Discovery BoxNumbers 20:14 
Context20:14 1 Moses 2 sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 3 “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 4
Numbers 27:13
Context27:13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered 5 to your ancestors, 6 as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors. 7
1 sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.
2 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
3 sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.
4 tn Heb “found.”
5 tn The first verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, and the second verb is also. In such parallel clauses, the first may be subordinated, here as a temporal clause.
6 tn Heb “people.”
7 tn Heb “was gathered.” The phrase “to his ancestors” is elided in the Hebrew text, but is an implied repetition from the beginning of the verse, and has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
