Numbers 20:14-21

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 20:14 sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.
2. Numbers 20:14 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
3. Numbers 20:14 sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.
4. Numbers 20:14 tn Heb “found.”
5. Numbers 20:15 tn Heb “many days.”
6. Numbers 20:15 tn The verb רָעַע (raʿaʿ) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”
7. Numbers 20:16 tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.
8. Numbers 20:16 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.
9. Numbers 20:16 tn Heb “your border.”
10. Numbers 20:17 tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.
11. Numbers 20:17 sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).
12. Numbers 20:17 tn Heb “borders.”
13. Numbers 20:18 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.
14. Numbers 20:18 tn Heb “to meet.”
15. Numbers 20:19 tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”
16. Numbers 20:20 tn Heb “to meet him.”
17. Numbers 20:20 tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.