1
45: So the whole number of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war in Israel --
46: their whole number was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
47: But the Levites were not numbered by their ancestral tribe along with them.
48: For the LORD said to Moses,
49: "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel;
50: but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle.
The Levites (from the tribe of Levi) are priests and do not count in the war census. Most scholars believe the count of 600,000 is too large.
51: When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.
3
5: And the LORD said to Moses,
6: "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.
7: They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle;
8: they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle.
12: "I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,
13: for the first-born are mine; on the day I slew the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own the first-born in Israel, both man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the LORD."
The Levites are a substitute for the first-born, who belong to God.
41: And you shall take the Levites for me -- I am the LORD -- instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel."
46: And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,
47: you shall take five shekels apiece;
48: and give the money by which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons."
6
1: And the LORD said to Moses,
2: "Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
3: he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
4: All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5: "All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6: "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.
8: All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.
This is the rule for the Nazirite, who dedicate themselves to God. The vow was not permanent, as the later text (edited out) shows; famous Nazirites include Samson, who violated all his vows and John the Baptist.
22: The LORD said to Moses,
This is the Aaronic (Priestly) Blessing, probably the most famous text from the book of Numbers:
23: "Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24: The LORD bless you and keep you:
25: The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26: The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
27: "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."
8
1: Now the LORD said to Moses,
2: "Say to Aaron, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand."
3: And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.
The lampstand (menorrah) symbolized God's undying light; John's Jesus (Gospel of John) is called "the light of the world."
9
15: On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.
17: And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.
23: At the command of the LORD they encamped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.
Up to chapter 11, the stress is on obedience; beginning with chapter 11, the text stresses the people's disobedience (the "murmuring motif").
10
11: In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony,
12: and the people of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
11
1: And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
2: Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.
4: Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eat!
5: We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
6: but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."
18: [The Lord said] Say to the people, `Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19: You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,
20: but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come forth out of Egypt?"'"
21: But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, `I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!'
22: Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?"
23: And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not."
24: So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent.
25: Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did so no more.
26: Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested upon them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.
27: And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
28: And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, forbid them."
29: But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!"
30: And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31: And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
32: And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
33: While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
Many motifs appear above: the murmuring motif contrasts later against Jesus' ideal obedience in the wilderness for 40 days (=40 years). God's feeding of the multitudes will be repeated by Jesus; while the Holy Spirit will descend on Jesus' disciples during Pentecost, 40 days after Jesus' ascension into Heaven. At issue here is clearly whether Moses alone has the gift of the Holy Spirit. This theme appears again in chapter 12, with different aim.
12
1: Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married;
2: and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it.
3: Now the man Moses was meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth.
Verse 3 is one of many verses in the Torah (Five Books of Moses) that suggests Moses could not have written it. But the great amount of redundancy (repeating) also shows this (much of this repeating I've edited out); contradictions (such as 3 different names for Moses' father-in-law) also show this.
4: And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out.
5: And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.
6: And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.
7: Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house.
8: With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
9: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed;
10: and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.
11: And Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
12: Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."
13: And Moses cried to the LORD, "Heal her, O God, I beseech thee."
14: But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again."
Because of the Creation story, 7 is the magical number; eight is the number of new beginnings, after 7. Circumcision occurred on the 8th day. (January 1 is the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus, the 8th day after Christmas.) At issue in this story is why Miriam was punished with a skin disease but not Aaron. The reason is the Aaron, as priest, could not be priest and have a skin disease at the same time; so the writers had to spare him this penalty.
14
1: Then the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night.
2: And the people murmured against Moses and Aaron; "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
With perfect justice, God will do just that: kill them in the wilderness, or before they enter the Promised Land.
3: Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4: And they said to one another, "Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt."
5: Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
6: And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes,
7: and said to the congregation, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is a good land.
8: If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.
9: Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
10: But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
11: And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?
12: I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
In other words, God will start over, with Moses as the new Israel.
13: But Moses said to the LORD,
17: I pray thee, let the power of the LORD be great as thou hast promised, saying,
18: `The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.'
Note how cleverly Moses argues, with fine rhetoric: he begs God to show his Power by his Mercy instead of by his punishment, quoting God's own words as Testimony against God.
19: Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."
20: Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word;
21: but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
22: none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice,
23: shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it.
24: But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
25: Now, since the Amal'ekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
26: And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron,
27: "How long shall this wicked congregation murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28: Say to them, `As I live,' says the LORD, `what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:
29: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
30: not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh and Joshua the son of Nun.
31: But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.
32: But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
33: And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.
34: According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'
35: I, the LORD, have spoken; surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
36: And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land,
37: the men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by plague before the LORD.
38: But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.
15
37: The LORD said to Moses,
38: "Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue;
39: and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly.
40: So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
41: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."
These tassels are evident when the edge of Jesus' garment is touched in the Gospels.
16
1: Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
2: took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men;
3: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"
4: When Moses heard it, he fell on his face;
5: and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.
6: Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;
7: put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!"
8: And Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
10: and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?
11: Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?"
12: And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab; and they said, "We will not come up.
This suggests a political power fight between the Aaronids (sons of Aaron) and the Levites, son of Levi. Aaron of course was also son of Levi, but with a special family distinction. Note how they throw Moses' words in his face ("Is it a small thing") and also the phrase "milk and honey," once used for the Promised Land is now mockingly used for Egypt, where they were slaves.
13: Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?
14: Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up."
15: And Moses was angry, and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them."
16: And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow;
17: and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."
18: So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19: Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
23: And the LORD said to Moses,
24: "Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram."
31: And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder;
32: and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.
33: So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
39: So Elea'zar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,
40: to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become as Korah and as his company.
41: But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."
42: And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43: And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,
44: and the LORD said to Moses,
45: "Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces.
46: And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun."
47: So Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had already begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
48: And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.
The priest has a "liminal" (threshold) role; like blood, the priest stands on the threshold or borderline between sin and holiness, life and death. This is one way to understand dietary laws: food was called "unclean" if it was not clearly one kind or another: for example, shellfish does not look like fish nor a land animal, so threatened the borders, hence the separation, of kinds. The main motif in the Bible is "separation" (night from day, man from woman; land from the waters; order from chaos).
This story explains the priesthood as ordained by God and is intended to make the people rely on that priesthood for their own safety.
17
6: And all their leaders gave [Moses] rods, one for each leader, according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7: And Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.
8: And on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
10: And the LORD said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, lest they die."
12: And the people said to Moses, "Behold, we perish.
13: Every one who comes near to the tabernacle shall die,"
18
21: "To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, their service in the tent of meeting.
22: And henceforth the people of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they die.
20
1: And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2: Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3: And the people contended with Moses, and said, "Would that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!"
7: and the LORD said to Moses,
8: "Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle."
9: And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10: And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?"
11: And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
12: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
Why were Moses and Aaron punished? One theory is they did not believe in the power of God's word by itself, without the rod (the rod represents Moses' power, not God's). Another theory is just obedience: they should have listened to God's exact instructions. Another reason may be that Moses relied on his rod as a magical tool, insulting God's power by doing so. One final reason is by speaking "we" instead of "He" (God), thus claiming God's power for themselves. Regardless, for this they were denied entry to the Promised Land. Yet the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, claims Moses was punished for the sins of the people, thus making Moses look good. But this book is clearly not saying that. Of course, this story is also a doublet (a doubly-told story) of the similar story in Exodus, another sign of multiple sources.
13: These are the waters of Mer'ibah, where the people of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.
23: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,
24: "Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Mer'ibah.
25: Take Aaron and Elea'zar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;
26: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea'zar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there."
27: Moses did as the LORD commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28: And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea'zar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Elea'zar came down from the mountain.
29: And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.
21
4: From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way.
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 food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."
6: Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
7: And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8: And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
9: So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Jesus refers to this text (above) in the Gospel of John; for even so, Jesus will be lifted up (on the cross).
Two battles follow (edited out), which the Israelites win.
22
1: Then the people of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
2: And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3: And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.
4: So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
5: sent messengers to Balaam the son of Be'or at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw to call him, saying, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
6: Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."
7: So the elders of Moab and the elders of Mid'ian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message.
God's blessing is greater than Balaam's; in fact God controls Balaam. This is a comforting message to the Jews.
20: And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do."
21: So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
This is one of the most famous stories in the Bible, with some problems. Is Balaam, a pagan prophet, good or bad (he's later killed by the Israelites)? Also, why does God first tell B. to go then prevent him from going? Perhaps to show his absolute power. The point, however, is that even a donkey (ass) sees more than a pagan prophet.
22: But God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary.
27: When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff.
28: Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"
29: And Balaam said to the ass, "Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you."
30: And the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."
31: Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
34: Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again."
35: And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
23
7: And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: `Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!'
8: How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9: For from the top of the mountains I see him, from the hills I behold him; lo, a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!
Balak makes the proper sacrifices (omitted); but they don't help. Balaam can only bless the Israelites, part of God's promise to Abraham. Other blessings that follow also repeat God's blessings to Israel:
10: Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!"
11: And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."
12: And he answered, "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
13: And Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."
15: Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder."
16: And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."
17: And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"
18: And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, O son of Zippor:
19: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?
20: Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21: He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
22: God brings them out of Egypt; they have as it were the horns of the wild ox.
23: For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, `What has God wrought!'
24: Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down till it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."
25: And Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."
26: But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, `All that the LORD says, that I must do'?"
27: And Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."
28: So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pe'or, that overlooks the desert.
24
1: When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.
2: And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,
3: and he took up his discourse, and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Be'or, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
4: the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
5: how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!
6: Like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.
7: Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8: God brings him out of Egypt; he has as it were the horns of the wild ox, he shall eat up the nations his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them through with his arrows.
9: He couched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed be every one who blesses you, and cursed be every one who curses you."
10: And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.
11: Therefore now flee to your place; I said, `I will certainly honor you,' but the LORD has held you back from honor."
12: And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me,
13: `If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak'?
14: And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days."
15: And he took up his discourse, and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Be'or, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16: the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
17: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
19: By Jacob shall dominion be exercised, and the survivors of cities be destroyed!"
Christians read this as a prophecy of Jesus ("a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter out of Israel").
25: Then Balaam rose, and went back to his place; and Balak also went his way.
25
1: While Israel dwelt in Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.
2: These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.
3: So Israel yoked himself to Ba'al of Pe'or. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel;
4: and the LORD said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel."
5: And Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Every one of you slay his men who have yoked themselves to Ba'al of Pe'or."
6: And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Mid'ianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.
7: When Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation, and took a spear in his hand
8: and went after the man of Israel into the inner room, and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her body. Thus the plague was stayed from the people of Israel.
This is an example of a literal sacrifice, not a substitute sacrifice. Presumably the couple were having sex.
9: Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
10: And the LORD said to Moses,
11: "Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.
12: Therefore say, `Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace;
13: and it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"
This story could be here to explain the eternal priesthood given to Phineas and his descendants.
14: The name of the slain man of Israel, who was slain with the Mid'ianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, head of a fathers' house belonging to the Simeonites.
15: And the name of the Mid'ianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the head of the people of a fathers' house in Mid'ian.
16: And the LORD said to Moses,
17: "Harass the Mid'ianites, and smite them;
18: for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Pe'or, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Mid'ian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague on account of Pe'or."
This story might also explain ("justify") the "enmity" between Midian and Israel.
26
A second census is taken to see who will enter the Promised Land of the new generation and to divide up the land:52: The LORD said to Moses:
55: "The land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
56: Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller."
64: But among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had numbered the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
65: For the LORD had said of them, "They shall die in the wilderness." There was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh and Joshua the son of Nun.
27
12: The LORD said to Moses, "Go up into this mountain of Ab'arim, and see the land which I have given to the people of Israel.
13: And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was gathered,
14: because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin."
22: And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Elea'zar the priest and the whole congregation,
23: and he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.
Laying hands on someone transferred virtues as well as sins (Leviticus). The laying on of hands became common in the early Christian church and is common in evangelical churches.
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The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh wish to settle in the Transjordan (East of the Jordan, outside the Promised Land). Since they promise to fight with Moses for the Promised Land, he compromises:
16: Then they came near to him, and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones,
17: but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18: We will not return to our homes until the people of Israel have inherited each his inheritance.
19: For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east."
20: So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war,
21: and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him
22: and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.
23: But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.
24: Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do what you have promised."
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50: And the LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho,
51: "Say to the people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52: then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places;
53: and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
55: But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
56: And I will do to you as I thought to do to them."
This is exactly what will happen, since the Israelites will not drive everyone out.
35
9: And the LORD said to Moses,
10: "Say to the people of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11: then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.
12: The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
13: And the cities which you give shall be your six cities of refuge.
14: You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan and three cities in Canaan, to be cities of refuge.
15: These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there.
16: "But if he struck him with a weapon, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
19: The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
22: "But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait,
23: or used a stone, by which a man may die, and without seeing him cast it upon him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm;
24: then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances;
25: and the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
26: But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the bounds of his city of refuge to which he fled,
27: and the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.
30: If any one kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
31: Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death.
32: And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.
33: You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
34: You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel."
O nly blood can pay for life. Hence the sacrifice system, and Jesus as the final sacrifice for Christians.
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