translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NUM

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “the land of your habitations.”


text: 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.


text: The three words at the beginning of this verse are all etymologically related: “the one who offers his offering shall offer.”


text: Heb “for the one lamb,” but it clearly means “for each lamb.”


text: The text changes from direct address here to the third person form of the verb. If the MT 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).


text: Heb “according to thus shall it be done.”


text: 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.”


text: Heb “in your midst.”


text: The Hebrew text just has “to your generations,” but it means in the future.


text: The imperfect tenses must reflect the responsibility to comply with the law, and so the classifications of instruction or obligation may be applied.


text: The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.


text: Or “a statute forever.”


text: Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”


text: 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.


text: 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.


text: This is the תְּרוּמָה ( tÿrumah ), the “raised offering” or “heave offering” (cf. KJV, ASV). It may simply be called a “contribution” (so NAB). 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.


text: 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 [NCB], 251).


text: The verb is the plural imperfect; the sin discussed here is a sin committed by the community, or the larger part of the community.


text: Heb “hand.”


text: 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.


text: Heb “[away] from the eyes of the community.”


text: The verb is the Piel perfect with vav ( ו ) consecutive ( וְכִפֶּר , vÿkhipper ) 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 and Num 17:6-15.


text: Again, rather than translate literally “and it shall be forgiven [to] them” (all the community), one could say, “they (all the community) will be forgiven.” The meaning is the same.


text: The Hebrew text has וְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת ( vÿ ’ im-nefesh ’ akhat ), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.


text: Heb “soul.”


text: 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 .


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


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


text: 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.


text: The verb בָּזָה ( bazah , “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.


text: The verb פָּרַר ( parar , “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.


text: The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.


text: The preterite of the verb “to be” is here subordinated to the next, parallel verb form, to form a temporal clause.


text: The sentence begins with the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute with the verb in the Hophal imperfect: “he shall surely be put to death.” Then, a second infinitive absolute רָגוֹם ( ragom ) provides the explanatory activity – all the community is to stone him with stones. The punishment is consistent with other decrees from God (see Exod 31:14,15; 35:2 ). Moses had either forgotten such, or they had simply neglected to (or were hesitant to) enact them.


text: Heb “stoned him with stones, and he died.”


text: The construction uses the imperative followed by perfect tenses with vav ( ו ) consecutives. The first perfect tense may be translated as the imperative, but the second, being a third common plural form, has to be subordinated as a purpose clause, or as the object of the preceding verb: “speak…and say…that they make.”


text: Heb “seek out, look into.”


text: This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”


text: This clause also serves as a purpose/result clause of the preceding – “in order that you may remember….” But because the line is so long, it is simpler to make this a separate sentence in the translation.