Numbers 7:9-11

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 7:9 tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity—they had to carry, they used to carry.
2. Numbers 7:9 tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”
3. Numbers 7:10 tn The verse begins with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive: “and they offered.”
4. Numbers 7:10 tn The direct object, “gifts,” is implied but not actually stated in the Hebrew text. It has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
5. Numbers 7:10 tn The sign of the accusative here must indicate an adverbial accusative and not the direct object; they offered their gifts for the dedication of the altar.
6. Numbers 7:10 sn Some commentators take the word “dedication” in the sense of a dedication gift, and so make it the direct object. Many modern scholars assume that this is a late word, belonging only in P, the Chronicler, and the heading of Ps 30 (a Davidic psalm).
7. Numbers 7:10 tn The adverbial clause uses the Niphal infinitive construct as the main verb. The word is the well-known מָשַׁח (mashakh, “to anoint, smear”).
8. Numbers 7:10 tn Heb “offered,” but this is redundant and has been translated as “presented” for stylistic reasons. The same phrase occurs in vv. 11 and 12.
9. Numbers 7:11 tn The distributive sense is achieved by repetition: “one leader for the day, one leader for the day.”