Discovery BoxNumbers 18:32 
Context18:32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’” 1
Numbers 20:19
Context20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we 2 or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”
1 tn The final clause could also be rendered “in order that you do not die.” The larger section can also be interpreted differently; rather than take it as a warning, it could be taken as an assurance that when they do all of this they will not be profaning it and so will not die (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 253).
2 tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”
