On the Greek text. The Greek follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint (Rahlfs-Hanhart in its main wording, itself an ancient, public-domain text); the distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Versification follows the LXX.

The Book of Numbers (LXX) — Interlinear: Themes, Outlines & Translation Notes

A consolidated companion to the Numbers data set: every chapter of LXX Numbers (1-36) rendered as a six-tier Greek reverse-interlinear (Greek · gloss · parsing/case · syntax · semantic force · lexical note), with per-verse discourse analysis and a chapter argument-outline.

This document gathers the theme, the argument outline (the outline movements authored into each data file), and the translation / textual / exegetical notes (the text_note of each file, reproduced verbatim). Major translation and interpretive cruxes are handled within those notes rather than silently resolved. Numbers — the wilderness book — takes its Greek title ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ from its two great censuses, which frame the death of the unbelieving Exodus generation and the raising up of the new: between them lie the murmurings and the spies, Korah's rebellion, the bronze serpent, the oracles of Balaam, and the apostasy at Peor, set among the laws of the camp, the priesthood, the offerings, and the inheritance; its LXX form gave the church the Aaronic Blessing, the serpent lifted up (ὄφις χαλκοῦς, John 3:14), the Star out of Jacob (ἄστρον ἐξ Ιακωβ), the unchanging God who is 'not as a man' (23:19), the red-heifer ashes (Heb 9:13), and the cities of refuge (Heb 6:18) — and the wilderness itself as the NT's paradigm of testing (1 Cor 10; Heb 3–4). The Greek follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint (Rahlfs–Hanhart in its main wording, itself an ancient public-domain text); the distinctively copyrighted apparatus is not reproduced, and versification follows the LXX.

Scope

Each annotated word carries Greek, a working gloss, color-coded grammatical case, parsing (Tense·Voice·Mood·Person·Number + lemma), a Wallace-style syntactic-function label, an aspectual semantic-force label (verbal forms), and a condensed lexical note. As translation Greek, the annotation additionally flags Hebraisms and the underlying Hebrew idiom where it illuminates the rendering.

The argument of the book

The macro-structure of the whole book — its major movements — under which the chapter-by-chapter detail below unfolds. LXX Numbers is a generally literal translation whose interpretive choices (the ἄνθρωπος-for-'scepter' of 24:17, ἄρχων for Molech, Γωγ for Agag at 24:7, the Hebrew-following chapter division at 16–17, and the dense census/itinerary nomenclature) the annotation flags throughout. (Section divisions are interpretive; the more common analysis is generally followed.)

• I · 1–10 — At Sinai: the host ordered for the march. The first census and the arrangement of the camp and the standards; the Levites numbered and given in place of the firstborn; the Nazirite vow and the Priestly Blessing; the leaders' dedication offerings and the voice from the mercy seat; the second Passover, the guiding cloud, and the silver trumpets — Israel sets out from Sinai.
• II · 11–25 — The wilderness and the generation of unbelief. The complaining and the craving for meat, the seventy elders, Miriam's challenge; the spies and the forty-year sentence; sundry laws and the tassels; Korah's rebellion and Aaron's budding rod; the red heifer; Meribah and the death of Aaron; the bronze serpent and the Transjordan victories; Balaam's donkey and his blessings of Israel; and the apostasy at Peor stayed by the zeal of Phinehas.
• III · 26–36 — On the plains of Moab: the new generation prepared to enter. The second census; the daughters of Zelophehad and the commissioning of Joshua; the calendar of public offerings and the law of vows; the war against Midian and the Transjordan settlement; the itinerary of the journey, the boundaries of the land, the Levitical cities and cities of refuge — and the inheritance secured as the book closes facing the Jordan opposite Jericho.

Chapter-by-chapter

Numbers 1 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Α′

Theme. The English title 'Numbers' descends from the LXX caption ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ, itself drawn from the great military census that opens the book here: on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Exodus, in the wilderness of Sinai and at the tent of testimony, the LORD commands Moses and Aaron to take a head-count (λάβετε ἀρχήν … κατὰ ἀριθμόν) of all males twenty years old and upward 'able to go out in the army' (πᾶς ὁ ἐκπορευόμενος ἐν δυνάμει), organised by clans and ancestral houses.

Outline.

• A · 1:1–4 — The divine census-command at the tent of testimony.
• B · 1:5–16 — The twelve tribal chiefs named.
• C · 1:17–19 — Moses and Aaron convene and muster the assembly.
• D · 1:20–43 — The tribal totals: Reuben through Naphtali.
• E · 1:44–46 — The grand total of the muster.
• F · 1:47–54 — Levi exempted and set over the tabernacle of testimony.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 1 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The English title 'Numbers' descends from the LXX caption ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ, itself drawn from the great military census that opens the book here: on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Exodus, in the wilderness of Sinai and at the tent of testimony, the LORD commands Moses and Aaron to take a head-count (λάβετε ἀρχήν … κατὰ ἀριθμόν) of all males twenty years old and upward 'able to go out in the army' (πᾶς ὁ ἐκπορευόμενος ἐν δυνάμει), organised by clans and ancestral houses. The chapter is dominated by the census/muster vocabulary ἐπισκέπτομαι ('muster / number / review') and its cognate noun ἐπίσκεψις ('mustering / census-total'), which together with the recurring genealogical formula κατὰ συγγενείας αὐτῶν κατ᾽ οἴκους πατριῶν αὐτῶν ('by their kinships, by their ancestral houses') and the phrases κατὰ ἀριθμόν ('by number'), κατὰ κεφαλήν ('by head'), and παρεμβολή ('camp / encampment') give the chapter its administrative, register-like cadence. Twelve tribal chiefs are named, one per tribe (vv. 5–15), in a list whose transliterated Hebrew names — Ελισουρ, Σαλαμιηλ, Ναασσων, Ναθαναηλ, Ελιαβ, Ελισαμα, Γαμαλιηλ, Αβιδαν, Αχιεζερ, Φαγαιηλ, Ελισαφ, Αχιρε — the LXX carries over as indeclinable forms. The tribal totals (vv. 20–43) are reported in a fixed repeating frame, climaxing in the grand total of 603,550 (vv. 45–46), a figure echoing the count of Exod 38:26. The chapter's theological pivot is the exemption of Levi (vv. 47–54): the Levites are deliberately not mustered with the other tribes (οὐκ ἐπεσκέπησαν … οὐ συνεπισκέψῃ) but are set over (ἐπίστησον) the tabernacle of testimony, to carry it, to minister at it (λειτουργήσουσιν), to encamp around it (κύκλῳ τῆς σκηνῆς παρεμβαλοῦσιν), and to guard it (φυλάξουσιν τὴν φυλακήν), so that there be no wrath (ἁμάρτημα) upon the congregation; the trespassing outsider (ὁ ἀλλογενὴς ὁ προσπορευόμενος) is to die. κύριος throughout renders the Tetragrammaton יהוה.

Numbers 2 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Β′

Theme. Numbers 2 is the great camp-ordinance: after the census of chapter 1, YHWH dictates the spatial arrangement of the twelve tribes encamped 'opposite, round about the tent of meeting' (ἐναντίοι κύκλῳ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, v.

Outline.

• A · 2:1–2 — Divine command: encamp by standard around the tent of meeting.
• B · 2:3–9 — The east camp: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun — first to set out.
• C · 2:10–16 — The south camp: Reuben, Simeon, Gad — second.
• D · 2:17 — The Levites and the tent in the center of the march.
• E · 2:18–24 — The west camp: Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin — third.
• F · 2:25–31 — The north camp: Dan, Asher, Naphtali — last.
• G · 2:32–34 — Grand total, Levite exemption, and Israel's obedience.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 2 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 2 is the great camp-ordinance: after the census of chapter 1, YHWH dictates the spatial arrangement of the twelve tribes encamped 'opposite, round about the tent of meeting' (ἐναντίοι κύκλῳ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, v. 2), each under its own standard (κατὰ τάγμα) and ensign (κατὰ σημέας) by ancestral houses (κατ᾿ οἴκους πατριῶν). The chapter is structured by the four cardinal points: east (κατ᾿ ἀνατολάς, vv. 3–9: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun), south (πρὸς λίβα, vv. 10–16: Reuben, Simeon, Gad), the Levites and the tent in the center (μέσον τῶν παρεμβολῶν, v. 17), west (παρὰ θάλασσαν, vv. 18–24: Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin), and north (πρὸς βορρᾶν, vv. 25–31: Dan, Asher, Naphtali). The key military-administrative noun is τάγμα ('division / rank / fixed order'; cf. the same root in Paul's resurrection sequence ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τάγματι, 1 Cor 15:23), paired with δύναμις ('host / army') and σημέα / σημασία ('standard / signal'). Each tribe's muster is reported with the perfect participle οἱ ἐπεσκεμμένοι ('those who have been numbered'), the cognate of the noun ἐπίσκεψις ('numbering / census', vv. 32). The recurring idiom οἱ παρεμβάλλοντες ἐχόμενοι ('those encamping next to') uses the middle participle of ἔχω in its idiomatic spatial sense 'adjoining, next in line.' The order of the camp is mirrored by the order of march: the verb ἐξαροῦσιν ('they shall set out / break camp', from ἐξαίρω) is keyed to the ordinals πρῶτοι / δεύτεροι / τρίτοι / ἔσχατοι (first, second, third, last, vv. 9, 16, 24, 31), so that the static geometry of the camp becomes the kinetic sequence of the march. The grand total of the four camps is 603,550 (ἑξακόσιαι χιλιάδες καὶ τρισχίλιοι πεντακόσιοι πεντήκοντα, v. 32), matching Exod 38:26 and Num 1:46; the Levites are deliberately excluded from this military count (οὐ συνεπεσκέπησαν, v. 33), since their service is liturgical, not martial. The chapter closes with the obedience-formula καὶ ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πάντα ὅσα συνέταξεν κύριος (v. 34), the standard LXX seal of Israel's compliance.

Numbers 3 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Γ′

Theme. Numbers 3 (LXX ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Γ′) is the great Levite charter: it opens with the γενέσεις of Aaron and Moses and the roll of Aaron's sons, recording the death of Ναδαβ and Αβιουδ who offered πῦρ ἀλλότριον ('strange fire') before the LORD (vv.

Outline.

• A · 3:1–4 — The generations of Aaron and Moses; Aaron's sons and the death of Nadab and Abihu.
• B · 3:5–10 — The tribe of Levi given to Aaron for the service of the tabernacle.
• C · 3:11–13 — The Levites taken in place of the firstborn: the LORD's Passover claim.
• D · 3:14–20 — The command to number Levi; the three clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
• E · 3:21–26 — The Gershonites: census, west camp, and the charge of the curtains.
• F · 3:27–32 — The Kohathites: census, south camp, and the charge of the holy furniture.
• G · 3:33–37 — The Merarites: census, north camp, and the charge of the framework.
• H · 3:38–39 — Moses and Aaron to the east; the total of 22,000 Levites.
• I · 3:40–43 — The numbering of Israel's firstborn: 22,273.
• J · 3:44–51 — The redemption of the 273 surplus firstborn; the silver given to Aaron.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 3 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 3 (LXX ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Γ′) is the great Levite charter: it opens with the γενέσεις of Aaron and Moses and the roll of Aaron's sons, recording the death of Ναδαβ and Αβιουδ who offered πῦρ ἀλλότριον ('strange fire') before the LORD (vv. 1–4), then sets out the constitutive gift of the tribe of Levi to Aaron and his sons δόμα δεδομένοι ('as a gift, given', v. 9) to keep the φυλακαί of the σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου. The theological heart is vv. 11–13 and 40–51: the LORD takes the Levites ἀντὶ παντὸς πρωτοτόκου διανοίγοντος μήτραν ('in place of every firstborn that opens the womb') from the sons of Israel, because every firstborn became his ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐπάταξα πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτου — the Passover claim of Exod 13:2,11–16. The chapter then conducts the ἐπίσκεψις (census/numbering) of the three Levite clans — Γεδσων, Κααθ (Kohath), Μεραρι — assigns each its camp around the tent (Gershon to the west/seaward, Kohath to the south, Merari to the north, Moses and Aaron to the east) and its φυλακή of the sanctuary (Gershon the curtains and hangings, Kohath the ark, table, lampstand and altars, Merari the boards, bars, pillars and bases), and tallies them at 22,000 males from a month old (vv. 14–39). Against the 22,273 firstborn of Israel (v. 43) the Levites fall 273 short; the surplus is redeemed (λύτρα / ἐκλύτρωσις) at five shekels a head by the holy didrachm-standard, and the 1,365 shekels of redemption-silver are given to Aaron and his sons διὰ φωνῆς κυρίου (vv. 44–51). The πρωτότοκος vocabulary and the substitutionary ἀντί structure anchor a major biblical-theological trajectory: the consecration of the firstborn (Exod 13; Luke 2:23, 'every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord'), Christ as πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως (Col 1:15) and πρωτότοκος ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (Rom 8:29), and the ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων of Heb 12:23. Key lexemes to watch: ἐπίσκεψις/ἐπισκέπτομαι (the technical 'mustering' of the tribe), λυτρόω/λύτρα/ἐκλύτρωσις (redemption-payment), δόμα δεδομένοι (the emphatic figura etymologica for the Levitic gift), and ὁ ἀλλογενὴς ὁ ἁπτόμενος ἀποθανεῖται ('the outsider who touches shall die', vv. 10,38), the sanction guarding the priestly prerogative.

Numbers 4 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Δ′

Theme. Numbers 4 in the LXX is a long, carefully structured administrative chapter that registers the three Levitical clans — Kohath (Κααθ), Gershon (Γεδσων), and Merari (Μεραρι) — for tabernacle service and assigns each its transport-charge.

Outline.

• A · 4:1–4 — Census of the Kohathites and their most-holy charge.
• B · 4:5–15 — Aaron and his sons cover the holy things; the Kohathites carry but must not touch.
• C · 4:16–20 — Eleazar's oversight and the deadly danger of the holy things.
• D · 4:21–28 — The Gershonites: curtains, screens, and hangings.
• E · 4:29–33 — The Merarites: boards, bars, pillars, and sockets.
• F · 4:34–49 — The clan censuses and their totals.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 4 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 4 in the LXX is a long, carefully structured administrative chapter that registers the three Levitical clans — Kohath (Κααθ), Gershon (Γεδσων), and Merari (Μεραρι) — for tabernacle service and assigns each its transport-charge. A notable LXX feature is the age-range: where Numbers 4 in the Hebrew opens 'from thirty years and upward' (מִבֶּן שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה), the Greek reads ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν ('from twenty-five years', v. 3) and thereafter compresses the formula into the single adjectives ἀπὸ πεντεκαιεικοσαετοῦς … ἕως πεντηκονταετοῦς ('from twenty-five years old … to fifty years old', vv. 23, 30, 35, etc.). The theological heart of the chapter is the danger of holiness: the Kohathites carry τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων ('the holy of holies', v. 4), but only after Aaron and his sons have wrapped each sacred object — ark, table, lampstand, golden altar, and bronze altar — in the blue (ὑακίνθινον), purple (ὁλοπόρφυρον / πορφυροῦν), and scarlet (κόκκινον) cloths and the leather coverings (κάλυμμα δερμάτινον); the Kohathites must not touch (οὐχ ἅψονται, v. 15) nor even look on the holy things ἐξάπινα ('suddenly', v. 20) lest they die (ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνωσιν). Eleazar son of Aaron has oversight (ἐπίσκοπος, v. 16) of the oil, incense, and anointing oil. The Gershonites bear the curtains, screens, and hangings (vv. 21–28); the Merarites bear the structural frame — boards, bars, pillars, and sockets (vv. 29–33). The carrying is done on the shoulder: the recurring verb αἴρω ('lift / carry', vv. 15, 24, 31, 47, 49) and the participial τὰ αἰρόμενα ('the things carried') frame the holy load as something borne by hand, anticipating the catastrophe of the mishandled ark (2 Sam 6:6–7). The chapter closes with the per-clan totals (Kohath 2,750; Gershon 2,630; Merari 3,200) summing to 8,580 (v. 48), all numbered διὰ φωνῆς κυρίου ('by the voice of the LORD') through Moses.

Numbers 5 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Ε′

Theme. Numbers 5 is a tripartite legislative chapter governing the holiness of the wilderness camp around the tabernacle.

Outline.

• A · 5:1–4 — Purifying the camp: expelling the unclean.
• B · 5:5–10 — Restitution for wrong against a neighbor; the priestly portion.
• C · 5:11–22 — The ordeal of jealousy: the offering, the holy water, and the oath.
• D · 5:23–31 — The dissolving of the curses, the drinking, and the verdict.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 5 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 5 is a tripartite legislative chapter governing the holiness of the wilderness camp around the tabernacle. First, the expulsion of the ritually unclean — the leper (λεπρός), the one with a discharge (γονορρυής), and the one defiled by contact with a corpse (ἀκάθαρτος ἐπὶ ψυχῇ) — outside the camp, lest they defile the dwelling-place where YHWH 'encamps among them' (καταγίνομαι ἐν αὐτοῖς, v. 3), the same root used of the divine Presence (vv. 1–4). Second, the law of restitution: confession (ἐξαγορεύσει), repayment of the principal (τὸ κεφάλαιον) plus an added fifth (τὸ ἐπίπεμπτον), and the ram of atonement (ὁ κριὸς τοῦ ἱλασμοῦ), with the provision for property owed to the priest where no kinsman-redeemer (ὁ ἀγχιστεύων) survives (vv. 5–10). Third, and most distinctive, the ordeal of jealousy (vv. 11–31): a husband seized by a 'spirit of jealousy' (πνεῦμα ζηλώσεως) brings his wife to the priest with the 'offering of jealousy' (θυσία ζηλοτυπίας), a memorial offering of barley flour with no oil or frankincense. The priest sets her before the LORD, uncovers her head, takes holy living water in an earthen vessel mixed with dust from the floor of the tabernacle (τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς σκηνῆς), and administers an oath of cursing (ἡ ἀρά). The curses are written in a scroll and then washed off — dissolved — into 'the water of conviction that brings the curse' (τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ἐλεγμοῦ τοῦ ἐπικαταρωμένου); the woman drinks, and if guilty her belly swells and her thigh falls away (πρησθήσεται τὴν κοιλίαν καὶ διαπεσεῖται ὁ μηρός), but if innocent she is unharmed and conceives seed. This is the Torah's only trial-by-ordeal and the only rite in which the divine name, once written, is deliberately dissolved into water; the LXX's vocabulary — ζηλοτυπία / ζῆλος / ζήλωσις for jealousy, ἐλεγμός for 'conviction / testing', and the recurrent passive participle ἐπικαταρώμενον ('bringing the curse') — gives the law its sombre, juridical texture. The verb παραβαίνω ('transgress / step aside') frames the woman's possible infidelity (vv. 12, 19, 20, 29) and ἁγνεία / cleanness (καθαρά, ἀθῴα) the verdict of acquittal.

Numbers 6 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Ϛ′

Theme. Numbers 6 falls into two great legal blocks: the law of the Nazirite vow (vv. 1–21) and the priestly Benediction (vv.

Outline.

• A · 6:1–8 — The vow of the Nazirite: the threefold abstinence.
• B · 6:9–12 — Inadvertent defilement: shaving and re-consecration.
• C · 6:13–21 — The law of completion: offerings, shaving, and the burning of the hair.
• D · 6:22–26 — The Aaronic Blessing: placing the divine Name on Israel.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 6 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 6 falls into two great legal blocks: the law of the Nazirite vow (vv. 1–21) and the priestly Benediction (vv. 22–26). The LXX renders the technical Hebrew נֶדֶר נָזִיר ('vow of a Nazirite') by εὐχὴ ναζιραίου and unfolds the consecration with a cluster of cultic-purity verbs: the vower 'greatly vows a vow' (μεγάλως εὔξηται εὐχήν, v. 2, calquing the Hebrew emphatic infinitive absolute הַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר) 'to purify a purification to the LORD' (ἀφαγνίσασθαι ἁγνείαν). The abstentions are threefold: from wine and σικερα (a transliteration of שֵׁכָר, 'strong drink') and every product of the vine, down to grape-skins (στέμφυλα) and grape-stones (γίγαρτον) (vv. 3–4); from the razor (ξυρόν) upon the head, the consecrated long hair being 'holy to the LORD' (ἅγιος … τρέφων κόμην τρίχα κεφαλῆς, v. 5); and from all contact with the dead, even of father, mother, brother, or sister (vv. 6–8). The law of inadvertent defilement (vv. 9–12) requires shaving on the seventh day, sin- and whole-burnt-offerings of two turtledoves or pigeons on the eighth, and the forfeiture (the days become ἄλογοι, 'discounted') of the previous period. The completion rite (vv. 13–21) culminates in the vower (now ὁ ηὐγμένος, 'the one who has vowed') shaving the consecrated head 'beside the doors of the tent of witness' and burning the hair under the peace-offering (v. 18). The chapter's headline is the Aaronic or Priestly Blessing (vv. 22–26): a triadic benediction — εὐλογήσαι σε κύριος καὶ φυλάξαι σε (v. 24); ἐπιφάναι κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ ἐλεήσαι σε (v. 25); ἐπάραι κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ δῴη σοι εἰρήνην (v. 26) — by which the priests 'place my name upon the sons of Israel' (ἐπιθήσουσιν τὸ ὄνομά μου, v. 23, the content the Masoretic Text numbers as a separate v. 27). Each clause of the blessing renders a Hebrew jussive of wish by a Greek aorist optative (εὐλογήσαι, φυλάξαι, ἐπιφάναι, ἐλεήσαι, ἐπάραι, δῴη), a rare and theologically weighted use of the optative; the idioms 'cause his face to shine' (ἐπιφάναι … τὸ πρόσωπον) and 'lift up his face' (ἐπάραι … τὸ πρόσωπον) render הָאֵר and יִשָּׂא פָּנָיו, denoting favor and gracious attention. This benediction is the oldest extant portion of biblical text, inscribed in palaeo-Hebrew on the two silver Ketef Hinnom amulets (c. 600 BC); its triadic LORD-bless-and-keep structure is echoed in the NT benedictions, notably the trinitarian grace of 2 Cor 13:13. The Nazirite institution itself reverberates through Scripture in Samson (Judg 13), Samuel (1 Sam 1:11), the vow of Acts 18:18 and 21:23–24, and the angelic word over John the Baptist (Luke 1:15).

Numbers 7 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Ζ′

Theme. Numbers 7 is the longest single chapter in the Pentateuch (89 verses) and one of the most relentlessly formulaic passages in the entire LXX: after a narrative frame describing the day the tabernacle was raised and anointed (v.

Outline.

• A · 7:1–9 — The wagons and oxen given to the Levites for transport.
• B · 7:10–11 — The dedication of the altar: one leader per day.
• C · 7:12–83 — The twelve days: the identical offerings of the tribal leaders.
• D · 7:84–88 — The grand totals of the dedication.
• E · 7:89 — The headline crux: Moses hears THE VOICE from above the mercy seat.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 7 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 7 is the longest single chapter in the Pentateuch (89 verses) and one of the most relentlessly formulaic passages in the entire LXX: after a narrative frame describing the day the tabernacle was raised and anointed (v. 1) and the leaders' gift of six covered wagons (ἁμάξας λαμπηνικάς) and twelve oxen for Levitical transport (vv. 2–9), the chapter records, day by day for twelve days, the verbally identical dedication offering of each of the twelve tribal leaders (ἄρχοντες) at the altar (vv. 10–83). Each offering comprises a silver dish (τρυβλίον) weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl (φιάλη) of 70 shekels, both full of fine flour mixed with oil (σεμιδάλεως ἀναπεποιημένης ἐν ἐλαίῳ), a gold incense-pan (θυίσκη) of ten gold pieces full of incense, a young bull, a ram, and a year-old lamb for a whole burnt offering (ὁλοκαύτωμα), a goat for a sin offering (περὶ ἁμαρτίας), and an elaborate peace offering (θυσία σωτηρίου). The grand totals are then tallied (vv. 84–88). The wagon-distribution carries its own theological logic: two wagons and four oxen go to the Gershonites and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites according to their service, but none to the Kohathites (τοῖς υἱοῖς Κααθ οὐκ ἔδωκεν), since they bear the holy things on their shoulders (ἐπ᾽ ὤμων ἀροῦσιν, v. 9). The chapter's true climax is its final verse (7:89): when Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with him, he heard THE VOICE (τὴν φωνήν) speaking to him from above the mercy seat (ἄνωθεν τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου) between the two cherubim — the narrative fulfillment of the promise of Exod 25:22 and the inauguration of the tabernacle as the locus of revelation. The LXX renders the technical sacrificial vocabulary with remarkable consistency (τρυβλίον, φιάλη, θυίσκη, ὁλοκαύτωμα, θυσία σωτηρίου), and the personal and tribal names are transliterated rather than translated (Ναασσων, Αμιναδαβ, Ιουδα, Μεραρι, Κααθ, Γεδσων), preserving the Hebrew onomastics of Num 7 MT.

Numbers 8 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Η′

Theme. Numbers 8 falls into three movements: the mounting of the seven lamps to give light κατὰ πρόσωπον τῆς λυχνίας ('toward the front of the lampstand,' vv.

Outline.

• A · 8:1–4 — The seven lamps and the hammered lampstand.
• B · 8:5–13 — The purification of the Levites: water, razor, washing, and hands laid on.
• C · 8:14–19 — The Levites wholly given to the LORD in place of the firstborn.
• D · 8:20–22 — Execution: the Levites purified and brought into service.
• E · 8:23–26 — The term of Levitical service: from twenty-five to fifty.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 8 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 8 falls into three movements: the mounting of the seven lamps to give light κατὰ πρόσωπον τῆς λυχνίας ('toward the front of the lampstand,' vv. 1–4), with the description of the hammered lampstand (λυχνία τορευτή) echoing the Tabernacle plans of Exod 25:31–40; the purification and ritual dedication of the Levites (vv. 5–22); and the regulation of the Levitical term of service (vv. 23–26). The central section is dense with cultic vocabulary distinctive to the LXX: ἀφαγνίζω / ἁγνισμός ('purify / purification,' v. 6–7, 21) and the cognate phrase ὕδωρ ἁγνισμοῦ ('water of purification,' v. 7); the shaving of the whole body by a razor (ξυρὸν ἐπὶ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα) and the washing of garments; the laying-on of the congregation's hands (ἐπιθήσουσιν … τὰς χεῖρας, v. 10) which transfers and consecrates; and above all the wave-offering idiom applied to persons. The Hebrew tĕnûphāh ('wave offering') is rendered by the striking noun ἀπόδομα ('a thing given over,' vv. 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21), and the LORD's claim on the Levites is stated with the emphatic figura etymologica ἀπόδομα ἀποδεδομένοι ('given over as a thing-given-over,' v. 16) and ἀπόδομα δεδομένους (v. 19). This substitution theology is explicit: the Levites are taken ἀντὶ … πρωτοτόκων ('in place of the firstborn,' vv. 16, 18) whom the LORD claimed for himself on the day he struck Egypt's firstborn (v. 17; cf. Num 3:11–13), and they are given wholly to the LORD and then re-given to Aaron and his sons to do the service of the sons of Israel (ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα) and to make atonement for them (ἐξιλάσκεσθαι, v. 19). The final movement sets the term of Levitical labor from twenty-five years (ἀπὸ πεντεκαιεικοσαετοῦς) until fifty (ἀπὸ πεντηκονταετοῦς), after which a Levite withdraws from the main λειτουργία and only assists his brother in keeping watch (φυλάσσειν φυλακάς, vv. 23–26).

Numbers 9 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Θ′

Theme. Numbers 9 falls into two clearly demarcated panels. The first (vv.

Outline.

• A · 9:1–5 — The Passover kept at Sinai: the only Passover in the wilderness.
• B · 9:6–14 — The corpse-defiled and the Second Passover; the bone not broken.
• C · 9:15–16 — The cloud over the tabernacle by day, fire by night.
• D · 9:17–23 — Setting out and encamping at the command of the LORD.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 9 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 9 falls into two clearly demarcated panels. The first (vv. 1–14) records the keeping of the Passover at Sinai 'in the first month of the second year' after the Exodus (v. 1) — chronologically prior to the census of Numbers 1 (which is dated to the second month, Num 1:1) and the only Passover the Pentateuch reports celebrated in the wilderness. Within it arises a case of halakhic novelty: men rendered ἀκάθαρτοι ἐπὶ ψυχῇ ἀνθρώπου ('unclean by a human soul,' i.e. corpse-defiled, vv. 6–7) cannot keep the feast 'at its appointed time' (καθ᾽ ὥραν αὐτοῦ, v. 2; κατὰ καιρὸν αὐτοῦ, v. 7); Moses defers judgment until he hears what the LORD will command (στῆτε αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκούσομαι, v. 8), and YHWH institutes the πασχα δεύτερον, the 'Second Passover' kept a month later, in the second month, for those defiled or away ἐν ὁδῷ μακρὰν ('on a far journey,' vv. 10–11). The make-up Passover must still observe the full Passover law: ἐπ᾽ ἀζύμων καὶ πικρίδων ('with unleavened bread and bitter herbs,' v. 11), leaving nothing until morning, and — emphatically — ὀστοῦν οὐ συντρίψουσιν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ('they shall not break a bone of it,' v. 12), the regulation cited at John 19:36 of the crucified Christ. One who is clean and not on a journey yet fails to keep it is 'cut off' (ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη, v. 13); the resident alien (προσήλυτος) who keeps it falls under the one law for native and stranger alike (νόμος εἷς ἔσται ὑμῖν, v. 14). The second panel (vv. 15–23) is the great cloud-pericope: on the day the tabernacle was set up the cloud (ἡ νεφέλη) covered it, and by night there was over it ὡς εἶδος πυρός ('as the appearance of fire'). Israel's whole itinerary is governed by the cloud: whenever it lifted (ἀνέβη) they set out (ἀπῆραν), and wherever it settled they encamped (παρενέβαλον). The refrain διὰ προστάγματος κυρίου ('at the command of the LORD,' vv. 18, 20, 23), varied once as διὰ φωνῆς κυρίου ('at the mouth/voice of the LORD,' v. 20), renders Hebrew עַל־פִּי יהוה and frames the wilderness march as pure obedience to the divine signal; the panel closes on τὴν φυλακὴν κυρίου ἐφυλάξαντο ('they kept the charge of the LORD,' v. 23), mediated ἐν χειρὶ Μωυσῆ ('by the hand of Moses'). The cloud-guidance motif is taken up at 1 Cor 10:1–2 ('our fathers were all under the cloud').

Numbers 10 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Ι′

Theme. Numbers 10 is the great hinge of the book: it closes the long Sinai legislation (Num 1–9) and opens the wilderness march toward the land. It falls into four movements.

Outline.

• A · 10:1–10 — The two silver trumpets: assembly, march, war, and festal memorial.
• B · 10:11–28 — The first departure from Sinai in marching order.
• C · 10:29–32 — Moses entreats Hobab the Midianite to be Israel's guide.
• D · 10:33–36 — The ark-formulas: the LORD leads the march.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 10 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 10 is the great hinge of the book: it closes the long Sinai legislation (Num 1–9) and opens the wilderness march toward the land. It falls into four movements. (1) The two silver trumpets (vv. 1–10): YHWH commands Moses to make δύο σάλπιγγας ἀργυρᾶς ἐλατάς ('two trumpets of hammered silver') for three civic-cultic functions — summoning the assembly (ἀνακαλεῖν τὴν συναγωγήν), breaking camp by graduated trumpet-signals (σημασία) that move the four camp-divisions out in order, and sounding in war and over the festal sacrifices 'for a memorial before your God' (εἰς ἀνάμνησιν ἔναντι τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν). The trumpet that secures Israel's being 'remembered' and 'saved' (ἀναμνησθήσεσθε … διασωθήσεσθε, v. 9) anticipates the eschatological σάλπιγξ of 1 Cor 15:52 and 1 Thess 4:16. (2) The first departure (vv. 11–28): dated to the second year, second month, twentieth day, the cloud lifts from the tabernacle of testimony (ἀνέβη ἡ νεφέλη) and Israel sets out from the wilderness of Sinai by stages (κατὰ τάγματα) — Judah's standard first, then the Gershonites and Merarites carrying the tabernacle, Reuben's standard, the Kohathites carrying the holy things, then Ephraim's and Dan's standards — a precise marching order in which the LXX renders the tribal-prince roster with its characteristic transliterated Hebrew names. (3) The Hobab episode (vv. 29–32): Moses entreats Ιωβαβ son of Ραγουηλ the Midianite, his γαμβρός ('relative by marriage'), to come as Israel's guide-'eyes' through the wilderness; Hobab demurs, and Moses presses the invitation with the promise of shared blessing. (4) The ark-formulas (vv. 33–36): the ark of the covenant goes a three-days' journey ahead (προεπορεύετο) to seek out a resting-place, and the two ancient war-cries are preserved — at the setting-out, ἐξεγέρθητι κύριε, διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροί σου ('Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered,' echoed in Ps 67[68]:1), and at the resting, ἐπίστρεφε κύριε ('Return, O LORD'). The chapter thus binds cultic order, military readiness, and the LORD's personal leadership of the march into a single theology of the journeying people of God.

Numbers 11 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΑ′

Theme. Numbers 11 is one of the great wilderness murmuring narratives, structurally a diptych of two complaints punished by fire and plague and bridged by the gift of the Spirit.

Outline.

• A · 11:1–3 — Taberah: murmuring kindles the LORD's fire.
• B · 11:4–9 — The craving for meat and the loathing of the manna.
• C · 11:10–15 — Moses' complaint: 'Did I conceive this people?'.
• D · 11:16–23 — The remedy promised: seventy elders and meat for a month.
• E · 11:24–30 — The Spirit distributed: the seventy, and Eldad and Medad prophesy.
• F · 11:31–35 — The quail and the plague at Kibroth-hattaavah.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 11 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 11 is one of the great wilderness murmuring narratives, structurally a diptych of two complaints punished by fire and plague and bridged by the gift of the Spirit. It opens at Taberah (ἐμπυρισμός, 'Burning', v. 3), where the people's evil murmuring (γογγύζων πονηρά, v. 1) kindles a consuming fire παρὰ κυρίου at the camp's edge. The chapter then turns to the craving of the 'mixed multitude' (ὁ ἐπίμικτος, v. 4) who 'craved a craving' (ἐπεθύμησαν ἐπιθυμίαν) — a cognate-accusative Hebraism rendering הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה — remembering the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt (v. 5) and loathing the manna, which the narrator pauses to describe as coriander-seed with the appearance of crystal, ground and baked like oil-cakes (vv. 6–9). Moses' despairing complaint (vv. 10–15) is among the most anguished prayers in the Pentateuch — 'Did I conceive all this people? Did I bear them?' (μὴ ἐγὼ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβον … ἢ ἐγὼ ἔτεκον αὐτούς, v. 12) — culminating in a request to die (ἀπόκτεινόν με ἀναιρέσει, v. 15). The LORD's twofold remedy answers the burden and the craving: seventy elders on whom he will put some of the Spirit that is on Moses (ἀφελῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἐπὶ σοί, v. 17), and quail to the point of nausea (vv. 18–20). When the Spirit rests on the seventy they prophesy (ἐπροφήτευσαν, v. 25); Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp itself, and against Joshua's jealous call to restrain them Moses utters his magnanimous wish: 'Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them!' (τίς δῴη πάντα τὸν λαὸν κυρίου προφήτας, v. 29) — a Spirit-distribution crux read forward at Joel 3(2):28–29, Acts 2, and Mark 9:38–40. The chapter closes with the quail brought on a wind from the sea and the plague at Kibroth-hattaavah ('the graves of craving', μνήματα τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, v. 34), a warning rehearsed at Pss 77(78):26–31; 105(106):14–15 and at 1 Cor 10:6, where ἐπιθυμητής ('one who craves', v. 34) becomes the type of the wilderness generation.

Numbers 12 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΒ′

Theme. Numbers 12 is a tightly constructed prophet-vindication narrative: the complaint of Miriam and Aaron against Moses on account of his Cushite wife (vv.

Outline.

• A · 12:1–3 — The complaint against Moses and the note on his meekness.
• B · 12:4–9 — Divine summons and vindication: mouth to mouth, the glory of the LORD.
• C · 12:10–13 — Miriam struck leprous; Aaron's plea and Moses' intercession.
• D · 12:14–16 — Seven days' exclusion and the resumption of the march.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 12 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 12 is a tightly constructed prophet-vindication narrative: the complaint of Miriam and Aaron against Moses on account of his Cushite wife (vv. 1–2), a remarkable narratorial aside on Moses' unequalled meekness (v. 3), the divine summons to the tent of witness (vv. 4–5), and the heart of the chapter — YHWH's self-differentiating speech declaring that to an ordinary prophet he makes himself known ἐν ὁράματι ('in a vision') and ἐν ὕπνῳ ('in a dream'), but with Moses, his θεράπων ('servant') who is πιστός ('faithful') ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ μου ('in all my house'), he speaks στόμα κατὰ στόμα ('mouth to mouth'), ἐν εἴδει ('plainly / in visible form') and οὐ δι᾿ αἰνιγμάτων ('not through riddles'), so that Moses has even seen τὴν δόξαν κυρίου ('the glory/form of the LORD', vv. 6–8). This crux is the OT charter for Moses' unique mediatorial standing and is taken up programmatically in the New Testament: Heb 3:2–6 reads Num 12:7 (πιστὸς … ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ) christologically, contrasting Moses faithful as a θεράπων 'in' God's house with Christ faithful as Son 'over' it; John 1:17–18 sets the Law given through Moses against grace and truth through Jesus Christ, who alone has seen God. The narrative then turns: divine ὀργὴ θυμοῦ ('the wrath of anger', v. 9), Miriam struck leprous ὡσεὶ χιών ('white as snow', v. 10), Aaron's confession and plea (vv. 11–12), Moses' terse intercession ὁ θεός δέομαί σου ἴασαι αὐτήν ('O God, I beg you, heal her', v. 13), and the LORD's sentence of seven days' exclusion ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ('outside the camp', v. 14). The chapter closes with the people held in place until Miriam's cleansing and the resumption of the march from Hazeroth into the wilderness of Paran (vv. 15–16). Two lexical threads bind the chapter: the prophecy-mediation vocabulary (προφήτης, ὅραμα, ὕπνος, στόμα κατὰ στόμα, δόξα), and the humility/exaltation reversal in which the πραῢς σφόδρα ('exceedingly meek') Moses is publicly vindicated while his accusers are humbled.

Numbers 13 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΓ′

Theme. Numbers 13 LXX (= MT 13:1–33; note that the LXX and MT verse-counts run parallel here, both giving thirty-three verses) narrates the reconnaissance of Canaan by twelve tribal chiefs.

Outline.

• A · 13:1–16 — Divine commission and the roster of the twelve scouts; Hoshea renamed Joshua.
• B · 13:17–20 — Moses' charge: what to reconnoiter in the land.
• C · 13:21–25 — The reconnaissance: from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob; Hebron and the Anakim; the cluster of Eshcol.
• D · 13:26–33 — The report: milk and honey, but giants and fortified cities; the evil report and Caleb's faithful dissent.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 13 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 13 LXX (= MT 13:1–33; note that the LXX and MT verse-counts run parallel here, both giving thirty-three verses) narrates the reconnaissance of Canaan by twelve tribal chiefs. The chapter falls into four movements: the divine commission and the roster of scouts (vv. 1–16), Moses' charge specifying what they are to observe (vv. 17–20), the reconnaissance itself from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, through Hebron of the Anakim, and to the Wadi of the Cluster (vv. 21–25), and the report to the assembly (vv. 26–33). The governing verb is κατασκέπτομαι ('spy out, reconnoiter'), which recurs at vv. 2, 16, 17, 21, 25, 32 and frames the whole episode. At v. 16 the narrator records Moses' renaming of Αυση (Hoshea) son of Ναυη (Nun) to Ἰησοῦς — the LXX form of Joshua, identical in spelling with the name later rendered 'Jesus,' a point of typological interest already exploited by early Christian readers. The reconnaissance brings back ocular proof of fertility: the scouts cut a single cluster (βότρυς) of grapes so heavy it is carried on a pole (ἐπ᾿ ἀναφορεῦσιν) between two men, from the place thereby named Φάραγξ βότρυος ('Ravine/Wadi of the Cluster,' Hebrew Eshcol, v. 24). The land is confessed to be one ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι ('flowing with milk and honey,' v. 27), the classic Pentateuchal formula for the promise. But the majority report turns on ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ὅτι ('except that,' v. 28): the people are θρασύ ('bold/fierce'), the cities ὀχυραὶ τετειχισμέναι ('strong, walled'), and the γενεὰ Εναχ — the clan of Anak, the giants — dwell there. Against the panic, Χαλεβ (Caleb) silences the people (κατεσιώπησεν, v. 30) with a confession of faith: ἀναβάντες ἀναβησόμεθα … ὅτι δυνατοὶ δυνησόμεθα ('going up we shall go up … for we are surely able'), two emphatic Hebraizing cognate constructions rendering the infinitive-absolute. The other scouts answer with an ἔκστασις ('a fright/scaremongering,' v. 32) of the land — literally a 'putting-out-of-mind' — slandering it as γῆ κατέσθουσα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ('a land that devours its inhabitants'). The climactic v. 33 sets the unbelief-vs-faith crux that drives chapter 14: the scouts saw τοὺς γίγαντας ('the giants') and felt themselves ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες ('like grasshoppers') before them. The episode is read in the New Testament as the paradigm of the wilderness generation's unbelief (Heb 3:16–19; 1 Cor 10:1–11; cf. Ps 105[106]:24–27).

Numbers 14 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΔ′

Theme. Numbers 14 is the theological pivot of the wilderness narrative: the people, terrified by the spies' report (ch. 13), weep through the night and propose appointing a leader (ἀρχηγόν) to return to Egypt (vv.

Outline.

• A · 14:1–10 — The rebellion at Kadesh: weeping, the plot to return, and the threat of stoning.
• B · 14:11–19 — The LORD's threat of destruction and Moses' great intercession.
• C · 14:20–25 — Pardon granted, but the oath sworn: none of that generation shall see the land except Caleb.
• D · 14:26–35 — The sentence on the wilderness generation: forty years, a year for each day.
• E · 14:36–45 — The spies' plague-death and the presumptuous rout at Hormah.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 14 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 14 is the theological pivot of the wilderness narrative: the people, terrified by the spies' report (ch. 13), weep through the night and propose appointing a leader (ἀρχηγόν) to return to Egypt (vv. 1–4); Moses and Aaron fall on their faces, and Joshua (Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυη) and Caleb (Χαλεβ ὁ τοῦ Ιεφοννη) tear their garments and plead — 'the land is exceedingly good' (ἀγαθή ἐστιν σφόδρα σφόδρα), 'the LORD is among us, do not fear them' (ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν μὴ φοβηθῆτε) — only for the congregation to threaten stoning as the δόξα κυρίου appears at the tent of meeting (vv. 5–10). YHWH threatens to strike the people with death (πατάξω αὐτοὺς θανάτῳ) and to make of Moses a greater nation, provoking Moses' great intercession (vv. 13–19): he appeals to YHWH's reputation among the nations who have heard his name, and recites the credal attributes of Exod 34:6–7 — κύριος μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ ἀληθινός, ἀφαιρῶν ἀνομίας καὶ ἀδικίας καὶ ἁμαρτίας … ἀποδιδοὺς ἁμαρτίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα ἕως τρίτης καὶ τετάρτης (v. 18) — closing with the petition ἄφες τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου (v. 19). YHWH grants pardon (ἵλεως αὐτοῖς εἰμι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου, v. 20) yet swears by the self-asseveration formula ζῶ ἐγώ ('as I live', v. 21) that none of the generation who tested him τοῦτο δέκατον ('this tenth time', v. 22) shall see the sworn land — except his servant Caleb, in whom was 'a different spirit' (πνεῦμα ἕτερον, v. 24); the carcasses (τὰ κῶλα) of all numbered from twenty years and upward shall fall in the wilderness, and their sons shall bear their harlotry forty years, a year for each of the forty days of spying (vv. 26–35). The ten men who brought the evil report die by plague before the LORD (ἐν τῇ πληγῇ ἔναντι κυρίου, v. 37), only Joshua and Caleb living; when the people then presumptuously attack the hill country despite Moses' warning (οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κύριος μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν, v. 42), the Amalekite and Canaanite rout them as far as Hormah (ἕως Ερμαν, v. 45). The wilderness-generation oath of vv. 21–23, 28–35 becomes a foundational text of biblical theology, cited at Ps 94[95]:11; 1 Cor 10:5; Heb 3:7–4:11; and Jude 5.

Numbers 15 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΕ′

Theme. Numbers 15 stands as a deliberate cultic and legal interlude after the rebellion of the spies (ch. 13–14) and before the rebellion of Korah (ch.

Outline.

• A · 15:1–16 — Grain and drink offerings, graded by animal; one law for native and sojourner.
• B · 15:17–21 — The firstfruits of the dough (ἀπαρχὴ φυράματος).
• C · 15:22–31 — Inadvertent sin atoned, the high-handed sin cut off.
• D · 15:32–36 — The sabbath-breaker stoned outside the camp.
• E · 15:37–41 — The command of the tassels with the blue cord.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 15 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 15 stands as a deliberate cultic and legal interlude after the rebellion of the spies (ch. 13–14) and before the rebellion of Korah (ch. 16): a chapter of grace and order set between two catastrophes. It opens with a future-oriented formula — ὅταν εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν γῆν ('when you come into the land', v. 2) — that quietly reasserts the land-promise the previous chapter had imperiled, and then legislates the grain and drink offerings (θυσία σεμιδάλεως and σπονδή) that must accompany every burnt offering or peace offering, graded by animal: a lamb (one-tenth of an ephah, a fourth of a hin of oil and wine, vv. 4–5), a ram (two-tenths, a third of a hin, vv. 6–7), a bull-calf (three-tenths, half a hin, vv. 8–10). The legislation insists on one law (νόμος εἷς) for the native-born (αὐτόχθων, ἐγχώριος) and the resident alien (προσήλυτος) alike (vv. 13–16, 29), a recurrent LXX concern. Verses 17–21 prescribe the ἀπαρχὴ φυράματος ('firstfruits of the dough'), a cake set apart for the LORD — the verse echoed at Rom 11:16 (εἰ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ ἁγία). The theological centre is the contrast between sin committed ἀκουσίως ('unintentionally / inadvertently', vv. 22–29), which the priest atones for by sacrifice with the result ἀφεθήσεται ('it shall be forgiven'), and the sin committed ἐν χειρὶ ὑπερηφανίας ('with a high hand of arrogance', v. 30): the defiant blasphemer who 'provokes' the LORD (παροξύνει), despises his word (τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου ἐφαύλισεν) and scatters his commandments (διεσκέδασεν), for whom there is no offering but only being 'utterly cut off' (ἐξολεθρευθήσεται, ἐκτριβήσεται) bearing his own iniquity — the conceptual background of Heb 10:26 (ἑκουσίως … ἁμαρτανόντων). A narrative paradigm follows (vv. 32–36): a man found gathering wood on the sabbath (συλλέγοντα ξύλα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων) is held in custody until the LORD himself decrees death by stoning outside the camp (ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς) — the high-handed sin made flesh. The chapter closes with the command of the κράσπεδα ('tassels / fringes') on the πτερύγια ('corners / wings') of the garment, bound with a κλῶσμα ὑακίνθινον ('cord of blue', vv. 37–41): a visible mnemonic to look (ὄψεσθε) and remember (μνησθήσεσθε) and do all the LORD's commandments, and not go whoring (ἐκπορνεύετε) after the wandering of heart and eyes — the very tassels of Matt 9:20; 14:36 and the broadened phylacteries of Matt 23:5.

Numbers 16 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙϚ′

Theme. IMPORTANT VERSIFICATION NOTE: the Rahlfs/Hebrew chapter division differs from the English Bible here. Rahlfs–Hanhart Numbers 16 runs to 35 verses and closes with the fire from the LORD consuming the 250 men who offered incense (v.

Outline.

• A · 16:1–3 — The rebellion: Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and the 250 against Moses and Aaron.
• B · 16:4–7 — Moses' response: the censer-test, that the LORD may show whom he has chosen.
• C · 16:8–11 — Appeal to the Levites: 'is it a small thing that God has separated you?'.
• D · 16:12–14 — Dathan and Abiram's refusal: 'we will not come up'.
• E · 16:15–19 — Moses' anger and the assembly at the tent; the glory of the LORD appears.
• F · 16:20–27 — Command to separate; the intercession of Moses and Aaron; withdrawal from the tents.
• G · 16:28–30 — Moses' sign: if the earth opens its mouth, the LORD has sent me.
• H · 16:31–35 — The judgment: the earth swallows Korah's company into Hades; fire consumes the 250.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 16 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. IMPORTANT VERSIFICATION NOTE: the Rahlfs/Hebrew chapter division differs from the English Bible here. Rahlfs–Hanhart Numbers 16 runs to 35 verses and closes with the fire from the LORD consuming the 250 men who offered incense (v. 35). The censer-aftermath (the beaten plates for the altar) and the plague checked by Aaron's incense — which English Bibles number 16:36–50 — fall in Rahlfs chapter 17:1–15. This file therefore annotates verses 1–35 only; readers comparing an English versification should note the one-chapter offset for the material after v. 35. The chapter narrates the rebellion of Korah (Κορε) the Levite, with Dathan and Abiram (Δαθαν, Αβιρων) of Reuben and 250 chiefs of the congregation, against the ordained authority of Moses and Aaron (vv. 1–3); their charge is a populist holiness-claim — πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ πάντες ἅγιοι ('all the congregation, all are holy'), so 'why do you exalt yourselves over the assembly of the LORD?' Moses falls on his face and proposes the censer-test: tomorrow the LORD will show whom he has chosen (ὃν ἂν ἐκλέξηται κύριος, v. 7), grounded in the principle ἔγνω ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ ('God knows those who are his', v. 5) — a verse echoed at 2 Tim 2:19. Moses appeals to Korah's fellow-Levites ('is it a small thing, μὴ μικρόν ἐστιν, that God has separated you?', vv. 8–11), but Dathan and Abiram refuse to come up (οὐκ ἀναβαίνομεν, vv. 12–14), mocking the Exodus as a removal from a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' At the tent of meeting the glory of the LORD appears (v. 19); after Moses' intercession (θεὸς τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ πάσης σαρκός, v. 22) the congregation is told to withdraw from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (vv. 23–27). Moses stakes the vindication of his commission on an unprecedented sign (vv. 28–30): if the earth opens its mouth and swallows them alive into Hades, the LORD has sent him. The judgment falls in two strokes: the ground splits and Korah's company go down alive into Hades (κατέβησαν … ζῶντα εἰς ᾅδου, vv. 31–33), and fire goes out from the LORD and consumes the 250 incense-bearers (v. 35). The chapter is the locus classicus for rebellion against divinely ordained authority — 'the gainsaying of Korah' (τῇ ἀντιλογίᾳ τοῦ Κορε, Jude 11).

Numbers 17 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΖ′

Theme. IMPORTANT NUMBERING NOTE: the LXX (with the Hebrew Masoretic Text) divides this material differently from most English Bibles. In Rahlfs, Numbers 17 contains TWO originally distinct episodes: (1) vv.

Outline.

• A · 17:1–5 — The censers of the 250 beaten into a plating for the altar: a memorial sign.
• B · 17:6–15 — The congregation murmurs, the plague breaks out, and Aaron stands between the dead and the living.
• C · 17:16–22 — Twelve tribal rods, named and laid up before the testimony.
• D · 17:23–28 — Aaron's rod buds: the divine sign and the people's dread.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 17 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. IMPORTANT NUMBERING NOTE: the LXX (with the Hebrew Masoretic Text) divides this material differently from most English Bibles. In Rahlfs, Numbers 17 contains TWO originally distinct episodes: (1) vv. 1–15 = the aftermath of Korah's censers and the plague stayed by Aaron's incense — material that English versions (following the Vulgate's verse-numbering) print as Numbers 16:36–50; and (2) vv. 16–28 = the sign of Aaron's budding rod — material English versions print as Numbers 17:1–13. Thus a reference to 'LXX Num 17:13' (Aaron standing between the dead and the living) corresponds to English 'Num 16:48', and 'LXX Num 17:23' (the rod that budded) corresponds to English 'Num 17:8'. The chapter is annotated here as a single unit of 28 verses, vv. 1–28, following Rahlfs. The first episode (vv. 1–15) turns on a priestly-intercession crux: Aaron, censer in hand, ἔστη ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν τεθνηκότων καὶ τῶν ζώντων ('stood between the dead and the living', v. 13) and the θραῦσις ('plague / breaking') was stayed — though 14,700 had already died (χωρὶς τῶν τεθνηκότων ἕνεκεν Κορε, v. 14). The second episode (vv. 16–28) is the sign of the budding rod: of the twelve tribal staffs laid up ἔναντι κυρίου in the tent of testimony, Aaron's rod for the house of Levi alone ἐβλάστησεν … ἐξήνεγκεν βλαστὸν καὶ ἐξήνθησεν ἄνθη καὶ ἐβλάστησεν κάρυα ('budded … brought forth a shoot and blossomed blossoms and produced ripe almonds', v. 23), the divine attestation of the chosen priesthood, kept σημεῖον τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνηκόων ('a sign to the sons of the disobedient', v. 25) that their murmuring (γογγυσμός) might cease; the budding rod is later remembered as one of the contents of the ark (Heb 9:4). The verb βλαστάνω frames the miracle (vv. 20, 23), and the noun γογγυσμός / verb γογγύζω forms an inclusio binding the two episodes (the murmuring that occasions the plague, vv. 6–7, and the murmuring the rod is meant to end, vv. 20, 25).

Numbers 18 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΗ′

Theme. Numbers 18 is the LORD's direct answer to the people's terror at the close of chapter 17 ('Behold, we are perishing, we are destroyed, we are all destroyed!

Outline.

• A · 18:1–7 — The charge of the sanctuary: priests bear iniquity, Levites are joined.
• B · 18:8–19 — The dues of the priests: most holy offerings, firstfruits, and firstborn.
• C · 18:20 — The LORD as portion and inheritance.
• D · 18:21–24 — The Levites' tithe in lieu of inheritance.
• E · 18:25–32 — The tithe of the tithe: the Levites' contribution to the priests.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 18 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 18 is the LORD's direct answer to the people's terror at the close of chapter 17 ('Behold, we are perishing, we are destroyed, we are all destroyed! Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the LORD dies; are we to be utterly consumed?', 17:27–28): it defines the guardianship of the sanctuary as the joint, graduated charge of priests and Levites. The chapter divides into a charge (vv. 1–7), a catalogue of priestly dues (vv. 8–19), the inheritance-crux (v. 20), the Levitical tithe (vv. 21–24), and the tithe-of-the-tithe (vv. 25–32). Its lexical signature is the verb of bearing iniquity (λήμψεσθε τὰς ἁμαρτίας, vv. 1, 23; cf. βαστάζω elsewhere): Aaron and his house 'shall bear the sins of the holy things and of the priesthood' (v. 1), a juridical liability-language whereby the priesthood absorbs the lethal danger of holiness so that 'there be no wrath upon the sons of Israel' (v. 5). The Levites are 'added/joined' (προστεθήτωσαν, προστεθήσονται, vv. 2, 4) — the verb pointing to the etymology of Levi (Gen 29:34) — as a 'gift given' (δόμα δεδομένον, v. 6) to the LORD; but neither they nor any ἀλλογενής ('outsider', vv. 4, 7) may approach the holy vessels or the altar on pain of death (vv. 3, 7). The dues catalogue (vv. 8–19) assigns to the priests τὴν διατήρησιν τῶν ἀπαρχῶν ('the keeping of the firstfruits'), the most holy offerings (τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων), the wave-offerings (ἐπιθέματα), the firstfruits of oil, wine and grain, every devoted thing (πᾶν ἀνατεθεματισμένον, v. 14), and every firstborn (πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν, v. 15) — yet the firstborn of man and of unclean beasts are redeemed (λυτρωθήσεται … λυτρώσῃ) at five shekels by the sanctuary shekel of twenty obols (v. 16), while the firstborn of clean animals are sacrificed. These gifts are sealed as a διαθήκη ἁλὸς αἰωνίου ('an everlasting covenant of salt', v. 19), a perpetual, incorruptible grant. The theological pivot is v. 20: 'In their land you shall not inherit, and you shall have no portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance (ἐγὼ μερίς σου καὶ κληρονομία σου) in the midst of the sons of Israel' — the priest-and-Levite renunciation of territorial allotment grounded in the LORD himself as their possession (cf. Ps 15[16]:5; Lam 3:24; Deut 10:9; 18:1–2; Josh 13:14, 33; Ezek 44:28). In compensation the Levites receive every tithe (πᾶν ἐπιδέκατον, v. 21) 'in lot' (ἐν κλήρῳ) as wages for their service, themselves having no land-inheritance (vv. 21–24); and from that tithe the Levites must in turn lift out a 'tithe of the tithe' (ἐπιδέκατον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπιδεκάτου, v. 26) as the LORD's contribution (ἀφαίρεμα) given to Aaron the priest, reckoned to them as the produce of threshing-floor and winepress (vv. 25–32). The chapter's vocabulary of κληρονομία / μερίς / κλῆρος and of bearing-iniquity makes it a foundational text for the landless, danger-bearing, divinely-portioned status of Israel's clergy.

Numbers 19 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΙΘ′

Theme. Numbers 19 is the ordinance (διαστολὴ τοῦ νόμου, v. 2; νόμιμον αἰώνιον, vv.

Outline.

• A · 19:1–10 — The ordinance of the red heifer and the making of the water of sprinkling.
• B · 19:11–13 — Corpse-defilement and the penalty for the unpurified.
• C · 19:14–22 — The law of the tent of death and the application of the water.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 19 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 19 is the ordinance (διαστολὴ τοῦ νόμου, v. 2; νόμιμον αἰώνιον, vv. 10, 21) of the red heifer (δάμαλις πυρρά) and the resulting 'water of sprinkling' (ὕδωρ ῥαντισμοῦ). The chapter divides into the rite proper (vv. 1–10) and the casuistic law of corpse-defilement it serves (vv. 11–22). A red heifer without blemish (ἄμωμον) and never yoked (ᾗ οὐκ ἐπεβλήθη ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ζυγός, v. 2) is led outside the camp (ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς, v. 3), slaughtered before Eleazar, who sprinkles its blood seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting (ἑπτάκις, v. 4); the whole animal — hide, flesh, blood, and dung — is burned (κατακαυθήσεται, v. 5) together with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet (ξύλον κέδρινον … ὕσσωπον … κόκκινον, v. 6). The ashes (σποδός, v. 9) are gathered by a clean man and stored outside the camp as a 'purification from sin' (ἁγνισμός / ἅγνισμα, vv. 9, 17). The paradox at the heart of the rite is that everyone who handles it — the priest (v. 7), the burner (v. 8), the gatherer (v. 10) — becomes unclean until evening (ἀκάθαρτος … ἕως ἑσπέρας), so that the very rite which purifies the defiled defiles the clean. The second half legislates the corpse-uncleanness the water remedies: whoever touches a dead body of any human soul (ὁ ἁπτόμενος τοῦ τεθνηκότος πάσης ψυχῆς ἀνθρώπου, v. 11) is unclean seven days and must be purified (ἁγνισθήσεται, ἀφαγνισθῇ) on the third and seventh days; failure defiles the sanctuary of the LORD (τὴν σκηνὴν κυρίου ἐμίανεν, v. 13) and the soul is 'cut off / utterly destroyed' (ἐκτριβήσεται, v. 13; ἐξολεθρευθήσεται, v. 20). Death-uncleanness spreads to the tent and its open vessels (vv. 14–16); the cleansing is performed by mixing the ash of purification with 'living water' (ὕδωρ ζῶν, v. 17) and sprinkling it with hyssop on the third and seventh days (vv. 17–19). The chapter is foundational for the typology of Hebrews 9:13–14, where the σποδὸς δαμάλεως ('ashes of a heifer') that sanctifies the flesh is contrasted with the blood of Christ that cleanses the conscience; note also the cluster καθαρός / ἀκάθαρτος (clean / unclean) and the technical purification terms ἁγνισμός and ῥαντισμός.

Numbers 20 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Κ′

Theme. Numbers 20 is a hinge-chapter in the wilderness narrative, marking the passage from the first wilderness generation to the second: it opens with the death of Miriam at Kadesh (v.

Outline.

• A · 20:1 — The death of Miriam at Kadesh.
• B · 20:2–13 — The waters of contention (Meribah): the rock struck and the judgment on Moses and Aaron.
• C · 20:14–21 — Edom refuses Israel passage.
• D · 20:22–29 — The death of Aaron and the succession of Eleazar.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 20 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 20 is a hinge-chapter in the wilderness narrative, marking the passage from the first wilderness generation to the second: it opens with the death of Miriam at Kadesh (v. 1), turns on the crisis of the waters of contention — ὕδωρ ἀντιλογίας, Meribah (vv. 2–13) — and closes with the death of Aaron on Mount Hor and the transfer of the high-priestly office to Eleazar (vv. 22–29). At the centre stands the gravest judgment-crux of Moses' career: although the LORD commands Moses merely to speak to the rock (λαλήσατε πρὸς τὴν πέτραν, v. 8), Moses gathers the assembly, addresses them as οἱ ἀπειθεῖς ('you rebels', v. 10), and strikes the rock twice with the rod (ἐπάταξεν τὴν πέτραν τῇ ῥάβδῳ δίς, v. 11); water gushes out abundantly, yet because Moses and Aaron 'did not believe to sanctify me before the sons of Israel' (οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε ἁγιάσαι με ἐναντίον υἱῶν Ισραηλ, v. 12), they are barred from leading Israel into the land. The LXX names the place ὕδωρ ἀντιλογίας ('water of contention', v. 13), rendering Hebrew מֵי מְרִיבָה (Meribah); the same event is recalled at Ps 105[106]:32–33 ('they angered him at the water of contention, and Moses was harmed for their sake'), and the water-giving rock receives a christological-typological reading at 1 Cor 10:4 (ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός). The strike-versus-speak failure — Moses commanded to λαλεῖν but acting to πατάσσειν — is the textual heart of the judgment. The middle section narrates Edom's refusal of passage (vv. 14–21): Israel's diplomatic appeal invokes the kinship of 'your brother Israel' (ὁ ἀδελφός σου Ισραηλ, v. 14) and pledges to keep to the royal road (ὁδῷ βασιλικῇ, v. 17) without turning aside right or left, but Edom answers with the sword, marching out ἐν ὄχλῳ βαρεῖ καὶ ἐν χειρὶ ἰσχυρᾷ (v. 20). The chapter ends with the solemn divine command προστεθήτω Ααρων πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ('let Aaron be gathered to his people', v. 24), the stripping of Aaron's priestly garments (τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ) and the investiture of his son Eleazar (vv. 25–28), and the thirty-day mourning of the whole house of Israel (v. 29).

Numbers 21 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΑ′

Theme. Numbers 21 is one of the most theologically consequential chapters of the LXX Pentateuch, gathering four distinct units.

Outline.

• A · 21:1–3 — The king of Arad defeated; the place named Anathema.
• B · 21:4–9 — The deadly serpents and the bronze serpent on the standard.
• C · 21:10–20 — The wilderness itinerary, the Book of the Wars, and the Song of the Well.
• D · 21:21–35 — The defeat of Sihon and Og: the conquest of Transjordan begins.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 21 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 21 is one of the most theologically consequential chapters of the LXX Pentateuch, gathering four distinct units. (1) The defeat of the Canaanite king of Arad and the devoting of his cities to destruction, sealed by the place-name ἀνάθεμα ('Anathema'), the LXX's rendering of Hebrew חָרְמָה (Hormah) interpreting the toponym through the root חֵרֶם / ἀνάθεμα ('a thing devoted/banned', vv. 1–3). (2) The episode of the deadly serpents: the people, made faint-hearted (ὠλιγοψύχησεν) on the way around Edom, speak against God and Moses, loathing the manna as ἄρτος διάκενος ('worthless/empty bread'); the LORD sends τοὺς ὄφεις τοὺς θανατοῦντας ('the deadly serpents'); on the people's repentance Moses is told to make an ὄφις χαλκοῦς ('a bronze serpent') and set it ἐπὶ σημείου ('on a standard/pole'), so that everyone bitten who looks upon it (ἰδών) lives (vv. 4–9). This is the chapter's headline crux: the verb of looking-and-living grounds Jesus' own typology at John 3:14–15, καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; cf. Wisdom 16:5–7 (the serpent as σύμβολον σωτηρίας) and 2 Kings 18:4, where Hezekiah destroys the bronze serpent called 'Nehushtan.' (3) The wilderness itinerary from Oboth to the plains of Moab, embedding two archaic poems quoted from sources: the citation of 'the Book of the Wars of the LORD' (ἐν βιβλίῳ· πόλεμος τοῦ κυρίου, v. 14) and the Song of the Well (ἀνάβαινε, φρέαρ — the Greek imperative ἐξάρχετε αὐτῷ marking antiphonal singing, vv. 16–18). (4) The defeat of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan (vv. 21–35), opening the conquest of Transjordan, with the embedded Heshbon ballad of the αἰνιγματισταί ('ballad-singers/composers of taunt-songs', vv. 27–30) and the oracle of holy-war assurance μὴ φοβηθῇς αὐτόν ('do not fear him', v. 34). The serpent vocabulary (ὄφις, δάκνω, θανατόω) and the verb of looking (ἐμβλέπω / ὁράω), together with the later Johannine ὑψόω, make this chapter a fountainhead of NT typology; the Sihon/Og victories are celebrated liturgically at Psalms 134[135]:11 and 135[136]:19–20.

Numbers 22 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΒ′

Theme. Numbers 22 opens the Balaam pericope (chs. 22–24), one of the most theologically and narratively dramatic units in the Pentateuch.

Outline.

• A · 22:1–7 — Balak's terror and the first embassy to Balaam.
• B · 22:8–14 — God forbids Balaam; the first embassy returns empty.
• C · 22:15–21 — The second embassy and conditional permission to go.
• D · 22:22–27 — The angel and the donkey: three turnings.
• E · 22:28–35 — The donkey speaks; Balaam's eyes opened.
• F · 22:36–41 — Balaam reaches Balak; the binding word and the pillar of Baal.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 22 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 22 opens the Balaam pericope (chs. 22–24), one of the most theologically and narratively dramatic units in the Pentateuch. Israel, encamped ἐπὶ δυσμῶν Μωαβ ('to the west of Moab', v. 1) on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, terrifies Balak son of Sepphor (Βαλακ υἱὸς Σεπφωρ), king of Moab, who recruits the elders of Moab and Midian and sends them with τὰ μαντεῖα ('the divination-fees', v. 7) to Balaam son of Beor (Βαλααμ υἱὸν Βεωρ) at Pethor on the River to curse Israel (ἄρασαί μοι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, v. 6). The chapter pivots on the theology of blessing and cursing: God forbids Balaam, οὐ πορεύσῃ μετ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ καταράσῃ τὸν λαόν· ἔστιν γὰρ εὐλογημένος ('you shall not go with them nor curse the people, for it is blessed', v. 12). A second, more honored embassy and a larger fee bring conditional permission to go, hedged by the controlling command ἀλλὰ τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἂν λαλήσω πρὸς σέ τοῦτο ποιήσεις ('but the word I speak to you, that you shall do', v. 20). The narrative core (vv. 22–35) is the episode of the donkey (ἡ ὄνος): God's anger kindles, the angel of the LORD (ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ / κυρίου) stands in the road ἐνδιαβάλλειν αὐτόν ('to oppose/accuse him') with a drawn sword (τὴν ῥομφαίαν / μάχαιραν ἐσπασμένην), and three times the donkey sees what the seer cannot and turns aside, is beaten, until the LORD opens the donkey's mouth (ἤνοιξεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στόμα τῆς ὄνου, v. 28) and the animal rebukes the prophet. The episode is the headline crux of the chapter, cited at 2 Pet 2:16 (ὑποζύγιον ἄφωνον ἐν ἀνθρώπου φωνῇ φθεγξάμενον ἐκώλυσεν τὴν τοῦ προφήτου παραφρονίαν, 'a dumb beast of burden, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet's madness'), and the figure of Balaam recurs as a type of mercenary apostasy at Jude 11 ('the error of Balaam') and Rev 2:14 ('the teaching of Balaam'). The LXX heightens the seeing/blindness irony: the διορῶν ('seer') is blind to the angel his ὄνος perceives, until God opens his eyes (ἀπεκάλυψεν … τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς Βαλααμ, v. 31). The chapter closes (vv. 36–41) with Balaam reaching Balak at the city of Moab on the Arnon border, the binding word-formula ἐὰν βάλῃ ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸ στόμα μου (v. 38) foreshadowing the oracles, and Balak leading Balaam up to the pillar of Baal (τὴν στήλην τοῦ Βααλ) to view the people.

Numbers 23 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΓ′

Theme. Numbers 23 contains the first two of Balaam's four oracles, delivered in the hire of Balak king of Moab, who has summoned the seer from Mesopotamia (ἐκ Μεσοποταμίας, v.

Outline.

• A · 23:1–6 — The seven altars and Balaam's withdrawal (first site).
• B · 23:7–10 — Balaam's first oracle: 'How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?'.
• C · 23:11–17 — Balak's protest and the second site; God meets Balaam again.
• D · 23:18–24 — Balaam's second oracle: the immutability of God and the un-cursable people.
• E · 23:25–30 — Balak's renewed frustration and the third site at Peor.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 23 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 23 contains the first two of Balaam's four oracles, delivered in the hire of Balak king of Moab, who has summoned the seer from Mesopotamia (ἐκ Μεσοποταμίας, v. 7) to curse Israel. The chapter has a tight ritual rhythm: twice Balak builds seven altars (ἑπτὰ βωμούς) and offers a bull and a ram on each (vv. 1–2, 14, 29–30); twice Balaam withdraws to seek YHWH, who 'puts a word in his mouth' (ἐνέβαλεν … ῥῆμα εἰς τὸ στόμα, vv. 5, 16); and twice the seer can only bless. The first oracle (vv. 7–10) is built on the impossibility of cursing whom God has not cursed (τί ἀράσωμαι ὃν μὴ καταρᾶται κύριος), on Israel's separateness (λαὸς μόνος κατοικήσει, 'a people that will dwell alone'), on the innumerability of the seed of Jacob, and on Balaam's own wish: ἀποθάνοι ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν ψυχαῖς δικαίων ('let my soul die among the souls of the righteous'). The second oracle (vv. 18–24) opens with the great immutability crux: οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ θεὸς διαρτηθῆναι οὐδὲ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀπειληθῆναι ('God is not as a man, that he should waver/be deceived, nor as a son of man, that he should be threatened/change his purpose'); the LXX's pair of passive infinitives (διαρτηθῆναι, ἀπειληθῆναι) renders the Hebrew assertion that God does not lie (לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִיכַזֵּב) nor repent (וּבֶן־אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָם), and the verse stands behind 1 Sam 15:29, Titus 1:2, and Heb 6:18. The oracle continues with the un-revoke-able blessing (εὐλογεῖν παρείλημμαι … οὐ μὴ ἀποστρέψω), with YHWH-as-king present in Israel (κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ), with the exodus-recollection under the image of the wild ox (μονοκέρωτος, 'unicorn / one-horned ox'), and with the declaration that no augury or divination prevails against Jacob (οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ιακωβ οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν Ισραηλ) — a striking word from the lips of a professional diviner. The chapter is poetically marked by the recurring noun παραβολή ('oracle / mashal', vv. 7, 18) and by the cognate-blessing/cursing idioms (ἄρασαι … ἐπικατάρασαι, v. 7; εὐλόγηκας εὐλογίαν, v. 11; κατάραις καταράσῃ … εὐλογῶν … εὐλογήσῃς, v. 25) that calque the Hebrew infinitive-absolute constructions and trace Balak's mounting frustration as blessing repeatedly overrides the curse he has paid for.

Numbers 24 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΔ′

Theme. Numbers 24 contains the third and fourth of Balaam's oracles, the climax of the whole Balaam cycle (chs. 22–24).

Outline.

• A · 24:1–2 — The Spirit of God comes upon Balaam.
• B · 24:3–9 — The third oracle: the man who truly sees, and the beauty of Israel's tents.
• C · 24:10–14 — Balak's fury and Balaam's refusal of the fee.
• D · 24:15–19 — The fourth oracle: the Star out of Jacob.
• E · 24:20–24 — Oracles against the nations: Amalek, the Kenites, Asshur and the ships of Kittim.
• F · 24:25 — Departure: Balaam and Balak part ways.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 24 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 24 contains the third and fourth of Balaam's oracles, the climax of the whole Balaam cycle (chs. 22–24). At v. 1 the LXX notes that Balaam no longer went εἰς συνάντησιν τοῖς οἰωνοῖς ('to meet with omens') — he abandons divinatory technique because πνεῦμα θεοῦ ('the Spirit of God') has come upon him (v. 2), a clause that reframes him as an unwilling prophet of YHWH rather than a hired seer. The third oracle (vv. 3–9) opens with the self-presentation of ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἀληθινῶς ὁρῶν ('the man who truly sees'), ὅστις ὅρασιν θεοῦ εἶδεν ἐν ὕπνῳ ('who saw the vision of God in sleep') with ἀποκεκαλυμμένοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοί ('his eyes uncovered'); it praises Israel's tents (ὡς καλοί σου οἱ οἶκοι Ιακωβ, v. 5), pictures the nation as well-watered gardens and cedars (v. 6), foretells a rising 'man' from Israel's seed who will surpass Gog (ὑψωθήσεται ἢ Γωγ, v. 7 — a distinctive LXX reading for Hebrew 'Agag'), depicts Israel led from Egypt with the strength of a unicorn (μονοκέρωτος, v. 8), and closes with the lion-couchant image and the Genesis 12:3 blessing-formula reversed for Balak: οἱ εὐλογοῦντές σε εὐλόγηνται, καὶ οἱ καταρώμενοί σε κεκατήρανται ('those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed', v. 9). Balak's fury (ἐθυμώθη, v. 10) and his hand-clapping dismissal provoke Balaam's refusal of the fee (vv. 11–13) and his offer to foretell Israel's future deeds ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν ('in the last of the days', v. 14), an eschatologically charged formula. The fourth oracle (vv. 15–19) repeats the seer's self-presentation, now adding ἐπιστάμενος ἐπιστήμην παρὰ ὑψίστου ('knowing knowledge from the Most High', v. 16), and culminates in the Star prophecy (v. 17): δείξω αὐτῷ καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν ('I will show him, yet not now') — ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ιακωβ, καὶ ἀναστήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ Ισραηλ ('a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel'). The LXX's ἄνθρωπος ('a man') for the Hebrew שֵׁבֶט ('scepter') gives the verse an overtly messianic-personal cast and stands behind a long reception history (Matt 2:2 'his star'; the Bar Kokhba [bar kokhba, 'son of the star'] revolt; Rev 22:16 'the bright morning star'; Qumran's CD 7 and 1QM 11 and Testament-literature use). Verses 20–24 append further oracles against Amalek, the Kenites, and a Near-Eastern horizon of Asshur and the ships of Kittim (Κιτιαίων, v. 24), before Balaam and Balak part ways (v. 25). The verbs ἀνατέλλω ('rise', of a star) and the noun ἄστρον, together with the recurring 'seeing-with-uncovered-eyes' motif, are the chapter's key lexical signatures.

Numbers 25 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΕ′

Theme. Numbers 25 narrates the apostasy of Israel at Baal-Peor and the zeal of Phinehas: while encamped ἐν Σαττιν (Shittim) the people 'are profaned' (ἐβεβηλώθη) by harlotry (ἐκπορνεῦσαι) with the daughters of Moab, eat their sacrifices, bow to their idols, and are 'consecrated/joined' to Baal-Peor (ἐτελέσθη Ισραηλ τῷ Βεελφεγωρ, v.

Outline.

• A · 25:1–5 — Apostasy at Baal-Peor: harlotry, idolatry, and the wrath of the LORD.
• B · 25:6–9 — The zeal of Phinehas: the spear, the tent, and the staying of the plague.
• C · 25:10–13 — The covenant of peace: zeal, atonement, and perpetual priesthood.
• D · 25:14–18 — The naming of Zimri and Cozbi, and the command to harass Midian.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 25 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 25 narrates the apostasy of Israel at Baal-Peor and the zeal of Phinehas: while encamped ἐν Σαττιν (Shittim) the people 'are profaned' (ἐβεβηλώθη) by harlotry (ἐκπορνεῦσαι) with the daughters of Moab, eat their sacrifices, bow to their idols, and are 'consecrated/joined' to Baal-Peor (ἐτελέσθη Ισραηλ τῷ Βεελφεγωρ, v. 3), kindling the LORD's wrath (vv. 1–3). The command to 'make an example of' the chiefs before the sun (παραδειγμάτισον … ἀπέναντι τοῦ ἡλίου, v. 4) and Moses' order to slay the joined ones (v. 5) precede the pivotal scene: an Israelite man brazenly brings a Midianite woman near in the sight of the whole congregation weeping at the door of the tent of witness (v. 6), and Φινεες (Phinehas) son of Eleazar, grandson of Aaron the priest, rises in zeal, takes a spear (σειρομάστην), follows the man into the κάμινον ('the tent/chamber'), and runs both through — the man and the woman through her womb (διὰ τῆς μήτρας αὐτῆς, v. 8) — staying the plague (ἐπαύσατο ἡ πληγή). The dead number twenty-four thousand (τέσσαρες καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες, v. 9), a figure Paul recalls as 'twenty-three thousand' at 1 Cor 10:8. The LORD declares that Phinehas, by being 'zealous with my zeal' (ἐν τῷ ζηλῶσαί μου τὸν ζῆλον, v. 11), turned away the divine θυμός, and grants him a covenant of peace (διαθήκην εἰρήνης, v. 12) — a covenant of perpetual priesthood (διαθήκη ἱερατείας αἰωνία, v. 13) — because he was zealous for his God and made atonement (ἐξιλάσατο) for the sons of Israel; this atoning zeal is celebrated at Ps 105[106]:30–31 ('it was reckoned to him for righteousness') and Sir 45:23–24. The chapter names the slain man Ζαμβρι (Zimri) son of Salu, a chief of an ancestral house of Simeon (v. 14), and the woman Χασβι (Cozbi) daughter of Sur, a Midianite tribal head (v. 15), and closes with the command to harass and strike Midian (vv. 16–18), 'for they harass you with their treachery' (ἐν δολιότητι) through the affair of Peor (Φογωρ) and Cozbi. The πορνεία→idolatry link recurs as the paradigm of the 'teaching of Balaam' at Rev 2:14.

Numbers 26 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚϚ′

Theme. Numbers 26 is the long census-narrative of the second numbering of Israel on the plains of Moab (Αραβωθ Μωαβ), undertaken after the plague (μετὰ τὴν πληγήν, v.

Outline.

• A · 26:1–4 — Command for the second census on the plains of Moab.
• B · 26:5–11 — Reuben — and the excursus on Dathan, Abiram and Korah.
• C · 26:12–27 — Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad.
• D · 26:28–41 — Asher and the Josephite tribes (Manasseh, Ephraim) — the daughters of Zelophehad.
• E · 26:42–51 — Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali — and the grand total.
• F · 26:52–56 — The principle of allotment: land divided by lot and by number.
• G · 26:57–62 — The separate census of the Levites.
• H · 26:63–65 — Closing theological note: the wilderness generation has died.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 26 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 26 is the long census-narrative of the second numbering of Israel on the plains of Moab (Αραβωθ Μωαβ), undertaken after the plague (μετὰ τὴν πληγήν, v. 1; cf. ch. 25) by Moses and Eleazar the priest. The chapter is dominated by two technical terms: ἐπίσκεψις ('numbering / mustering', the cognate of the verb ἐπισκέπτομαι) and δῆμος ('clan / people'), the latter recurring in the stereotyped formula δῆμος τοῦ / ὁ X ('the clan of X'), patronymically naming each sub-family of each tribe. The tribal roster (vv. 5–50) proceeds Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, the Josephite tribes Manasseh and Ephraim, Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, each closed with its ἐπίσκεψις-total; the grand total is 601,730 (v. 51). The recurring clan-names and patronymics are transliterations of the Hebrew and are treated here as indeclinable (kind 'x'). Embedded in the Reubenite section is the excursus on Dathan, Abiram and the company of Korah (vv. 8–11), recalling ch. 16, with the theologically weighty note that 'the sons of Korah did not die' (v. 11). The Manassite section preserves the genealogy reaching Zelophehad (Σαλπααδ), who had no sons but only daughters — Mala, Noua, Egla, Melcha, Thersa (v. 33; cf. v. 37) — the legal setup for the inheritance ruling of ch. 27 and 36. Verses 52–56 give the divine principle of allotment: the land is to be apportioned ἐν κλήρῳ ('by lot') and proportionally, τοῖς πλείοσιν a larger κληρονομία and τοῖς ἐλάττοσιν a smaller — combining the seemingly contrary mechanisms of lot and headcount. The Levites are numbered separately (vv. 57–62), since οὐ … δίδοται αὐτοῖς κλῆρος ('no allotment is given to them') among the Israelites. The chapter closes (vv. 63–65) with the solemn theological note that not one man (οὐδὲ εἷς) of the generation numbered at Sinai (ch. 1) survived the wilderness except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) son of Nun — the precise fulfilment of YHWH's oath at 14:29–35 (θανάτῳ ἀποθανοῦνται ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ), a passage Paul and the writer to the Hebrews read as paradigmatic warning (1 Cor 10:1–11; Heb 3:7–4:11).

Numbers 27 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΖ′

Theme. Numbers 27 falls into two clearly demarcated legal-narrative units. The first (vv.

Outline.

• A · 27:1–4 — The daughters of Zelophehad bring their petition.
• B · 27:5–11 — The LORD's verdict and the statute of inheritance.
• C · 27:12–14 — Moses shown the land and told of his death.
• D · 27:15–23 — Moses' intercession and the commissioning of Joshua.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 27 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 27 falls into two clearly demarcated legal-narrative units. The first (vv. 1–11) is the celebrated case of the daughters of Zelophehad (αἱ θυγατέρες Σαλπααδ) — Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah (Μαλα, Νουα, Εγλα, Μελχα, Θερσα) — who approach Moses, Eleazar, and the whole congregation at the door of the tent of witness and petition that their dead father's κατάσχεσις ('possession') not be lost because he left no son. Their plea (μὴ ἐξαλειφθήτω τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, 'let not our father's name be blotted out', v. 4) prompts Moses to bring their κρίσις ('case / judgment') before the LORD, who vindicates them — ὀρθῶς … λελαλήκασιν ('they have spoken rightly', v. 7) — and through them establishes a permanent statute: the descending order of inheritance (daughter, then brother, then father's brother, then nearest kinsman, vv. 8–11), sealed as a δικαίωμα κρίσεως ('ordinance of judgment', v. 11). This is a landmark legal precedent in female inheritance, later qualified at ch. 36. The second unit (vv. 12–23) turns to Moses' own succession: the LORD tells him to ascend Mount Abarim (τὸ ὄρος … Ναβαυ) to see the land of Canaan he will not enter, for he is to be 'gathered to his people' (προστεθήσῃ πρὸς τὸν λαόν σου) like Aaron, because both rebelled at the waters of strife at Kadesh (ὕδωρ ἀντιλογίας Καδης, v. 14). Moses intercedes for a successor so that the LORD's congregation 'be not as sheep that have no shepherd' (ὡσεὶ πρόβατα οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ποιμήν, v. 17) — a phrase taken up at Matt 9:36 and Mark 6:34. The LORD designates Joshua son of Nun (τὸν Ἰησοῦν υἱὸν Ναυη), 'a man who has the Spirit in himself' (ἄνθρωπον ὃς ἔχει πνεῦμα ἐν ἑαυτῷ, v. 18), and commands Moses to lay his hand(s) on him (ἐπιθήσεις τὰς χεῖράς σου ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν), set him before Eleazar the priest, and confer some of his δόξα ('honor / glory') upon him so the congregation will obey (vv. 18–20). Joshua is to stand before Eleazar, who will inquire for him by the κρίσις τῶν δήλων ('judgment of the manifestations', i.e. the Urim, v. 21). Moses performs all as commanded (vv. 22–23). The Spirit-endowment and laying-on-of-hands of this commissioning resonate forward to Deut 34:9 (Joshua 'full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him'), Acts 6:6, and 1 Tim 4:14.

Numbers 28 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΗ′

Theme. Numbers 28 opens the festal-offering appendix (chs. 28–29) that fixes the calendar of public, communal sacrifices to be presented 'in their appointed times' (ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς μου, v.

Outline.

• A · 28:1–8 — Commission and the daily continual burnt offering (tamid).
• B · 28:9–10 — The Sabbath offering.
• C · 28:11–15 — The new-moon / monthly offering.
• D · 28:16–25 — Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
• E · 28:26–31 — The Feast of Weeks / day of firstfruits.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 28 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 28 opens the festal-offering appendix (chs. 28–29) that fixes the calendar of public, communal sacrifices to be presented 'in their appointed times' (ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς μου, v. 2). After the commissioning frame (vv. 1–2), the chapter legislates a graduated cycle of obligatory offerings: the daily continual burnt offering (ἡ ὁλοκαύτωσις ἡ διὰ παντός / ὁλοκαύτωμα ἐνδελεχισμοῦ) of two yearling lambs morning and evening, with fine flour, oil, and a drink offering (vv. 3–8); the doubled Sabbath offering (vv. 9–10); the new-moon offering of two bulls, a ram, and seven lambs (vv. 11–15); the Passover and the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (vv. 16–25); and the Feast of Weeks / day of firstfruits (vv. 26–31). The chapter is built from recurring liturgical formulae: the tally of animals (μόσχοι ἐκ βοῶν, κριός, ἀμνοὶ ἐνιαύσιοι), the graduated grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil (σεμίδαλις ἀναπεποιημένη ἐν ἐλαίῳ) measured in tenths of an ephah (δέκατα), the drink offering (σπονδή) measured in fractions of a hin (ιν), and the sin-offering goat (χίμαρος ἐξ αἰγῶν περὶ ἁμαρτίας). The signature vocabulary is the noun ἐνδελεχισμός ('continuance / perpetuity') and the adverb ἐνδελεχῶς, which render Hebrew תָּמִיד ('continual') and define the tamid as the unbroken baseline upon which (ἐπί / πλήν) every festal offering is superadded. The whole is οriented toward the refrain ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας ('an aroma of sweet savor'), the LXX's rendering of רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ, marking the offerings as acceptable and pleasing to the LORD. The transliterated cult-measures οιφι (ephah) and ιν (hin) are carried over untranslated as indeclinable Hebraisms. This festal-offering legislation, with its endlessly repeated daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices, is precisely the cultic system that Hebrews 10:1–4 characterizes as 'a shadow of the good things to come' whose repetition could never perfect the worshipers.

Numbers 29 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΚΘ′

Theme. Numbers 29 continues the festal-offering calendar of chapter 28, prescribing the public sacrifices of the seventh month — the autumn cluster of Israel's holiest convocations.

Outline.

• A · 29:1–6 — The Day of Acclamation: the first of the seventh month.
• B · 29:7–11 — The Day of Atonement: the tenth, and the affliction of souls.
• C · 29:12–34 — The Feast of Booths: seven days of descending bulls.
• D · 29:35–38 — The eighth day: the ἐξόδιον, the closing assembly.
• E · 29:39 — Summary rubric: festal offerings besides vows and freewill gifts.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 29 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 29 continues the festal-offering calendar of chapter 28, prescribing the public sacrifices of the seventh month — the autumn cluster of Israel's holiest convocations. It falls into four feast-units plus a summary: the Day of Acclamation/Trumpets (ἡμέρα σημασίας, the first of the month, vv. 1–6); the Day of Atonement (the tenth, marked by the affliction of souls, καὶ κακώσετε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν, vv. 7–11); the seven-day Feast of Booths/Tabernacles (vv. 12–34); the eighth-day closing assembly (ἐξόδιον, vv. 35–38); and a closing rubric subordinating all festal offerings to the standing obligations (v. 39). The chapter's most distinctive literary feature is the descending bull-count of the Booths week: thirteen bulls on the first day (μόσχους … τρεῖς καὶ δέκα, v. 13), twelve on the second (v. 17), eleven on the third (v. 20), and so down by one each day to seven on the seventh (v. 32) — seventy bulls in all across the feast — while the rams (two) and lambs (fourteen) remain constant. The recurring grain-offering tariff (σεμίδαλις ἀναπεποιημένη ἐν ἐλαίῳ, 'fine flour mixed with oil') is graded by animal: three tenths per bull, two tenths per ram, one tenth per lamb (vv. 3–4, 9–10, 14–15). Each day adds a single he-goat (χίμαρον ἐξ αἰγῶν ἕνα) περὶ ἁμαρτίας ('for sin'), and the verb ἐξιλάσασθαι ('to make atonement', vv. 5, 11) governs the Atonement-Day and Trumpets rites. Three structuring formulas recur: ἐπίκλητος ἁγία ('a holy convocation') for each appointed day; πᾶν ἔργον λατρευτὸν οὐ ποιήσετε ('no servile work shall you do'); and above all πλήν / χωρίς ('besides'), the rubric that each feast's offerings are additional to the continual burnt-offering (τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα τὸ διὰ παντός), the new-moon offering (τῆς νουμηνίας), and finally (v. 39) to vows, freewill gifts, and peace-offerings. The festal vocabulary (ὁλοκαύτωμα, κάρπωμα, θυσία, σπονδή, σύγκρισις, ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας) is carried over directly from chapter 28. The eighth-day ἐξόδιον — the 'closing' or 'going-out' assembly — is the great convocation behind John 7:37, 'on the last, great day of the feast.'

Numbers 30 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ Λ′

Theme. Numbers 30 (so Rahlfs and the Hebrew; many English Bibles number these verses 30:1–16) is the law of vows: a tightly structured legal pericope on the binding force of a vow (εὐχή) and a self-imposed obligation (ὁρισμός, 'a definite obligation by which one binds the soul').

Outline.

• A · 30:1–3 — Superscription and the foundational law: the inviolable vow of a man.
• B · 30:4–6 — The young daughter in her father's house.
• C · 30:7–9 — The woman who marries while under a vow.
• D · 30:10 — The widow or divorced woman: the vow that stands absolutely.
• E · 30:11–16 — The wife in her husband's house: confirmation by silence, annulment, and the bearing of guilt.
• F · 30:17 — Colophon: the ordinances between husband and wife, father and daughter.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 30 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 30 (so Rahlfs and the Hebrew; many English Bibles number these verses 30:1–16) is the law of vows: a tightly structured legal pericope on the binding force of a vow (εὐχή) and a self-imposed obligation (ὁρισμός, 'a definite obligation by which one binds the soul'). The governing principle is stated of the man at v. 3 — οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ῥῆμα αὐτοῦ· κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ποιήσει ('he shall not profane his word; according to all that comes out of his mouth he shall do') — the sanctity of the spoken vow (cf. Deut 23:21–23; Eccl 5:4–5; and the dominical radicalization at Matt 5:33–37, 'do not swear at all… let your yes be yes,' and Jas 5:12). The chapter then treats a woman's vow in graded cases: the young daughter in her father's house, whose vow the father may annul (ἀνανεύω, 'shake the head in refusal') on the day he hears it (vv. 4–6); the betrothed or married woman, whose husband may confirm by silence or annul (vv. 7–9, 11–16); and — the legal hinge of the chapter — the widow or divorced woman (χήρα καὶ ἐκβεβλημένη), whose vow stands absolutely, μενοῦσιν αὐτῇ (v. 10), because no male authority intervenes. A recurring procedural rule governs the whole: silence on the day of hearing (παρασιωπάω / ἡσυχάζω, 'hold one's peace') confirms the vow and makes it stand (στήσονται), while annulment after the day of hearing transfers the guilt to the one who annuls — λήμψεται τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῦ ('he shall bear her iniquity,' v. 16). Key lexemes: εὐχή ('vow'), ὁρισμός / ὁρίζομαι ('binding obligation / bind oneself'), ὅρκος / ὀμνύω ('oath / swear'), βεβηλόω ('profane'), ἀνανεύω ('refuse, annul'), παρασιωπάω ('keep silent'), περιαιρέω ('take away, cancel'), and καθαρίζω ('cleanse, acquit'). The chapter closes with a colophon (v. 17) marking these as the δικαιώματα ('ordinances') between husband and wife and between father and daughter.

Numbers 31 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛΑ′

Theme. Numbers 31 is a long (54-verse) campaign narrative recounting the holy war against Midian, commanded by YHWH as the ἐκδίκησις ('vengeance / vindication', vv.

Outline.

• A · 31:1–6 — The command of vengeance and the mustering of the holy host.
• B · 31:7–12 — The battle: the five kings, Balaam slain, and the plunder seized.
• C · 31:13–18 — Moses' anger and the herem command: spare only the virgins.
• D · 31:19–24 — The purification of the warriors and the spoil.
• E · 31:25–31 — The command to count and divide the plunder; the LORD's tribute.
• F · 31:32–47 — The census of the plunder and its exact division.
• G · 31:48–54 — The officers' gold offering and the memorial of atonement.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 31 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 31 is a long (54-verse) campaign narrative recounting the holy war against Midian, commanded by YHWH as the ἐκδίκησις ('vengeance / vindication', vv. 2–3) for the apostasy of Baal-Peor (chs. 25), and framed as Moses' last military act before he is to be 'gathered to his people' (ἔσχατον προστεθήσῃ πρὸς τὸν λαόν σου, v. 2). A thousand from each tribe (twelve thousand armed men, vv. 4–5) are sent under Phinehas son of Eleazar — the zealot of ch. 25 — together with τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἅγια ('the holy vessels') and αἱ σάλπιγγες τῶν σημασιῶν ('the trumpets of the signal-blasts', v. 6), marking the campaign as a cultic, not merely political, enterprise. The army kills every male (πᾶν ἀρσενικόν, v. 7), the five kings of Midian, and — a detail the LXX preserves emphatically — Βαλααμ υἱὸν Βεωρ, slain ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ('with the sword', v. 8), a notice that the NT will read as the just end of the false prophet whose 'counsel' (κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα Βαλααμ, v. 16) engineered Israel's seduction (cf. 2 Pet 2:15; Jude 11; Rev 2:14). Moses' anger (ὠργίσθη, v. 14) that the women were spared, the herem command of vv. 17–18, and the elaborate purification protocol — seven days outside the camp, the τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ἁγνισμοῦ ('water of purification', v. 23), and the fire/water cleansing of metal spoil (vv. 19–24) — give the chapter a strongly priestly cast, dominated by the roots ἁγνίζω / ἁγνισμός and καθαρίζω / καθαρισμός. The meticulous arithmetic of vv. 25–47 divides the plunder (sheep, cattle, donkeys, and human captives) evenly between the warriors and the congregation, with a τέλος ('tribute', LXX rendering of מֶכֶס) levied for YHWH — one in five hundred from the soldiers' half to the priests, one in fifty from the people's half to the Levites. The chapter closes (vv. 48–54) with the officers' freewill gold offering ἐξιλάσασθαι περὶ ἡμῶν ('to make atonement for ourselves', v. 50), occasioned by the astonishing report that, after the battle, οὐ διαπεφώνηκεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ εἷς ('not one of them was missing', v. 49) — the gold becoming a μνημόσυνον ('memorial', v. 54) before YHWH. The chapter is a morally difficult herem text and is annotated soberly: the LXX vocabulary (ἐκδίκησις as judicial vindication, the cultic purification framing, the atonement-offering at the close) situates the war within an ancient-Near-Eastern holy-war ideology in which the destruction of an enemy who had drawn Israel into covenant-breaking apostasy is construed as both divine judgment and ritual purgation, not as a model for later conduct.

Numbers 32 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛΒ′

Theme. Numbers 32 is the longest legal-narrative negotiation in the book: the Transjordan settlement of the tribes of Reuben and Gad (and, by the chapter's close, half of Manasseh).

Outline.

• A · 32:1–5 — The petition of Reuben and Gad: good cattle-land east of the Jordan.
• B · 32:6–15 — Moses' rebuke: the spies of Kadesh and the forty years recalled.
• C · 32:16–27 — The counter-proposal and Moses' conditional grant before Eleazar and Joshua.
• D · 32:28–42 — The oath enforced and the Transjordan allotment and rebuilt cities.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 32 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 32 is the longest legal-narrative negotiation in the book: the Transjordan settlement of the tribes of Reuben and Gad (and, by the chapter's close, half of Manasseh). Possessing κτήνη πλῆθος σφόδρα ('an exceedingly great multitude of livestock', v. 1), the two tribes survey the good cattle-country of Jazer and Gilead and petition Moses, Eleazar, and the chiefs of the congregation not to be made to cross (μὴ διαβιβάσῃς ἡμᾶς τὸν Ιορδάνην, v. 5) the Jordan. Moses answers with a sharp rebuke (vv. 6–15) framed as a rhetorical question — οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ὑμῶν πορεύονται εἰς πόλεμον καὶ ὑμεῖς καθήσεσθε αὐτοῦ; ('your brothers go to war and you will sit here?') — and accuses them of διαστρέφειν τὰς διανοίας ('twisting / discouraging the minds') of the sons of Israel, exactly as the spies did at Kadesh-Barnea (Καδης Βαρνη, v. 8). He rehearses the wilderness judgment: the LORD's wrath, the oath that none of that generation over twenty (ἀπὸ εἰκοσαετοῦς καὶ ἐπάνω, v. 11) would see the land, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun, and the forty years of wandering (τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη, v. 13) until that whole generation was consumed. To repeat their fathers' rebellion would be to add yet again to the LORD's burning wrath against Israel (vv. 14–15). The tribes counter (vv. 16–19) with a vow: they will build sheepfolds (ἐπαύλεις προβάτων) for their flocks and walled cities for their dependents (ἀποσκευή), then themselves go armed as a vanguard (προφυλακή … πρότεροι, v. 17) before Israel until each Israelite has received his inheritance, claiming no share west of the Jordan. Moses grants the request conditionally and solemnly (vv. 20–24), with the famous warning of v. 23: if they will not arm and cross, they sin before the LORD, καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν ὅταν ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ τὰ κακά ('and you shall know your sin when the evils overtake you'). The tribes ratify the oath (vv. 25–27); Moses charges Eleazar, Joshua, and the tribal chiefs to enforce it after the conquest (vv. 28–30); and the tribes reaffirm it (vv. 31–32). The chapter ends with the formal grant of the kingdoms of Sihon and Og to Gad, Reuben, and half-Manasseh, and a settlement-list of the rebuilt and renamed cities (vv. 33–42), closing with Machir, Jair, and Nobah taking and renaming towns in Gilead and Bashan. Throughout, the LXX preserves the corporate-solidarity and oath/vow logic of the Hebrew: the request is granted only on condition that the whole people's war is shared, and the prepositional refrain ἔναντι κυρίου ('before the LORD') binds the military oath to covenant accountability.

Numbers 33 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛΓ′

Theme. Numbers 33 is the great itinerary-chapter of the Pentateuch: a recapitulating travel-log (αἱ ἀπάρσεις, 'the departures/stages') of Israel's forty-year journey from Rameses to the plains of Moab, explicitly composed by Moses 'by the command (διὰ ῥήματος / διὰ προστάγματος) of the LORD' (vv.

Outline.

• A · 33:1–2 — Superscription: Moses records the stages by the LORD's command.
• B · 33:3–4 — Departure from Rameses with a high hand.
• C · 33:5–15 — From Rameses to the wilderness of Sinai.
• D · 33:16–37 — The wilderness stations: Kibroth-hattaavah to Mount Hor.
• E · 33:38–40 — Aaron's death at Mount Hor; the Canaanite king of Arad.
• F · 33:41–49 — From Mount Hor to the plains of Moab.
• G · 33:50–56 — Command to dispossess Canaan — or be dispossessed.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 33 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 33 is the great itinerary-chapter of the Pentateuch: a recapitulating travel-log (αἱ ἀπάρσεις, 'the departures/stages') of Israel's forty-year journey from Rameses to the plains of Moab, explicitly composed by Moses 'by the command (διὰ ῥήματος / διὰ προστάγματος) of the LORD' (vv. 2, 38). The chapter divides cleanly: a superscription (vv. 1–2), a dated and theologically loaded notice of the Exodus 'with a high hand' (ἐν χειρὶ ὑψηλῇ) while Egypt buried its plague-slain firstborn (vv. 3–4), the long station-list of roughly forty-two encampments cast in the relentlessly repeated formula ἀπῆραν ἐκ X καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐν/εἰς Y ('they set out from X and encamped in/at Y', vv. 5–49), and the concluding divine command to dispossess Canaan (vv. 50–56). The list traces the familiar early waypoints — Succoth, Etham/Βουθαν, the 'mouth of Hiroth' (στόμα Εϊρωθ) opposite Baal-zephon, the crossing of the sea, the bitter waters (here transliterated as Πικρίαι, 'Bitternesses', for Marah), Elim with its twelve springs and seventy palms, the wilderness of Sin, Rephidim where there was no water, and the wilderness of Sinai (vv. 5–15) — then the long obscure middle stretch from Κιβρωθ-hattaavah (here Μνήματα τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, 'the Graves of Craving') through many otherwise-unknown stations to Kadesh and Mount Hor (vv. 16–37). The itinerary is interrupted twice by narrative: the death of Aaron the priest at Mount Hor, dated to the fortieth year, fifth month, first day, at the age of 123 (vv. 38–39), and the notice of the Canaanite king of Arad (v. 40). The journey then resumes from Mount Hor to the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho (vv. 41–49). The closing oracle (vv. 50–56) commands Israel, on crossing into Canaan, to destroy (ἀπολεῖτε / ἐξαρεῖτε) all the inhabitants, their carved/molten idols (τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ χωνευτά), and their high places (τὰς στήλας, 'pillars/cult-stelae'), and to take possession by lot (ἐν κλήρῳ, κατακληρονομήσετε) tribe by tribe; the dispossession is framed as either-or: those left undriven 'shall be thorns in your eyes and darts in your sides' (σκόλοπες ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς … βολίδες ἐν ταῖς πλευραῖς, v. 55, echoed at Josh 23:13 and Judg 2:3, and lexically adjacent to Paul's σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί at 2 Cor 12:7), and 'as I planned to do to them, I will do to you' (v. 56). κύριος throughout renders the Tetragrammaton יהוה.

Numbers 34 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛΔ′

Theme. Numbers 34 is a survey-document: YHWH dictates to Moses the four cardinal boundaries of the land of Canaan that Israel is to inherit ἐν κλήρῳ ('by lot') — the south border running from the wilderness of Zin past Edom and the Salt Sea up by the Ascent of Akrabbim through Kadesh-barnea to the Wadi of Egypt (vv.

Outline.

• A · 34:1–12 — The four boundaries of the land of Canaan.
• B · 34:13–15 — The Transjordan inheritance of the two and a half tribes.
• C · 34:16–29 — The appointment of the apportioners.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 34 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 34 is a survey-document: YHWH dictates to Moses the four cardinal boundaries of the land of Canaan that Israel is to inherit ἐν κλήρῳ ('by lot') — the south border running from the wilderness of Zin past Edom and the Salt Sea up by the Ascent of Akrabbim through Kadesh-barnea to the Wadi of Egypt (vv. 3–5); the west border, the Great Sea (v. 6); the north border from the Great Sea by Mount Hor to the entrance of Hamath and Zedad (vv. 7–9); and the east border descending from Shepham past the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) down the Jordan to the Salt Sea (vv. 10–12). The geographical vocabulary is dense and largely transliterated: ὅρια ('borders / territory'), κλίτος ('side / flank'), διέξοδος ('outgoing / terminus of a boundary line'), ἀνάβασις ('ascent / pass'), νῶτον θαλάσσης ('the back / shoulder of the sea'), and the four compass-points λίψ (SW/south), βορρᾶς (north), ἀνατολαί (east), and θάλασσα (west, 'sea-ward'). The boundary verbs are characteristically intransitive futures with τὰ ὅρια as subject — κυκλώσει ('it will go around'), παρελεύσεται ('it will pass by'), καταβήσεται ('it will go down'), ἐξελεύσεται ('it will go out') — personifying the border-line as it traces the land. The chapter then recalls that Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already taken their Transjordan inheritance (vv. 13–15), and closes with YHWH's appointment of the apportioners: Eleazar the priest, Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) son of Nun, and one ἄρχων ('prince') from each of the ten remaining tribes who are to καταμερίσαι ('divide up') the land (vv. 16–29). The inheritance vocabulary κληρονομία / κλῆρος / κατακληρονομέω saturates the chapter, framing the land as YHWH's covenantal gift apportioned by sacred lot rather than seized by conquest alone (cf. Ezek 47–48; the imperishable inheritance of 1 Pet 1:4).

Numbers 35 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛΕ′

Theme. Numbers 35 is the great legislative chapter on the Levitical cities and the cities of refuge, delivered on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho (v.

Outline.

• A · 35:1–8 — The forty-eight Levitical cities and their pasturelands.
• B · 35:9–15 — The six cities of refuge for the manslayer.
• C · 35:16–21 — Intentional murder: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
• D · 35:22–29 — Unintentional manslaughter: judgment, refuge, and the death of the high priest.
• E · 35:30–34 — Witnesses, no ransom, and the land not to be polluted with blood.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 35 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 35 is the great legislative chapter on the Levitical cities and the cities of refuge, delivered on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho (v. 1). It falls into two divine speeches (vv. 1–8; vv. 9–34) joined by the formula καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν (vv. 1, 9). The first establishes that the Levites, who receive no tribal land-allotment, are nonetheless given forty-eight cities with their surrounding pasturelands (προάστεια / ἀφορίσματα) measured out two thousand cubits on each side (vv. 1–8). Among these forty-eight, six are designated πόλεις φυγαδευτήρια / πόλεις τῶν φυγαδευτηρίων ('cities of refuge'), three beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, where ὁ φονεύσας ('the one who has killed') may flee from ὁ ἀγχιστεύων τὸ αἷμα ('the avenger/redeemer of blood', rendering גֹּאֵל הַדָּם) (vv. 9–15). The legislation then draws the decisive distinction between intentional MURDER — killing by an iron implement, a hand-held stone, a wooden weapon, or out of ἔχθρα ('enmity') and ἔνεδρον ('ambush'): the murderer (φονευτής) is to be put to death, θανάτῳ θανατούσθω, and the blood-avenger himself executes him (vv. 16–21) — and unintentional MANSLAUGHTER, a killing ἐξάπινα ('suddenly') and ἀκουσίως ('unintentionally'), without enmity or lying in wait: here the congregation (συναγωγή) judges between the slayer and the avenger, rescues the slayer, and restores him to his city of refuge, where he must remain ἕως ἂν ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας ('until the death of the high priest'), after which he may return to his own possession (vv. 22–28). The chapter closes with judicial and theological capstones: a capital sentence requires plural witnesses (διὰ μαρτύρων), for no one dies on the testimony of a single witness (v. 30; cf. Deut 17:6; 19:15; 2 Cor 13:1); no ransom (λύτρα) may be taken either to spare a murderer's life or to release a manslayer before the high priest's death (vv. 31–32); and bloodshed φονοκτονεῖ ('pollutes/murders') the very land, which cannot be atoned (οὐκ ἐξιλασθήσεται) for the blood shed in it except by the blood of the one who shed it (v. 33), for YHWH himself dwells (κατασκηνῶν) in the midst of the sons of Israel (v. 34). The verbs φυγαδευτήριον, ἀγχιστεύω, ἀκουσίως/ἑκουσίως, φονοκτονέω, and ἐξιλάσκομαι are key lexical markers; the refuge motif is taken up at Heb 6:18 ('we who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us'), and the land-defiling cry of innocent blood echoes Gen 4:10 and Heb 12:24.

Numbers 36 — ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΛϚ′

Theme. Numbers 36 is the final chapter of the book and forms a legal appendix that closes the inheritance arc opened in chapter 27. The heads of the clan of Gilead (of the tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph) raise a follow-up objection (vv.

Outline.

• A · 36:1–4 — The Gileadite petition: the threat to Manasseh's allotment.
• B · 36:5–9 — The LORD's ruling: marry within the tribe.
• C · 36:10–12 — The daughters obey: marriage to their cousins.
• D · 36:13 — Colophon: the sealing of the Book of Numbers.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Numbers 36 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Numbers 36 is the final chapter of the book and forms a legal appendix that closes the inheritance arc opened in chapter 27. The heads of the clan of Gilead (of the tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph) raise a follow-up objection (vv. 1–4): the earlier ruling that the daughters of Zelophehad (LXX Σαλπααδ) should inherit their father's land threatens, in the next generation, to alienate that land permanently — if the daughters marry into another tribe, their κληρονομία ('inheritance') will pass to that tribe and, crucially, will not revert at the Jubilee (ἄφεσις, v. 4), since at the Jubilee land returns to its current clan-holder, not to the original tribe. Manasseh's allotment would thereby be diminished. YHWH's resolution (vv. 5–9), delivered by Moses διὰ προστάγματος κυρίου ('by the ordinance of the LORD'), is that every inheriting daughter must marry within a clan (δῆμος) of her father's own tribe, 'so that the inheritance of the sons of Israel shall not turn (οὐ περιστραφήσεται) from tribe to tribe' (vv. 7, 9) — each Israelite cleaving (προσκολληθήσονται) to the inheritance of his ancestral tribe. The daughters comply (vv. 10–12): Tharsa, Egla, Melcha, Noua, and Maala marry their cousins (τοῖς ἀνεψιοῖς αὐτῶν, lit. 'their cousins' = sons of their father's brothers), within the clan of Manasseh, so their inheritance remains within their father's tribe. The chapter — and the whole book — closes with a COLOPHON (v. 13): αὗται αἱ ἐντολαὶ καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα καὶ τὰ κρίματα ἃ ἐνετείλατο κύριος ἐν χειρὶ Μωυσῆ ('These are the commandments and the ordinances and the judgments which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses'), located ἐπὶ δυσμῶν Μωαβ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ιορδάνου κατὰ Ιεριχω ('on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho'). This sealing formula parallels Lev 27:34 and frames the Sinai-to-Moab legislation as a closed corpus, setting up the renewed exposition of the law in Deuteronomy. The chapter's vocabulary is saturated with the lexemes of land-theology: κληρονομία ('inheritance'), κλῆρος ('lot / allotment'), κατάσχεσις ('possession'), φυλή ('tribe'), δῆμος ('clan'), and πατριά ('ancestral house') — the technical apparatus of the tribal-allotment system whose integrity Lev 25 protects through the Jubilee.

How the data set is organized

• lxx-interlinear/data/numbers{1..36}.json — the durable scholarly content: one JSON object per chapter (reference, titles, text-note, outline, and verses with per-word annotation and per-verse discourse notes). The data set shares the nt-interlinear toolkit and schema with the New Testament volumes.
• lxx-interlinear/ — the LXX data home and index builder; rendering reuses the chapter-agnostic nt-interlinear toolkit (stdlib-only HTML; headless-Chromium PDF). Adding a chapter (or a book) requires no code changes.
• Rendered artifacts — Numbers{1..36}.html and .pdf under lxxsite/Numbers/, linked from its index.html in the Septuagint site root.

The interpretive tiers (syntactic function, semantic force, discourse structure, and the proposed argument outlines) are interpretive by nature; where readings legitimately differ, the more common analysis was generally chosen, and the lexical notes are condensed orientation rather than a substitute for a lexicon (e.g. LEH / Muraoka) or a full commentary.