Discovery BoxNumbers 3:14 
Context3:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai:
Numbers 5:16
Context5:16 “‘Then the priest will bring her near and have her stand 1 before the Lord.
Numbers 11:30
Context11:30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
Numbers 12:13
Context12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” 2
Numbers 14:1
Context14:1 3 Then all the community raised a loud cry, 4 and the people wept 5 that night.
Numbers 14:20
Context14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked. 6
Numbers 16:35
Context16:35 Then a fire 7 went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.
Numbers 17:7
Context17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. 8
Numbers 21:17
Context21:17 Then Israel sang 9 this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
Numbers 21:21
Context21:21 10 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, 11
Numbers 24:23
Context24:23 Then he uttered this oracle:
“O, who will survive when God does this! 12
Numbers 27:9
Context27:9 and if he has no daughter, then you are to give his inheritance to his brothers;
Numbers 32:31
Context32:31 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has spoken. 13
1 tn The verb is the Hiphil of the word “to stand.” It could be rendered “station her,” but that sounds too unnatural. This is a meeting between an accused person and the Judge of the whole earth.
2 tc Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’”
3 sn This chapter forms part of the story already begun. There are three major sections here: dissatisfaction with the reports (vv. 1-10), the threat of divine punishment (vv. 11-38), and the defeat of the Israelites (vv. 39-45). See K. D. Sakenfeld, “The Problem of Divine Forgiveness in Num 14,” CBQ 37 (1975): 317-30; also J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.
4 tn The two verbs “lifted up their voice and cried” form a hendiadys; the idiom of raising the voice means that they cried aloud.
5 tn There are a number of things that the verb “to weep” or “wail” can connote. It could reflect joy, grief, lamentation, or repentance, but here it reflects fear, hopelessness, or vexation at the thought of coming all this way and being defeated by the Canaanite armies. See Judg 20:23, 26.
6 tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.
7 tn For a discussion of the fire of the
8 tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).
9 tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.
10 sn For this section, see further J. R. Bartlett, “Sihon and Og of the Amorites,” VT 20 (1970): 257-77, and “The Moabites and the Edomites,” Peoples of Old Testament Times, 229-58; S. H. Horn, “The Excavations at Tell Hesban, 1973,” ADAJ 18 (1973): 87-88.
11 tc Smr and the LXX have “words of peace.”
12 tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).
13 tn Heb “that which the Lord has spoken to your servants, thus we will do.”
