Discovery BoxNumbers 1:53 
Context1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger 1 will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care 2 of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
Numbers 3:12
Context3:12 “Look, 3 I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of 4 every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,
Numbers 11:10
Context11:10 5 Moses heard the people weeping 6 throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. 7
Numbers 15:25
Context15:25 And the priest is to make atonement 8 for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven, 9 because it was unintentional and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their unintentional offense.
Numbers 16:32
Context16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods.
Numbers 19:21
Context19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles 10 the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. 11
Numbers 22:25
Context22:25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he beat her again. 12
Numbers 23:10
Context23:10 Who 13 can count 14 the dust 15 of Jacob,
Or number 16 the fourth part of Israel?
Let me 17 die the death of the upright, 18
and let the end of my life 19 be like theirs.” 20
Numbers 23:24
Context23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,
and like a lion raises himself up;
they will not lie down until they eat their 21 prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.” 22
Numbers 30:13
Context30:13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her, 23 her husband can confirm or nullify. 24
1 tc Instead of “wrath” the Greek text has “sin,” focusing the emphasis on the human error and not on the wrath of God. This may have been a conscious change to explain the divine wrath.
tn Heb “so that there be no wrath on.” In context this is clearly the divine anger, so “the
2 tn The main verb of the clause is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, וְשָׁמְרוּ (vÿshamÿru) meaning they “shall guard, protect, watch over, care for.” It may carry the same obligatory nuance as the preceding verbs because of the sequence. The object used with this is the cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret): “The Levites must care for the care of the tabernacle.” The cognate intensifies the construction to stress that they are responsible for this care.
3 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the
4 tn Literally “in the place of.”
5 sn Moses begins to feel the burden of caring for this people, a stubborn and rebellious people. His complaint shows how contagious their complaining has been. It is one thing to cry out to God about the load of ministry, but it is quite another to do it in such a way as to reflect a lack of faith in God’s provision. God has to remind the leader Moses that he, the
6 tn The participle “weeping” is functioning here as the noun in the accusative case, an adverbial accusative of state. It is explicative of the object.
7 tn Heb “it was evil in the eyes of Moses.”
8 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive (וְכִפֶּר, vÿkhipper) to continue the instruction of the passage: “the priest shall make atonement,” meaning the priest is to make atonement for the sin (thus the present translation). This verb means “to expiate,” “to atone for,” “to pacify.” It describes the ritual events by which someone who was separated from the holy
9 tn Or “they will be forgiven.”
10 tn The form has the conjunction with it: וּמַזֵּה (umazzeh). The conjunction subordinates the following as the special law. It could literally be translated “and this shall be…that the one who sprinkles.”
11 sn This gives the indication of the weight of the matter, for “until the evening” is the shortest period of ritual uncleanness in the Law. The problem of contamination had to be taken seriously, but this was a relatively simple matter to deal with – if one were willing to obey the Law.
12 tn Heb “he added to beat her,” another verbal hendiadys.
13 tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.
14 tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.
15 sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.
16 tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.
17 tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.
18 sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.
19 tn Heb “my latter end.”
20 tn Heb “his.”
21 tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.
22 sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.
23 tn The sentence uses the infinitive construct לְעַנֹּת (lÿ’annot, “to afflict”), which is the same word used in the instructions for the day of atonement in which people are to afflict themselves (their souls). The case here may be that the woman would take a religious vow on such an occasion to humble herself, to mortify her flesh, to abstain from certain things, perhaps even sexual relations within marriage.
24 tn Heb “or her husband can nullify.”
