Numbers 3:12
Context3:12 “Look, 1 I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of 2 every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,
Numbers 12:12
Context12:12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its 3 mother’s womb!”
1 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
2 tn Literally “in the place of.”
3 tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.