by Moses at the beginning and at the end of the journeys. They prayed for the
7 tn The name תַּבְעֵרָה (tav’erah) is given to the spot as a commemorative of the wilderness experience. It is explained by the formula using the same verbal root, “to burn.” Such naming narratives are found dozens of times in the OT, and most frequently in the Pentateuch. The explanation is seldom an exact etymology, and so in the literature is called a popular etymology. It is best to explain the connection as a figure of speech, a paronomasia, which is a phonetic wordplay that may or may not be etymologically connected. Usually the name is connected to the explanation by a play on the verbal root – here the preterite explaining the noun. The significance of commemorating the place by such a device is to “burn” it into the memory of Israel. The narrative itself would be remembered more easily by the name and its motif. The namings in the wilderness wanderings remind the faithful of unbelief, and warn us all not to murmur as they murmured. See further A. P. Ross, “Paronomasia and Popular Etymologies in the Naming Narrative of the Old Testament,” Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1982.
8 tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.
9 tn Heb “to meet him.”
10 tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.
11 tn Heb “spoke.”
12 tn Heb “hand.”
13 sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).
14 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
