Discovery BoxNumbers 3:10 
Context3:10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; 1 but the unauthorized person 2 who comes near must be put to death.”
Numbers 4:7
Context4:7 “On the table of the presence 3 they must spread a blue 4 cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
Numbers 5:17
Context5:17 The priest will then take holy water 5 in a pottery jar, and take some 6 of the dust 7 that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.
Numbers 6:18
Context6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head 8 at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire 9 where the peace offering is burning. 10
Numbers 11:29
Context11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? 11 I wish that 12 all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Numbers 15:38
Context15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make 13 tassels 14 for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread 15 on the tassel of the corners.
Numbers 16:7
Context16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
Numbers 16:17
Context16:17 And each of you 16 take his censer, put 17 incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron – each of you with his censer.”
Numbers 20:28
Context20:28 And Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
Numbers 21:9
Context21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 18
Numbers 22:11
Context22:11 “Look, a nation has come out 19 of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them 20 and drive them out.” 21
Numbers 35:17-18
Context35:17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:21
Context35:21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.
1 tc The LXX includes the following words here: “and all things pertaining to the altar and within the veil.” Cf. Num 18:7.
2 tn The word is זָר (zar), usually rendered “stranger, foreigner, pagan.” But in this context it simply refers to anyone who is not a Levite or a priest, an unauthorized person or intruder in the tabernacle. That person would be put to death.
3 sn The Hebrew actually has the “table of faces,” and this has been traditionally rendered “table of shewbread.”
4 tn The Greek has “violet” instead of blue. This is also the case in vv. 8, 10, and 14.
5 tn This is probably water taken from the large bronze basin in the courtyard. It is water set apart for sacred service. “Clean water” (so NEB) does not capture the sense very well, but it does have the support of the Greek that has “pure running water.” That pure water would no doubt be from the bronze basin anyway.
6 tn Heb “from.” The preposition is used here with a partitive sense.
7 sn The dust may have come from the sanctuary floor, but it is still dust, and therefore would have all the pollutants in it.
8 tn Some versions simply interpret this to say that he shaves his hair, for it is the hair that is the sign of the consecration to God. But the text says he shaves his consecrated head. The whole person is obviously consecrated to God – not just the head. But the symbolic act of cutting the hair shows that the vow has been completed (see Acts 21:23-24). The understanding of the importance of the hair in the ancient world has been the subject of considerable study over the years (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 436; and J. A. Thompson, “Numbers,” New Bible Commentary: Revised, 177).
9 sn Some commentators see this burning of the hair as an offering (McNeile, Numbers, 35; G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 68). But others probably with more foundation see it as destroying something that has served a purpose, something that if left alone might be venerated (see R. de Vaux, Israel, 436).
10 tn Heb “which is under the peace offering.” The verse does not mean that the hair had to be put under that sacrifice and directly on the fire.
11 tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?
12 tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.
13 tn The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”
14 sn This is a reference to the צִיצִת (tsitsit), the fringes on the borders of the robes. They were meant to hang from the corners of the upper garment (Deut 22:12), which was worn on top of the clothing. The tassel was probably made by twisting the overhanging threads of the garment into a knot that would hang down. This was a reminder of the covenant. The tassels were retained down through history, and today more elaborate prayer shawls with tassels are worn during prayer. For more information, see F. J. Stephens, “The Ancient Significance of Sisith,” JBL 50 (1931): 59-70; and S. Bertman, “Tasselled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean,” BA 24 (1961): 119-28.
15 sn The blue color may represent the heavenly origin of the Law, or perhaps, since it is a royal color, the majesty of the
16 tn Heb “and take, a man, his censer.”
17 tn This verb and the following one are both perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives. Following the imperative they carry the same force, but in sequence.
18 sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.
19 tn In this passage the text differs slightly; here it is “the nation that comes out,” using the article on the noun, and the active participle in the attributive adjective usage.
20 tn Here the infinitive construct is used to express the object or complement of the verb “to be able” (it answers the question of what he will be able to do).
21 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. It either carries the force of an imperfect tense, or it may be subordinated to the preceding verbs.
