Discovery BoxNumbers 19:13 
Context19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, 1 because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
Numbers 22:5
Context22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam 2 son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River 3 in the land of Amaw, 4 to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face 5 of the earth, and they are settling next to me.
Numbers 32:33
Context32:33 So Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the realm of King Sihon of the Amorites, and the realm of King Og of Bashan, the entire land with its cities and the territory surrounding them. 6
1 sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.
2 sn There is much literature on pagan diviners and especially prophecy in places in the east like Mari (see, for example, H. B. Huffmon, “Prophecy in the Mari Letters,” BA 31 [1968]: 101-24). Balaam appears to be a pagan diviner who was of some reputation; he was called to curse the Israelites, but God intervened and gave him blessings only. The passage forms a nice complement to texts that deal with blessings and curses. It shows that no one can curse someone whom God has blessed.
3 tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
4 tn Heb “in the land of Amaw” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV); traditionally “in the land of the sons of his people.” The LXX has “by the river of the land.”
5 tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.
6 tn Heb “the land with its cities in the borders of the cities of the land all around.”
