Dennis T. Olson

Numbers

James Luther Mays, Editor

Patrick D. Miller, Old Testament Editor

Paul J. Achtemeier, New Testament Editor

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202–1396.

Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. Italic emphasis has been added in some quotations.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Mrs. Howard Nemerov for permission to reproduce a portion from “Runes,” from New and Selected Poems, © 1960 by Howard Nemerov. Published by the University of Chicago Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olson, Dennis T.

Numbers / Dennis T. Olson. — 1st ed.

p.     cm. — (Interpretation, a Bible commentary for

teaching and preaching)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-8042-3104-4 (alk. paper)

1. Bible. O.T. Numbers—Commentaries.  I. Title.

II. Series.

BS1265.3.057   1996

222´.1407—dc20                                                        96-275

© copyright John Knox Press 1996

John Knox Press

Louisville, Kentucky

Series Preface

This series of commentaries offers an interpretation of the books of the Bible. It is designed to meet the need of students, teachers, ministers, and priests for a contemporary expository commentary. These volumes will not replace the historical critical commentary or homiletical aids to preaching. The purpose of this series is rather to provide a third kind of resource, a commentary which presents the integrated result of historical and theological work with the biblical text.

An interpretation in the full sense of the term involves a text, an interpreter, and someone for whom the interpretation is made. Here, the text is what stands written in the Bible in its full identity as literature from the time of “the prophets and apostles,” the literature which is read to inform, inspire, and guide the life of faith. The interpreters are scholars who seek to create an interpretation which is both faithful to the text and useful to the church. The series is written for those who teach, preach, and study the Bible in the community of faith.

The comment generally takes the form of expository essays. It is planned and written in the light of the needs and questions which arise in the use of the Bible as Holy Scripture. The insights and results of contemporary scholarly research are used for the sake of the exposition. The commentators write as exegetes and theologians. The task which they undertake is both to deal with what the texts say and to discern their meaning for faith and life. ...