Discovery BoxNumbers 7:3 
Context7:3 They brought 1 their offering before the Lord, six covered carts 2 and twelve oxen – one cart for every two of the leaders, and an ox for each one; and they presented them in front of the tabernacle.
Numbers 12:14
Context12:14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit 3 in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”
Numbers 14:3
Context14:3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
Numbers 16:13-14
Context16:13 Is it a small thing 4 that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, 5 to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince 6 over us? 16:14 Moreover, 7 you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind 8 these men? We will not come up.”
Numbers 17:8
Context17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and 9 the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! 10
Numbers 20:5
Context20:5 Why 11 have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to 12 this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
Numbers 20:16
Context20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, 13 and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now 14 we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. 15
Numbers 21:5
Context21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we 16 detest this worthless 17 food.”
Numbers 23:7
Context23:7 Then Balaam 18 uttered 19 his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me 20 from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’ 21
Numbers 23:14
Context23:14 So Balak brought Balaam 22 to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, 23 where 24 he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 24:8
Context24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;
they will devour hostile people 25
and will break their bones
and will pierce them through with arrows.
Numbers 31:12
Context31:12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the plains 26 of Moab, along the Jordan River 27 across from Jericho. 28
Numbers 31:50
Context31:50 So we have brought as an offering for the Lord what each man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves 29 before the Lord.” 30
Numbers 31:54
Context31:54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders 31 of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial 32 for the Israelites before the Lord.
Numbers 32:17
Context32:17 but we will maintain ourselves in armed readiness 33 and go before the Israelites until whenever we have brought them to their place. Our descendants will be living in fortified towns as a protection against 34 the inhabitants of the land.
1 tn Heb “and they brought.”
2 sn For a discussion and drawings, see W. S. McCullough, IDB 1:540. But see also D. J. Wiseman, IBD 1:254.
3 tn The form is intensified by the infinitive absolute, but here the infinitive strengthens not simply the verbal idea but the conditional cause construction as well.
4 tn The question is rhetorical. It was not a small thing to them – it was a big thing.
5 tn The modern scholar who merely sees these words as belonging to an earlier tradition about going up to the land of Canaan that flows with milk and honey misses the irony here. What is happening is that the text is showing how twisted the thinking of the rebels is. They have turned things completely around. Egypt was the land flowing with milk and honey, not Canaan where they will die. The words of rebellion are seldom original, and always twisted.
6 tn The verb הִשְׂתָּרֵר (histarer) is the Hitpael infinitive absolute that emphasizes the preceding תִשְׂתָּרֵר (tistarer), the Hitpael imperfect tense (both forms having metathesis). The verb means “to rule; to act like a prince; to make oneself a prince.” This is the only occurrence of the reflexive for this verb. The exact nuance is difficult to translate into English. But they are accusing Moses of seizing princely power for himself, perhaps making a sarcastic reference to his former status in Egypt. The rebels here are telling Moses that they had discerned his scheme, and so he could not “hoodwink” them (cf. NEB).
7 tn Here אַף (’af) has the sense of “in addition.” It is not a common use.
8 tn Heb “will you bore out the eyes of these men?” The question is “Will you continue to mislead them?” (or “hoodwink” them). In Deut 16:19 it is used for taking a bribe; something like that kind of deception is intended here. They are simply stating that Moses is a deceiver who is misleading the people with false promises.
9 tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.
10 sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).
11 tn Heb “and why.”
12 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
13 tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.
14 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.
15 tn Heb “your border.”
16 tn Heb “our souls.”
17 tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).
18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “took up.”
20 tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.
21 sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.
22 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
24 tn Heb “and he built.”
25 tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.
26 tn Or “steppes.”
27 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Again this expression, “the Jordan of Jericho,” is used. It describes the intended location along the Jordan River, the Jordan next to or across from Jericho.
map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
29 tn Heb “our souls.”
30 sn The expression here may include the idea of finding protection from divine wrath, which is so common to Leviticus, but it may also be a thank offering for the fact that their lives had been spared.
31 tn The Hebrew text does not repeat the word “commanders” here, but it is implied.
32 tn The purpose of the offering was to remind the
33 tn The MT has חֻשִׁים (khushim); the verbal root is חוּשׁ (khush, “to make haste” or “hurry”). But in light of the Greek and Latin Vulgate the Hebrew should probably be emended to חֲמֻשִׁים (hamushim), a qal passive participle meaning “in battle array.” See further BDB 301 s.v. I חוּשׁ, BDB 332 s.v. חֲמֻשִׁים; HALOT 300 s.v. I חושׁ, חישׁ; HALOT 331 s.v. I חמשׁ.
34 tn Heb “from before.”
