¹ tn In the Hebrew text the verse has as the subject “they,” but to avoid confusion the antecedent has been clarified in the translation.

² tn Heb “will be free”; the words “of ill effects” have been supplied as a clarification.

³ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity – they had to carry, they used to carry.

⁴ tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”

⁵ tn Heb “they shall assemble themselves.”

⁶ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

⁷ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

⁸ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

¹⁰ tn The word (אֶפֶס, ’efes) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”

¹¹ tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”

¹² tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.

¹³ tn Heb “said to stone them with stones.” The verb and the object are not from the same root, but the combination nonetheless forms an emphasis equal to the cognate accusative.

¹⁴ tn The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.

¹⁵ sn The glory of the Lord refers to the reality of the Lord’s presence in a manifestation of his power and splendor. It showed to all that God was a living God. The appearance of the glory indicated blessing for the obedient, but disaster for the disobedient.

¹⁶ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in the cloud over the tent.”

¹⁷ tn Or “plunder.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “know.”

¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses the preposition “from,” “some of” – “from those men.” The relative pronoun is added to make a smoother reading.

²⁰ tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The wordעֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”

²¹ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

²² tn Heb “soul.”

²³ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

²⁴ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

²⁵ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

²⁶ tn Heb “soul.”

²⁷ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

²⁸ sn The whole congregation here is trying to project its guilt on Moses and Aaron. It was they and their rebellion that brought about the deaths, not Moses and Aaron. The Lord had punished the sinners. The fact that the leaders had organized a rebellion against the Lord was forgotten by these people. The point here is that the Israelites had learned nothing of spiritual value from the event.

²⁹ tn Heb “they fell on their faces.”

³⁰ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

³¹ tn Heb “to meet.”

³² tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.

³³ tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.

³⁴ tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.

³⁵ tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

³⁶ tc Many commentators consider אוּלַי (’ulay, “perhaps”) to be a misspelling in the MT in place of לוּלֵי (luley, “if not”).

³⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.

³⁸ tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.

³⁹ tn Heb “flee to your place.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴¹ tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

⁴² sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

⁴³ tn The nuance of the perfect tense here has to be the future perfect.

⁴⁴ tn the verb is the preterite of “die.” The sentence has :“if…he strikes him and he dies.” The vav (ו) consecutive is showing the natural result of the blow.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “turned aside.”