Numbers 14–15

Footnotes

1. 1 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,” 37 (1975): 317–30; also J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” 19 (1969): 1–10.
2. 2 The two verbs “lifted up their voice and cried” form a hendiadys; the idiom of raising the voice means that they cried aloud.
3. 3 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.
4. 4 The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.
5. 5 The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu)—“O that we had died.…” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.
6. 6 Heb “died.”
7. 7 Heb “a man to his brother.”
8. 8 The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.
9. 9 The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” 19 [1969]: 1–10).
10. 10 The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause—in order that we may return.
11. 11 This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign Lord. They are not bowing before the people here, but in front of the people they bow before God. According to Num 17:6–13 this prostration is for the purpose of intercessory prayer. Here it prevents immediate wrath from God.
12. 12 Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”
13. 13 The repetition of the adverb מְאֹד (mé’od) is used to express this: “very, very [good].”
14. 14 The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21, 22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8–9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).
15. 15 The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.
16. 16 Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.
17. 17 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.
18. 18 The vav (ו) on the noun “glory” indicates a strong contrast, one that interrupts their threatened attack.
19. 19 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.
20. 20 The Greek, , and . have “in the cloud over the tent.”
21. 21 The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” ( 610 ). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.
22. 22 The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.
23. 23 The Greek version has “death.”
24. 24 The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when … then they will say.”
25. 25 The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.
26. 26 “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.
27. 27 The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (véhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.
28. 28 Heb “as one man.”
29. 29 The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.
30. 30 The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.
31. 31 Or “rebellion.”
32. 32 The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.
33. 33 The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.
34. 34 The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.
35. 35 The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.
36. 36 Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.
37. 37 This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.
38. 38 The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.
39. 39 “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121–54.
40. 40 Heb “listened to my voice.”
41. 41 The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see …,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.
42. 42 Heb “seed.”
43. 43 The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south—unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.
44. 44 The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long … this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.
45. 45 It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.
46. 46 Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.
47. 47 The word נְאֻם (né’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”
48. 48 Heb “in my ears.” They had expressed the longing to have died in the wilderness, and not in war. God will now give them that. They would not say to God “your will be done,” so he says to them, “your will be done” (to borrow from C. S. Lewis).
49. 49 Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).
50. 50 The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”
51. 51 The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.
52. 52 Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”
53. 53 Or “plunder.”
54. 54 Heb “know.”
55. 55 The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.
56. 56 Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.
57. 57 The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense—whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.
58. 58 Heb “you shall bear.”
59. 59 The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (ténu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 (30:5 ) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137–58.
60. 60 The verb is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a lamed (ל) preposition from the root יָצָא (yatsa’, “to bring out”). The use of the infinitive here is epexegetical, that is, explaining how they caused the people to murmur.
61. 61 The Hebrew text uses the preposition “from,” “some of”—“from those men.” The relative pronoun is added to make a smoother reading.
62. 62 The preterite here is subordinated to the next preterite to form a temporal clause.
63. 63 The word אָבַל (’aval) is rare, used mostly for mourning over deaths, but it is used here of mourning over bad news (see also Exod 33:4; 1 Sam 15:35; 16:1; etc.).
64. 64 The verb וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ (vayyashkimu) is often found in a verbal hendiadys construction: “They rose early … and they went up” means “they went up early.”
65. 65 The Hebrew text says literally “the top of the hill,” but judging from the location and the terrain it probably means the heights of the hill country.
66. 66 The verb is simply “said,” but it means the place that the Lord said to go up to in order to fight.
67. 67 Their sin was unbelief. They could have gone and conquered the area if they had trusted the Lord for their victory. They did not, and so they were condemned to perish in the wilderness. Now, thinking that by going they can undo all that, they plan to go. But this is also disobedience, for the Lord said they would not now take the land, and yet they think they can. Here is their second sin, presumption.
68. 68 The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing.…” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”
69. 69 Heb “mouth.”
70. 70 This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”
71. 71 N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [], 248). The word עֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”
72. 72 The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”
73. 73 Heb “came down.”
74. 74 The verb used here means “crush by beating,” or “pounded” them. The Greek text used “cut them in pieces.”
75. 75 The name “Hormah” means “destruction”; it is from the word that means “ban, devote” for either destruction or temple use.
76. 1 The wilderness wandering officially having begun, these rules were then given for the people to be used when they finally entered the land. That they would be provided here would be of some encouragement to the nation after their great failure. God still spoke of a land that was to be their land, even though they had sinned greatly. This chapter collects a number of religious rules. The first 16 verses deal with rulings for sacrifices. Then, vv. 17–36 concerns sins of omission. Finally, rules concerning tassels are covered (vv. 37–41). For additional reading, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925); B. A. Levine, In the Presence of the Lord (); D. J. McCarthy, “The Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” 88 (1969): 166–76; “Further Notes on the Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” 92 (1973): 205–10; J. Milgrom, “Sin Offering or Purification Offering,” 21 (1971): 237–39; N. H. Snaith, “Sacrifices in the Old Testament,” 7 (1957): 308–17; R. J. Thompson, Penitence and Sacrifice in Early Israel; R. de Vaux, Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice.
77. 2 Heb “the land of your habitations.”
78. 3 The Hebrew participle here has the futur instans use of the participle, expressing that something is going to take place. It is not imminent, but it is certain that God would give the land to Israel.
79. 4 The three words at the beginning of this verse are all etymologically related: “the one who offers his offering shall offer.”
80. 5 Obviously, as the wording of the text affirms, this kind of offering would be made after they were in the land and able to produce the grain and oil for the sacrifices. The instructions anticipated their ability to do this, and this would give hope to them. The amounts are difficult to determine, but it may be that they were to bring 4.5 liters of flour and 1.8 liters each of oil and wine.
81. 6 The drink-offering was an ancient custom, mentioned in the Ugaritic tablets of Ras Shamra (14th century b.c.). The drink offering was poured out at the base of the altar (see Sir 50:15 and Josephus, 3.9.4 [3.234]).
82. 7 Heb “for the one lamb,” but it clearly means “for each lamb.”
83. 8 The text changes from direct address here to the third person form of the verb. If the is correct, then to make a smooth translation it would need to be made a passive (in view of the fact that no subject is expressed).
84. 9 Heb “according to thus shall it be done.”
85. 10 The word גּוּר (gur) was traditionally translated “to sojourn,” i.e., to live temporarily in a land. Here the two words are from the root: “if a sojourner sojourns.”
86. 11 Heb “in your midst.”
87. 12 The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.
88. 13 The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.
89. 14 The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.
90. 15 Or “a statute forever.”
91. 16 Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”
92. 17 The relative clause is literally, “which I am causing you to enter there.” The final adverb is resumptive, and must be joined with the relative pronoun.
93. 18 The verse has a temporal clause that actually continues or supplements the temporal clause of the preceding verse. It is made up of the temporal indicator, the infinitive construct with the preposition, and the suffixed subjective genitive: “and it shall be when you eat.” Here it is translated simply “and eat” since the temporal element was introduced in the last verse.
94. 19 This is the תְּרוּמָה (térumah), the “raised offering” or “heave offering” (cf. , ). It may simply be called a “contribution” (so ). The verb of the sentence is from the same root: “you shall lift up/raise up.” It was to be an offering separated from the rest and raised up to the Lord in the sight of all. It was designed to remind the Israelites that the produce and the land belonged to God.
95. 20 Or “the first of your dough.” The phrase is not very clear. N. H. Snaith thinks it means a batch of loaves from the kneading trough—the first batch of the baking (Leviticus and Numbers [], 251).
96. 21 These regulations supplement what was already ruled on in the Levitical code for the purification and reparation offerings. See those rulings in Lev 4–7 for all the details. Some biblical scholars view the rules in Leviticus as more elaborate and therefore later. However, this probably represents a misunderstanding of the purpose of each collection.
97. 22 The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.
98. 23 Heb “hand.”
99. 24 The idea of לִשְׁגָגָה (lishgagah) seems to be that of “inadvertence” or “without intent.” The text gives no indication of how this offense might be committed, or what it might include. It probably describes any transgressions done in ignorance of the Law that involved a violation of tabernacle procedure or priestly protocol or social misdemeanor. Even though it was done unintentionally, it was still a violation and called for ritual purification.
100. 25 Heb “[away] from the eyes of the community.”
101. 26 The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive (וְכִפֶּר, vékhipper) to continue the instruction of the passage: “the priest shall make atonement,” meaning the priest is to make atonement for the sin (thus the present translation). This verb means “to expiate,” “to atone for,” “to pacify.” It describes the ritual events by which someone who was separated from the holy Lord God could find acceptance into his presence through the sacrificial blood of the substitutionary animal. See Lev 1 and Num 17:6–13.
102. 27 Or “they will be forgiven.”