References (784)
When the child grew older [probably 3-4 years old], she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses (Hebr. Mosheh), for she said, "I drew him up (Hebr. mashah) from the water."[The name Moses may relate to Egyptian words for "son" or "to give birth to a son." Here, the explanation for the name is given as how he was drawn up, where there is a similarity to the Hebrew verb for to draw up. Perhaps the princess spoke Hebrew, or in contact with Moses' parents and family, she learned a few words and decided on this name. It is possible that he was given this name by his parents already in connection with his circumcision on the eighth day. Regardless, the princess consciously honors her son's Hebrew origins and at the same time makes him a legitimate Egyptian with a name in her own language that emphasizes that she is adopting a son.]
[The story now jumps forward about 36 years in time. Moses was about 4 years old when he was adopted, and is now 40 years old, see and ].
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers [his people—the Israelites] and saw their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian man beating one of his brothers.
He replied, "Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian [yesterday]?"
Then Moses was seized with panic and thought, "What I have done must have become known."
[His fears were correct, and the rumor spread quickly.] When Pharaoh heard what had happened, he wanted to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh [eastward] to the land of the Midianites, where he stayed. There he sat down by a well.
When some shepherds came and drove them away, Moses defended them and then helped water their sheep.
[They found Moses, and he accepted the invitation.] Moses was willing (agreed) to stay with the priest.
Moses [eventually] married Jethro's daughter Zipporah.
Moses tended the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro (Hebr. Jitro), who was a priest in Midian. Once, he drove the sheep beyond the desert and came to God's (Elohim's) mountain Horeb (Hebr. Chorev) [another name for Mount Sinai].
[Moses is now 80 years old; he left Egypt at the age of 40 and has been tending his father-in-law's sheep ever since, see . Chorev shares its root with the word for dry/desolate (Hebr. charev), which indicates that the mountain and the area are desert. The word also shares its root with the word cherev, which means sword. This takes on a deeper meaning when we know that God's word is described as a sword () and it was on this mountain that God would later give them the teaching, the Torah, which is the fundamental part of God's word.]
So Moses said (to himself), "I will go there (leave the flock) to see this strange sight! Why is the bush not burning up?"
When the Lord saw that he went to look, God called to him from the bush: "Moses! Moses!"
He answered, "Here I am."
[The Hebrew word for bush is seneh, similar to Sinai. The word is used only here and in . The exact species of the bush is not known, but the word describes a bush with thorns. Presumably, it is a small acacia tree, the same type of wood that Moses is later instructed to use as material for the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, and the table of showbread, see , ; . Thorns are associated with humanity and the curse, see , but throughout history, God reverses that curse. Moses sees God take up residence in an inconspicuous thorn bush and later manifest his presence in the ark of the covenant made of acacia wood. The finale occurs when Jesus, crowned with a crown of thorns, bears the sins of the world on the cross.]
He continued, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
But Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What shall I say to them?"
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM (I have always been present, I am now, and I will always be). You shall say this to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.
God also said to Moses, "This is what you shall say to the Israelites: 'The Lord (Yahweh), the God of your fathers (Elohim) – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is how I will be remembered from generation to generation.
Moses replied, "But what if they do not believe me or listen to what I say, but say, 'The Lord (Yahweh) has not appeared to you'? "
He replied, "A [shepherd's] staff." The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake (Hebr. nachash), and Moses recoiled [in fear]. [Using a snake as a sign would be something that stirred up their conceptual world, since the cobra was one of the religious symbols in Egypt.]
But the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and take it by the tail."
[Moses overcomes his fear.] He stretched out his hand and took it, and the snake became a staff in his hand again.
Then Moses said [and offered another excuse] to the Lord (Yahweh): "My Lord (Adonai, focus on God's greatness and power), I have such difficulty expressing myself. I have never been good with words, either before or after you spoke to your servant. I stammer and stutter (I am slow to speak and have a sluggish tongue)."
Then the Lord became angry with Moses and said, "Do you not have a brother, Aaron [who is three years older, see ], the Levite [who is a trained priest and accustomed to speaking the word of God]? I know that he is skilled in speaking (literally: 'speaking eloquently' – Hebr. davar davar), and besides, he is actually on his way right now to meet you. When he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.
Moses went home to his father-in-law Jethro (Hebr. Yitro) and said, "Let me go back to my brothers and sisters in Egypt, I want to see if they are still alive."
Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace (be blessed)."
The Lord said to Moses while he was in Midian: "Go back to Egypt. [I assure you:] All the men who sought to take your life are no longer alive."
[Moses was now eighty years old. Those who forty years earlier wanted to kill Moses were now dead, see . This may be Amenhotep I and his successor Amenhotep II, in which case the current pharaoh is Amenhotep III. An interesting detail is that his firstborn son Tutankhamun died at only 18-19 years of age, which fits well with the tenth plague in chapter 12.]
Then Moses took his wife and sons [Gershom and Eliezer, see ] and had them sit on a donkey and returned to Egypt. He had God's (Elohim's) staff in his hand.
[Moses' staff in has now become God's staff. It seems that it was a mistake to bring his family along on this mission, for in he sends them home.]
The Lord said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, you shall perform before Pharaoh all the supernatural signs that I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. [The Bible is clear that Pharaoh himself also hardens his heart, see ; , ; .]
The Lord said to Aaron [Moses' brother, three years his senior, who had remained in Egypt]: "Go and meet Moses in the desert." He went, and at God's mountain he met him and kissed him. [It was a joyful reunion after forty years. It also shows that there was no discord between them, since kissing at that time was an important sign of peace.]
Moses told Aaron everything that the Lord had sent him to say and all the signs he had been commanded to perform.
Then Moses and Aaron left there [for Egypt] and called together the elders of the Israelites.
Aaron spoke [repeated] everything that the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to Moses, and he performed the signs before the people,
Some time later, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness."
The king of Egypt answered them, "Moses and Aaron, why have you made the people stop working [given them false hopes]? Go back to your slave labor!"
When the overseers left Pharaoh, they went straight to Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them.
Then Moses turned again to the Lord (Yahweh) and said, "Lord (Adonai, focus on God's greatness and power), why have you brought so much misery upon this people? Why did you send me?
The Lord answered Moses [encouraging him and repeating and reinforcing his earlier promise, see ; ]: "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. With a strong hand he will let the people go [and not only that], he will drive them out of his land with a strong hand." [The expression "with a mighty hand" used twice here probably refers to God's power, see . The plagues that came upon the land finally made the Egyptians want the people to leave, and they sent them away, see .]
God spoke to Moses: "I am the Lord (Yahweh).
So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and hard labor. [Literally, discouragement means "shortness of spirit." The word can be translated as impatience because there is no spirit of hope left. The verse describes how the Israelites were so broken, both spiritually and physically, that they could not take in his encouraging words.]
But Moses spoke to the Lord: "Lord, see [how hopeless the situation is], the Israelites do not listen to me, so why would Pharaoh listen? Besides, I have difficulty speaking." [Literally, "I have uncircumcised lips." The expression seems to relate to previous failures, see .]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron and commanded them (gave them the task) to tell both the children of Israel and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that the Israelites would be led out of the land of Egypt.
Amram married Jochebed, his aunt, and she bore him
Aaron and
Moses.
Amram lived to be 137 years old.
It was this Aaron and this Moses whom the Lord commanded to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, arranged in divisions.
It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing the Israelites out of the land—these two, Moses and Aaron.
[Three verses now summarize the conversation before the family tree, then the story continues with Aaron speaking on behalf of Moses.]
On the day when the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in Egypt
he said: "I am the Lord (Yahweh). Everything I speak to you, you shall speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt."
But Moses pleaded with the Lord, "I have difficulty speaking [literally, 'I have uncircumcised lips']. Why should Pharaoh listen to me?"
The Lord answered Moses: "Now I will make you like a god to Pharaoh [to speak my words to him], and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
Moses and Aaron did everything the Lord commanded them.
When they spoke to Pharaoh, Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did exactly as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake (crocodile – Hebr. tanin).
[Earlier in (and in ), the usual word for snake (Hebr. nachash) is used, but here tanin is used instead, a word that can be another word for snake or describe a crocodile. The word is used for sea creatures in . Interestingly, the pharaohs were considered to be Sobek, the crocodile god; see also ].
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard (closed). He refuses to let the people go.
The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, over its canals, over its ponds, and over all its collected (Hebr. miqveh) water [i.e., reservoirs, but also smaller vessels]—so that it becomes blood.' There shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden vessels and stone vessels [all water, both natural and collected, shall be turned into blood]."
Moses and Aaron did as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded. He lifted up the rod and struck the water in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants. Then all the water in the river turned to blood (became blood red). [The Hebrew can be interpreted to mean that the water literally turned to blood, or that it became blood red in color. The word also symbolizes death, which was the effect because the fish died and the people had to dig wells to get drinkable water, see verses 21, 24.]
Then the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Let my people go, so that they may serve (worship) me.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the river, the canals, and the ponds, so that frogs will come up over all the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Pray to the Lord (Yahweh) to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let the people go so that they can sacrifice to the Lord (Yahweh).'
Moses answered Pharaoh, "Do me the honor! At what time shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may leave (literally be cut off from) you and your house and remain only in the Nile?"
After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord (Yahweh) concerning the frogs he had sent upon Pharaoh.
The Lord (Yahweh) did as Moses said, and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses: Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust on the ground, and insects (Hebr. kenim) [probably gnats or lice; perhaps mosquitoes] will come up out of the ground throughout Egypt.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses: Get up early in the morning and stand (position yourself) before Pharaoh. When he comes to the water (the Nile), you shall say to him: This is what the Lord (Yahweh) says: Let my people go, so that they may serve (worship) me.
Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land."
But Moses replied, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we intend to offer to the Lord our God (Yahweh Elohim) are an abomination to the Egyptians. Wouldn't the Egyptians stone us if we offered what is an abomination to them?
Moses replied, "Behold, when I leave you, I will pray to the Lord (Yahweh) that the swarms of flies leave Pharaoh, his servants, and the people tomorrow. Only Pharaoh must stop acting in a degrading manner (being deceitful, deceiving—Hebr. talal) and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord (Yahweh)."
[The unusual word for deceit (Hebr. talal) has the same root as the word tel, which is used to describe a city that has been built up and torn down. Pharaoh's approach is like a cruel joke in which Pharaoh's expectations have been built up like a city visible to all, only to be demolished, rebuilt, and demolished again.]
Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord (Yahweh).
The Lord (Yahweh) did just as Moses had said and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Nothing remained.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may serve (worship) me.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of ashes from the furnace [may refer to ashes from the furnaces where the carcasses of the dead animals were burned] and let Moses throw it up toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
So they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh's face. When Moses threw the ashes toward the sky, they turned into boils that broke out in sores on both humans and animals throughout the land.
The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for they were on the magicians just as they were on all the Egyptians.
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not listen to them. Just as the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to Moses [; ].
[After the fifth plague, it says in that "all the livestock died." Which animals were afflicted with boils in the sixth plague, see , and which livestock are brought in from the fields and protected from the hail in the seventh plague, see ? There are several explanations. The Bible also does not specify how much time passes between the fifth and sixth plagues. If it was really every single piece of livestock that was wiped out, the Egyptians could have taken livestock from the Israelites or bought it from neighboring countries. As for the hail in the seventh plague, "those who feared the Lord among Pharaoh's servants" were warned to bring their livestock under cover so that they would not die, see . Although the Bible does not explicitly say so, these God-fearing Egyptians may have been spared even earlier, in the same way as the Israelites, when Egyptian livestock were struck by disease during the fifth plague.]
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand (position yourself) before Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may serve (worship) me.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky and let it hail over all of Egypt, on people, on animals, and on everything that grows in the fields throughout the land."
[The Egyptian goddess Nut was associated with the sky. She controlled a barrier that separated chaos from the cosmic order in this world. She was the wife of Geb, the god of the earth, and was seen as the protector of the earth. Nut was considered particularly responsible for the night sky with its constellations that could predict the future, what we call astrology. Nut was one of the most important goddesses. The Egyptians believed that they were protected from the destructive forces of nature when they served her. When hail destroyed animals, crops, and people, her power proved ineffective.]
Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and the Lord (Yahweh) sent thunder and hail. Fire came down on the earth when the Lord (Yahweh) caused hail to fall on the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time. The Lord (Yahweh) is righteous, while I and my people are wicked.
Moses said to him, "As soon as I have left the city, I will stretch out my hand to the Lord (Yahweh). The thunder will cease and the hail will stop, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord (Yahweh).
Moses went out of the city, away from Pharaoh, and stretched out his hand to the Lord (Yahweh). Then the thunder ceased, and the hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth.
Pharaoh's heart was hardened (closed), and he did not let the children (sons) of Israel go, as the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken through Moses.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened (closed) his heart and the hearts of his servants, so that I may show my signs among them.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the Lord (Yahweh), the God of the Hebrews (Elohim), says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go so that they may serve (worship) me.
Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go and serve (worship) the Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim). Who are the ones who are going?"
Moses replied, "We will go with our young and our old, our sons and our daughters. We will go with our flocks and our herds. For we must celebrate a feast to the Lord (Yahweh) in his honor (to the glory of God)."
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt so that the locusts may come up over Egypt and eat every plant that the hail has left."
Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord (Yahweh) brought an east wind over the land, all that day and all that night. When morning came, the east wind brought the swarms of locusts.
Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim) and against you.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and darkness will cover the whole land of Egypt. A darkness that can be touched." []
[This darkness was no ordinary darkness, but one that could be physically touched and felt/experienced. The sun god Ra was the highest in rank among the gods of Egypt, and now he could not dispel this darkness. But there was also another god named Apep who was an opponent of Ra and who ruled over darkness. He too was confronted in this plague because God let the sun shine among the Israelites, thus showing that it was God who ruled even over darkness.]
Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness over the whole land of Egypt for three days.
Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, serve (worship) the Lord (Yahweh). Leave only your flocks and herds, and your little ones may go with you."
But Moses said, "You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings in our hands, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God (Yahweh Elohim).
Moses replied, "As you say [you yourself have now said/wished it], I will never see your face again."
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will forcefully (compel) you all to leave here.
The Lord (Yahweh) gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. The man Moses was truly, truly great in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and in the eyes of the people.
[At this point, virtually all Egyptians regarded Moses as a great god, perhaps the greatest, because through all the signs that the Lord had enabled him to perform, he had now demonstrated that the various gods of Egypt did not possess the power that the people had hitherto attributed to them.]
Moses said [to Pharaoh], "This is what the Lord (Yahweh) says: At midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt (Hebr. Mitsrajim),
The Lord (Yahweh) had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my signs may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
Moses and Aaron performed all these signs before Pharaoh, and the Lord (Yahweh) hardened (closed) Pharaoh's heart, so that he did not let the children (sons) of Israel go out of his land.
The Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
Then Moses called all the elders and said to them, "Go and take a small animal (sheep, lamb) for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb (Hebr. pesach).
Then the Israelites went and did everything the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
[There are two theories regarding the date of the exodus: the late theory (12th century BC) and the early theory (14th century BC). See for more information. The enormous volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini (then known as Thera) could explain many of the plagues. The eruption caused earthquakes, tsunamis, and many cubic kilometers of ash and pumice shook some of the early civilizations of the Mediterranean to their foundations. This could explain how the water receded and caused a huge tsunami. It could have appeared as a "pillar of fire" at night, etc. The eruption, which is the worst ever, has been dated to 1450 BC based on findings from neighboring civilizations. Dating based on radiometric measurements places the eruption earlier, between 1628 and 1600 BC.]
He [Pharaoh] called Moses and Aaron in the middle of the night and said: "Get up, leave my people, both you and the sons of Israel (all Israelites), and go and serve (worship) the Lord (Yahweh) as you have said (spoken – Hebr. davar).
In this way, the sons of Israel (the people) did as Moses had said. They asked the Egyptians for objects of silver and gold and clothing.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover. [Refers both to the feast and to the meal itself, the Passover lamb.] No stranger may eat it,
And all the children (sons) of Israel did so. They did exactly as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses and Aaron.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
Moses said to the people: "Remember this day, when you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (slavery), for with a mighty hand the Lord (Yahweh) brought you out of this place. No leavened bread (Hebr. ) [bread or food containing yeast] shall be eaten.
Moses also took Joseph's bones with him, because he had taken an oath, a promise, from the children (sons) of Israel, saying, "God (Elohim) will surely remember you, and then you shall take my bones with you."
[Joseph knew for certain the word that God had spoken to Abraham when he said that they would be slaves in Egypt for four generations and then return to the land, see , so he took this promise from the sons of Israel, which Moses now fulfills.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have brought us out here to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us so badly and brought us out of Egypt?
Moses said to the people, "Stop being afraid! Stand firm (don't run away) and you will see how the Lord will deliver (save) you today. You will never see the Egyptians you see today again. [Can also be translated: 'As you see the Egyptians today, you will never see them again.]
The Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move forward [into the sea].
Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind all night. He turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water will return upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when morning dawned, and the Egyptians fled toward it, and the Lord (Yahweh) shook down (scattered, scattered around – Hebr. naar) the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
And Israel saw the great work that the Lord (Yahweh) did to the Egyptians, and the people feared (revered) the Lord (Yahweh) and believed in the Lord (Yahweh) and his servant Moses.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord, saying:
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously.
He has thrown horse and rider into the sea.
Then Moses led the people on from the Reed Sea. They went out into the wilderness of Shur. They walked three days in the wilderness and found no water.
And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
the whole Israelite community complained (blamed, cried out loudly against) Moses and Aaron in the desert.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk in my instruction (Hebr. Torah) or not.
Moses and Aaron said to the Israelites: "This evening you shall know that it is the Lord (Yahweh) who has brought you out of the land of Egypt,
Moses said [the wording of this sentence is abrupt in the original text and repeats verses 6 and 7; this may reflect the fact that Moses was not a good speaker]: "You shall understand this when the Lord (Yahweh) gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your complaint that you are complaining against him. As for us, who are we? Your complaint is not against us, but against the Lord (Yahweh)."
Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the people of Israel to come near (gather for worship before) the Lord (Yahweh), for he has heard how you have complained."
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, "What is this?" because they did not know what it was. ["What is this" is man hu in Hebrew, and the word later used for manna is man.]
Moses said to them, "It is the food that the Lord gives you to eat.
Moses also said to them, "Let no one save any of it until morning."
Nevertheless, they did not listen (obey) Moses. Some of them saved it until the next morning, but it grew worms [in it] and rotted. And Moses became angry (Hebr. qatsaf) with them.
On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers [about 6 liters] for each person. And all the leaders of the people came and told Moses.
So they saved it until morning, just as Moses had instructed, and it did not rot, and no worms were in it.
Then Moses said, "Eat this today, for today is the Lord's Sabbath. Today you will find nothing on the ground.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my teachings (Hebr. Torah)?
Then Moses said, "This is what the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded: Let a full omer [about 3 liters] of it be kept for future generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and fill it with a full omer [about 3 liters] of manna. Save it before the Lord (Yahweh) so that it may be preserved for future generations.
Just as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, Aaron saved it before the testimony, so that it was preserved.
Then the people began to quarrel with Moses (they brought him to trial and made a legal dispute out of this issue and wanted to depose him).
They said, "Give us water to drink."
Moses replied, "Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you tempting (testing) the Lord?"
But the people were so parched and in desperate need of water that they continued to complain to Moses and muttered, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it so that we, our children, and our livestock would die of thirst?"
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me [to death]."
The Lord answered Moses, "Go before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff in your hand that you used when you struck the Nile, and start walking.
I will stand before you on the rock at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev) [Mount Sinai], and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with God's (Elohim's) staff in my hand."
Joshua did as Moses had said and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron [Moses' brother], and Hur (Hebr. Chor) [a friend; the grandfather of the artist Bezalel, see ] went up to the top of the hill (the height – Hebr. ).
When Moses held up his hand, Israel had the upper hand, but when he let his hand fall (let it rest), the Amalekites had the upper hand.
Moses' hand became heavy, so they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur (Hebr. Chor) held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady (stable; literally "true" – Hebr. ) until the sun went down.
[This is the first time the Hebr. word appears. It is a rich word meaning stability, faithfulness, and even truth. It comes from the word for truth (Hebr. emet), which literally also means to stand firm; see the introduction to . Emonah is used a total of 49 times, 22 of them in the Psalms.]
The Lord said to Moses: "Write this down as a memorial in a book (scroll), and repeat it in Joshua's ears (read/tell it to him), for I will blot out [erase – like a manuscript that is cleaned of writing] the memory of Amalek from under heaven (literally: 'from under heaven')."
[This is the first time it is implied that Joshua is the one who will succeed Moses. The scroll may refer to the Book of Exodus, or another separate scroll. In , this exhortation not to forget what the Amalekites did is repeated. The complete eradication of Amalek's memory from the earth is described from God's perspective – I will blot out from the heavens. In the Eccles. book, the perspectives "under the sun" () and "under the heavens" (; ) are used, which are the highest and originate from God's throne room.]
Then Moses built an altar and named it The Lord Is My Banner (Yahweh Nissi).
Now Jethro (Hebr. Jitro), the priest of Midian and Moses' father-in-law [], about all that God (Elohim) had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord (Yahweh) had brought Israel out of Egypt (Hebr. Mitsrajim – 'the land of confinement').
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken care of Moses' wife Zipporah after Moses sent her away
So Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he had encamped on the mountain of God (Elohim).
He said to Moses [via a messenger]: "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife and her two sons." [In , it literally says "his sons" and "his wife," but here it says "her children"; see also . For them to be their children, both parents need to be involved in raising them.]
Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They asked each other how they were doing (each other's welfare) and they entered the tent.
Moses recounted (listed – Hebr. safar) to his father-in-law all that the Lord (Yahweh) had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, as well as all the trials that had befallen them along the way and how the Lord (Yahweh) had helped them.
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrificed it to God (Elohim). Aaron also came, together with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God (Elohim).
The next day, Moses sat and judged the people, and they stood around Moses from morning till evening.
When Moses' father-in-law [Jethro] saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?"
Moses answered his father-in-law, "It is because the people come to me to ask God (Elohim).
But Moses' father-in-law [Jethro] said to him, "What you are doing is not good.
Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
Moses chose capable men from all over Israel and made them leaders over the people, leaders of 1,000, 100, 50, and 10.
They judged the people all the time. They brought the difficult (complicated) cases to Moses, but they judged all the minor cases themselves.
Then Moses let his father-in-law leave, and he went on his way to his own country.
Moses went up to God (Elohim), and the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to him from the mountain:
"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob (family) and tell the Israelites:
When Moses returned, he summoned the elders of the people. He presented to them all the words that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded him to say,
and all the people answered together, "All that the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken we will do." Moses returned to the Lord (Yahweh) with the people's answer.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a thick cloud so that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe in you forever." Then Moses told the Lord (Yahweh) the word of the people.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes.
Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them, and they washed their clothes.
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God (Elohim), and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
As the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God (Elohim) answered him with a thunderous voice.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) came down to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, so Moses went up.
Then the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through (the boundary) and see the Lord (Yahweh) and many of them die.
Moses said to the Lord (Yahweh), "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai because you are the one (the only one) [referring to the Lord being one, as it says in ] who has warned us and said, 'Set boundaries around the mountain and keep it holy.
So Moses went down to the people and told them.
They said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God (Elohim) speak to us, for then we will die."
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, for God (Elohim) will test you, so that reverence for him may be in you, so that you may not sin."
The people stood at a distance when Moses approached the thick darkness (a thick dark cloud) where God (Elohim) was.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "This is what you shall say to the children (sons) of Israel: You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.
Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the Lord (Yahweh), you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.
and Moses alone shall come near the Lord (Yahweh), but the others shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with them."
Moses came down [from the mountain he had ascended, see ] and told the people all the words of the Lord (Yahweh) and all the commandments (binding legal decisions). The whole people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do."
And Moses wrote down all the provisions of the Lord. Early the next morning, Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel.
Moses took half of the blood and poured it into the basin, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.
Then Moses took the blood [the remaining half that had been poured into the basin] and sprinkled it on the people [those in the front ranks, or the elders, since there were about two million of them] and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."
[The people and God were now united in a blood covenant, which is the strongest form of contract there is. What now applied was that your battle is my battle, your enemies are my enemies, my assets are your assets, we are one, and I will protect you with my life.]
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders went up [the mountainside],
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teaching (Hebr. Torah) and the commandments (Hebr. mitzvot) that I have written to teach the people." [The Ten Commandments (literally "the words" – Hebr. davar) had already been spoken but were now to be given in written form.]
Moses began to walk with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up Mount God.
Moses went [higher] up the mountain [with Joshua], and the cloud covered the mountain.
The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. [Moses keeps the promise to "stay there" that he received in .] On the seventh day, God called to Moses from within the cloud.
Moses entered the center of the cloud and went up the mountain. There he remained for forty days and forty nights [in addition to the first six days that he and Joshua had waited further down the mountain].
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Take sweet spices, liquid myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia, sweet spices with pure incense resin, of each (kind) you shall take the same weight.
[Incense is an image of prayer (; ). The different ingredients symbolize different types of prayer. Sweet spices are a picture of when we pray and confess. The second ingredient, myrrh, is the shell of a mussel from the depths of the sea and a picture of prayer for our needs (; ). The third ingredient, galbanum, is a resin with a strong fragrance. It is a symbol of thanksgiving. Finally, we have pure incense resin, which is a symbol of worship. In addition, this mixture should be seasoned with salt. It is a symbol of purity and holiness. Salt protects against decay, and in God says that salt is a covenant salt. Therefore, it should be included everywhere as a sign of the covenant between us and God.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And he gave Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony written with the finger of God (Elohim).
The people noticed that Moses was delaying on the mountain (they became impatient and disappointed and ashamed of him because he was staying longer than expected). They gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Do something (don't just sit there), make gods for us that can go before us! We don't know where that Moses has gone, the one who brought us out of Egypt."
Then the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying, "Go down [in it is emphasized that it is urgent], for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have acted deceitfully.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God (Yahweh Elohim) and said, "Lord (Yahweh), why do you let your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong (firm, sure, brave) hand?
And Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, on one side and on the other.
And when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp."
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became very angry (his anger burned fiercely). He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?"
So they said to me, 'Make us a god who can go before us, for we do not know what has become of that man Moses who brought us out of Egypt.
And when Moses saw that the people were unruly, for Aaron had let them become unruly because of the mockery of their enemies,
Moses stood at the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is on the Lord's (Yahweh's) side, let him come to me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and 3,000 men fell that day.
And Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves to the Lord (Yahweh) today, for every man has been against his son and against his brother, so that he may give you a blessing today."
The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a grave sin, but I will go to the Lord (Yahweh) now—perhaps I can obtain atonement for your sin."
So Moses went back to the Lord (Yahweh) and said, "This people has committed a grave sin; they have made gods of gold for themselves.
The Lord (Yahweh) replied to Moses: "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses: "Go up, you and the people you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land that I promised (swore, gave my oath) to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants,'
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Tell the sons of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I go up among you for a moment, I will consume you. Therefore, take off your ornaments now, so that I may know what to do with you.
And Moses took the tent and pitched it far outside the camp, and he called it "the tent of meeting" (Hebr. ohel moed). Anyone who wanted to consult (seek) the Lord (Yahweh) had to go out to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
[Here the Hebrew phrase ohel moed (in English "tent of meeting") is used, also called "tent of revelation". Another word is mishkan (translated as "tabernacle"), which Moses had previously been instructed to build in the middle of the camp (). At this point, it has not yet been built, see also ; . This meeting tent, which belonged to Moses, served as a temporary sanctuary.]
And when Moses went out (every time he went) to the tent, everyone stood up [in respect] and watched (studied carefully) Moses until he entered the tent. [The people's contempt for Moses had now disappeared, see , and their respect for him had returned.]
Every time Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud (pillar of smoke/cloud) [; , ] descended and stood at the entrance (opening), and he [the Lord] spoke with Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend []. Then Moses returned to the camp, but his servant (assistant) Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent.
[Moses was now over 80 years old, see . Joshua, who is Moses' right-hand man and successor, is now probably in his 40s, see ; ; ; .]
And Moses said to the Lord (Yahweh), "Behold, you have said to me, 'Bring up this people,' and you have not let me know whom you will send with me. And you have said, 'I know you by name, and I have also found favor (undeserved love – Hebr. chen) in your sight.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "I will do these things that you have spoken, for you have found favor (undeserved love – Hebr. chen) in my sight, and I know you by name.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Cut out two stone tablets for yourself, like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke.
And he carved two stone tablets, like the first ones, and Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded him, and took the two stone tablets in his hands.
And Moses hurried and bowed his head to the ground and worshiped.
The Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words (commandments), for according to them I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets of the testimony in his hand, he did not know that his face was radiant (that light shone forth like horns) because he had spoken with the Lord (Yahweh).
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw the radiance of Moses' face, they did not dare to come near him.
But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the people returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.
When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
But when Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he took off the veil until he came out. When he came out, he told the Israelites what he had been commanded.
The Israelites saw the radiance of Moses' face, so Moses put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord (Yahweh).
And Moses gathered the whole assembly of the sons of Israel and said to them, "These are the words that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded you to do.
And Moses spoke to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel and said, "These are the words that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded and says:
And the whole assembly, the sons of Israel, left (literally: "went away from before") Moses.
The children (sons) of Israel brought a freewill offering to the Lord (Yahweh), every man and woman whose heart made them willing to contribute to all the work that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded to be done through Moses' hand.
And Moses said to the sons of Israel, "See, the Lord (Yahweh) has called by nameBezalel, the son of Uri, the sonof Hur (Hebr. Chor) of the tribe of Judah,
And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and all the men with a wise heart, in whose hearts the Lord (Yahweh) had put wisdom, all whose hearts moved them to come to the work and do it.
And they received from Moses the whole offering that the sons of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, the (material) from which it was to be made. And they still brought voluntary gifts to him every morning.
and they spoke to Moses and said, "The people are bringing much more than is needed for the work that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded to be done."
And Moses commanded that it be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Neither man nor woman shall do any more work for the sacrifice to the sanctuary." So the people were prevented from bringing any more.
[This is the central passage in chapters 34-40.]
This is the account (inventory, reckoning – Hebr. pekodim) [a summary, inspection, and list of all the materials used] for the tabernacle – the tabernacle of testimony [the tabernacle where the tablets of testimony (the Ten Commandments) were kept, see ]. Moses gave the Levites this task (commandment) to make this account under the supervision (under the hand) of Itamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, did all that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses [according to the instructions, see ].
[Now the priest's garments are described. The passage appears to be divided into seven sections.]
And from the blue and purple and scarlet, they made embroidered garments for service in the holy place, and made holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And the skillfully woven bands that were on it, with which it was fastened, were of the same piece and of the same workmanship, of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twisted linen, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And they fastened the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord (braided thread), so that it would be on the skillfully woven bands of the ephod, so that the breastplate would not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe, for official wear, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
and the sash of fine twisted linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of a weaver in colors, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And they tied a blue cord (braided thread) in it to fasten it on top of the turban, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
Thus all the work of the tabernacle of meeting was finished, and the sons of Israel did everything according to what the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses, so they did.
And they brought the tabernacle to Moses:
the tent and all its furnishings,
its clasps, its boards, its crossbars,
its posts, and its bases,
In accordance with all that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses, the sons of Israel did all the work.
And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded, just as they had done it. And Moses blessed them.
[The Lord was very careful that everything should be done exactly according to the designs and patterns that Moses had received when he was on Mount Sinai, see , et al.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses did according to all that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded him, so he did.
Moses erected the tabernacle, laid its bases, set up its boards, inserted its crossbars, and raised its pillars.
He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the curtain (drapery) and screened off the ark of the testimony, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
and arranged a row of bread on it before the Lord (Yahweh), as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
and lit the lamps before the Lord (Yahweh), as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
and burned incense of sweet spices on it, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
He placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on it, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
so that Moses and Aaron and his sons could wash their hands and feet in it.
When they entered the tent of meeting and when they approached the altar, they would wash themselves, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
Then he erected the enclosure around the tabernacle and the altar and hung the curtain at the entrance to the enclosure. Thus Moses completed the work.
Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested over it and the glory of the Lord (honor, weight, dignity; saturated divine presence) filled the tabernacle.
And the Lord (Yahweh) called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting (Hebr. óhel móed). He said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[The guilt offering concerns sins where someone has stolen, forfeited, or withheld property from fellow human beings, and then the stolen property must be returned and one-fifth of its value paid as compensation.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[In the case of sin offerings and guilt offerings (), the offering is divided between the priest and the altar, and the one who brings the offering has no part in it, as he did with the fellowship offering. Since sin and guilt offerings are about repentance, it is more appropriate to fast than to have a feast.] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
which the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day when he commanded the sons of Israel to offer their sacrifices to the Lord (Yahweh) in the wilderness of Sinai.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded, and the assembly gathered together at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
And Moses said to the assembly, "These are the things that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded to be done.
And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
And he put the headdress on his head and placed the golden plate, the holy crown, on his forehead, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses. []
Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle (Hebr. ) and everything in it, and consecrated it.
And Moses brought Aaron's sons and clothed them [] and girded them with sashes and put headdresses on them, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
And he slaughtered it, and Moses took the blood and spread it with his finger on the horns of the altar [the four corners, see ] all around and purified the altar and poured the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated (set apart) it to bring atonement (cover) on it.
And he took all the fat that covers the entrails, and the membranes that are over the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses burned it on the altar.
But the bull and its skin, its flesh, and its offal (slaughter remains) he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses. []
And he slaughtered it, and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar all around.
And he divided the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat.
And he washed the entrails and the legs in water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering with a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord (Yahweh), as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
And he slaughtered it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on Aaron's right ear lobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot [].
And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put blood on their right earlobes, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar all around.
And Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is the consecration offering, a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord (Yahweh).
And Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord (Yahweh), it was Moses' share of the priestly consecration ram—as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes with him, and consecrated (set apart) Aaron and his clothes and his sons and their clothes with him.
And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket for the consecration, as I have commanded and said, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.
So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded through Moses.
And on the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.
And they brought what Moses commanded to the opening of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord (Yahweh).
And Moses said, "This is what the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded to be done, and the glory (weight) of the Lord (Yahweh) shall appear to you."
And Moses said to Aaron, "Go to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement (cover) for yourself and for the people, and offer the people's offering and make atonement (cover) for them, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded.
But the fat and the kidneys and the membranes over the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And Aaron waved the breast and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord (Yahweh), as Moses had commanded.
And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting and came out and blessed the people. And the glory (weight) of the Lord (Yahweh) appeared to all the people.
Then Moses said to Aaron:
"This is what the Lord (Yahweh) spoke and said:
'I will be sanctified
in those who come near me
and I will be glorified in the sight of all the people.' " Aaron was silent (as if frozen, not moving, waiting – Hebr. damam). [The word is often used in connection with disasters, see .]
And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphhan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncles, and said to them, "Come near, carry your brothers away from the sanctuary out of the camp."
They came near and carried them away in their garments out of the camp, as Moses had said.
And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, "Do not let your hair be loose [do not remove your head covering; do not let your hair be unkempt—do not show outward signs of mourning] and do not tear your clothes, lest you die and the wrath come upon all the people, but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, mourn the fire [that killed Nadab and Abihu] that the Lord (Yahweh) kindled.
You shall not leave the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord (Yahweh) is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses."
and so that you may teach the sons of Israel all the regulations (literally 'things engraved') that the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken to them through Moses."
And Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: "Take the grain offering that remains of the Lord's (Yahweh's) burnt offering and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy.
Moses inquired carefully (Hebr. darash darash – literally: "questioning asked," which reinforces the search for) about the sin offering goat [; ; ], but behold, it was burned.
[The words darash darash are the mathematical center of all Hebrew words in the Torah (the five books of Moses). It is interesting that there are a total of 77 double words in the Torah, such as "Abraham, Abraham" () and "Noah, Noah" (). Of these 77 double words, the 39th and middle one is darash, darash right here. It is more than a coincidence that in the middle of all 304,805 words in the five Torah scrolls, the two words (words number 152,402 and 152,403) are also a double word, which in turn is the middle one of all 77 double words! Furthermore, this verse is about Moses carefully searching for the scapegoat, which points to the central question—who can reconcile us with God? John the Baptist (the greatest prophet, see ) gives the answer: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," see .]
Then Moses became angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's remaining sons, and said:
And Aaron spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, this day they have offered their sin offerings and their burnt offerings before the Lord (Yahweh), and such things have happened [the transgression of Nadab and Abihu], and if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the eyes of the Lord (Yahweh)?
When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
[The following five chapters deal with ritual purity. It consists of seven units, all of which begin with "The Lord spoke to Moses" (; ; ; , ; ; ) and ending with a summary that begins with the words "this is the teaching concerning ..." (; ; ; ; ; ). The seventh and final section deals with the Day of Atonement, when all ritual impurity during the year is forgiven.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron and said to them:
[After giving birth, a woman is considered unclean for seven days, followed by a purification period of several weeks at home. If it is a boy, the period lasts just over a month (33 days), and if it is a girl, it lasts twice as long, just over two months (66 days). The English word "unclean" has a negative connotation, but in Jewish tradition, the word is also used positively to refer to the Torah scroll. The hands of anyone who touches it become "unclean." The meaning is that it is so holy that it must not be touched. For a new mother, the uncleanness and the long purification period are about giving the woman time to recover. It is a time for rest and peace. One of the reasons for the ritual impurity associated with childbirth is probably contact with blood, see .]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[The following passage (chapters 13-14) deals with skin diseases and mold on textiles or house walls. The Hebrew word used is tsaraat, which describes various manifestations of mold. Similarly, when this affliction strikes a house, it is considered a warning or punishment for those who are stingy or unhelpful and unwilling to share or lend to their fellow man. Here, the punishment is that all possessions must be displayed for public viewing outside the house for at least a week (). Then it is easy to see if one has lied and said that one does not have what someone else needs, or if one says that one is poor when in fact one is not.] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[Just as textiles and clothing could be affected by mold (), so could the walls of a house.]
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
[Chapter 15 has a chiastic pattern (A-B-C-B'-A') where the central part (B and B') describes normal sexual secretions. is the center point where man and woman meet (C). The surrounding parts describe abnormal secretions in men (Hos) and women (A’). Here, sacrifices are also required to become clean.]
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
[This chapter describes the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur; the biblical name is Yom Hakippurim – literally "Day of Atonements"), see Lev. 23:27-28. This is the holiest day and has come to be called Yoma – The Day.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons [Nadab and Abihu], when they offered before the Lord (Yahweh) and died [],
and the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses:
Speak to Aaron your brother, that he come not at any time into the holy place within the veil [], before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. [The mercy seat was the lid of the ark with a 1.25 m long and 0.75 m wide ornamentation in pure gold, see .]
This shall be a perpetual statute (literally, "things engraved") for you, to make atonement for the sons of Israel (people), for all their sins, once a year. And he did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[There are many similarities between the Ten Commandments and what is discussed in this chapter:
– I am the Lord – , , , , , , , , , , , ,
– Graven images –
– God's name –
– The Sabbath, love God – ,
– Honor your parents, love your neighbor –
– Murder –
– Adultery –
– Theft – , ,
– False witness – ,
– Coveting – ] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
[Verses 2-27 form a large chiasm with several smaller sections. The theme has to do with who is behind the condemnation of sin: society or the Lord (Yahweh).
Verses 3-6 describe how God's punishment is directed:
A The individual, v3-4
B Society, v5
A´ The individual, v6] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses: Tell the priests, the sons of Aaron, say this to them:
No one among you shall become unclean because of any death among the people.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses spoke it to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
[This passage applies to the whole people, see .]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
[The feasts of the Lord (Yahweh) are more than just occasions to celebrate a festival. The feasts mentioned here are the Lord's own, which he himself has instituted, in order to have a special, extra intimate fellowship with us as believers and participants in the blood covenant with God at various times during the year, see . The Sabbath is a feast day that recurs every week, while the other feasts recur every year.
The Sabbath is about regularly setting aside time when we let go of our daily chores to spend more time with God than is possible when we also have to focus on everyday life. These concerns are in themselves something that God also wants us to devote ourselves to, but the Sabbath marks that our fellowship with God Himself is the most important priority in our lives.
In addition to what we should remember on each holiday, the annual feasts also have a clear prophetic dimension that points to something God will do in the future. The three spring feasts, together with Pentecost, point to the Messiah's first visit here on earth. They have all been fulfilled in what Jesus did when he walked among us and when the apostles completed the day of Pentecost. (These feasts had then been celebrated about 1,500 times.) The three autumn feasts point prophetically to what we are still waiting for to happen when the Messiah returns to earth for the second time.] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[This phrase appears for the fifth and last time in this chapter. It is also the tenth and last time the word "speak" is used. The chapter is a counterpart to the Ten Commandments in . Here we find the Ten Commandments concerning the festivals!]
Moses spoke to the children (sons) of Israel about the Lord's (Yahweh's) feasts (appointed meetings at set times).
[The previous chapter dealt with annual feasts, now comes a section reminiscent of the ongoing service in the tabernacle. There is also a connection to oil and grain, which are products of the harvest, which are also part of the celebration of the feasts.]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name of the Lord (Yahweh) and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomit, daughter of Divri, of the tribe of Dan.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel that they should bring forth him who had cursed around the camp and stone him with stones. And the sons of Israel did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and said:
These are the statutes (literally, "things engraved") and judgments (binding legal decisions) and teachings that the Lord (Yahweh) made between himself and the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai through the hand of Moses.
[This last chapter focuses on promises made to the Lord (Yahweh). The context here is specifically in preparation for the construction of the tabernacle, but it also applies to other promises. The promises dealt with here are in addition to the regular sacrifices (). These were personal vows (), which were given to the Lord as special thanksgiving offerings (; ; ; ; ; , ; ). The passage begins with people (verses 2-8), followed by animals (verses 9-13) and finally inanimate objects (verses 14-25).]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
These are the commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded (Hebrew tsavah) Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert [], in the tent of meeting (tabernacle – Hebr. ohel moed), on the first day of the second month [Iyar – April/May], in the second year [14 months] after they came out of Egypt [the tabernacle had been set up for a month, see ], and said:
And Moses and Aaron took these men who were designated by name
As the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, so he did, and counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.
These are those who were counted (enlisted), those who were counted by Moses, Aaron, and the princes of Israel. The princes were twelve men, each one a leader of his father's house (tribe).
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying
The sons of Israel did everything according to what the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, so they did.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
But the Levites were not counted among the sons of Israel, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
So the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses. They camped under their banners and they moved on [from campsite to campsite, following their designated places in the line], each with his families and with his fathers' houses.
This is the continuing story (Hebr. toledot) of Aaron and Moses [this is the 12th toledot unit, see ]. From the time (on that day – Hebr. bejom) when the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert and said:
And Moses counted them according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh), as he was commanded.
And those who are to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east side, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, (they shall) keep (take care of, guard, protect) the affairs of the sanctuary and the affairs of the sons of Israel, and any common man who comes near shall be put to death.
All those who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh) by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Count all the firstborn males of the sons of Israel, from one month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
And Moses counted, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded him, all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses took the redemption money from those who remained of those who were redeemed by the Levites,
and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh), as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and their fathers' houses,
These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, of all those who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh) by the hand of Moses.
These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all those who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh).
These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh) by the hand of Moses.
All these who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted by their families and by their fathers' houses,
According to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh), they were appointed by the hand of Moses, each to his service and for his burden, they were counted as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp. As the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to Moses, so did the sons of Israel.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[Nazirite vows are about when someone wants to serve the Lord in a special way. The Hebrew word nazir means "devoted" and "consecrated." The vow was time-limited, see . In the case of Samuel () and Samson (), their mothers gave them a lifelong Nazirite vow. John the Baptist is mentioned in similar terms, see . Extra-biblical sources show that Nazirite vows were common and served as offerings of thanksgiving. The vow period was 30 days. It was probably such a Nazirite vow that Paul made in Corinth, see Acts 18:18; 21:23-26. The passage follows a chiastic structure: Introduction, verses 1-2
B. Prohibitions, verses 3-8
C. Defilement, verses 9-12
B´ Fulfillment, verses 13-20
A´ Summary, ]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And it came to pass on that day that Moses finished (completed, accomplished) [plural!] the assembly (building, erection, literally gathering) [plural!] of the tabernacle (Hebr. mishkan), and he anointed it and consecrated it, and all its furnishings, and the altar with its utensils, and he anointed them and consecrated them,
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "They shall present their offerings, each leader on his day, for the dedication of the altar."
And when Moses entered the tent of meeting (Hebr. ohel moed) to speak with him [the Lord], he heard the voice speaking to him from above the cover of the ark (mercy seat) that was on top of the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, and he spoke to him.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Aaron did so. He lit the lamps so that they gave their light in front of the lampstand (menorah) as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
This was the work of the lampstand (menorah), hammered work of gold, from its base to its flowers, it was hammered work according to the pattern that the Lord (Yahweh) had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. []
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
Therefore, Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly of the sons of Israel did to the Levites according to all that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them.
After that, the Levites went in and served in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert in the first month of the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt, saying:
And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel that they should celebrate the Passover.
And they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the 14th day of the month at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai, according to all that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses [], so did the sons of Israel.
But there were some men who were unclean because of a dead man's body, so they could not celebrate the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day
Moses said to them, "Stay here so that I may hear what the Lord (Yahweh) will command concerning you."
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
[Chorus:]
At the command of the Lord (Yahweh) (mouth – Hebr. peh) they camped
and at the command of the Lord (Yahweh) they set out.
They kept (guarded, protected, preserved) the Lord's (Yahweh's) command at the Lord's (Yahweh's) command through Moses' hand.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And they began their first journey after the Lord (Yahweh) spoke (mouth – Hebr. peh) through Moses.
And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are journeying to the place of which the Lord (Yahweh) has said, 'I will give it to you,' come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken well of Israel."
– ׆ –
And it came to pass, whenever the ark set out, that Moses cried out:
"Arise (Hebr. kumah, cf. ), Lord (Yahweh)!
May your enemies be scattered,
and may your adversaries flee before you!"
[The three verbs are the same as in .]
And the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord (Yahweh), and the fire died down.
And Moses heard the people weeping, in their families, every man at his tent door, and the anger of the Lord (Yahweh) was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased.
And Moses said to the Lord (Yahweh), "Why have you done evil to your servant? Why have I not found favor (undeserved favor – Hebr. chen) in your sight, that you have laid the burden of all this people on me?
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Gather for me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and who serve them, and bring them to the tent of meeting so that they may stand there with you.
Moses said, "The people I am among are 600,000 men on foot, and yet you have said, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Is the Lord's (Yahweh's) hand too small? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for them or not."
And Moses went out and spoke the words of the Lord (Yahweh) to the people, and he gathered 70 men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent.
A young man ran and told Moses, saying, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!"
And Joshua, the son of Nun, who was Moses' servant from his youth, answered and said, "My lord Moses, silence them."
But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for their sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!" [; ; ]
And Moses withdrew to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Miriam spoke ill of Moses because of the Cushite woman he had taken as his wife, and Aaron agreed with her. Moses had taken a Cushite woman as his wife.
[The verb "spoke ill of" is in the feminine form, which makes it clear that it was Miriam who led the conversation. Since it concerned Moses' choice of wife, the motive may have been jealousy. Cush is both a name and a region. Cush was the son of Ham and grandson of Noah. He populated the southern parts of the earth. Areas associated with Cush are North Africa, Nubia, and Ethiopia.]
They [both Miriam and Aaron] said, "Is Moses the only one the Lord speaks to? He speaks to us too." The Lord heard it [and will soon answer them].
Moses was a very humble man, more than anyone else on earth.
[An extra letter is added to the word humble, namely the smallest Hebrew letter yod, this "grammatical error" reinforces that Moses was truly humble.]
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke directly (immediately) to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam: "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting," and the three came out.
This is not the case with my servant Moses.
He is trusted throughout my house.
With him I speak mouth to mouth,
openly and not in riddles (hidden, veiled words)
and he sees the form of the Lord (Yahweh).
Why then are you not afraid (fearful)
to speak against my servant, against Moses?"
And Aaron said to Moses, "My lord, do not lay this sin on us, I beg you, because we have acted foolishly and because we have sinned.
Then Moses cried out to the Lord (Yahweh) and said, "God (El), I beg you, heal her now."
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not hide in shame for seven days? Let her be isolated outside the camp for seven days, and then she shall be brought back in."
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh), all the men who were heads (leaders) of the sons of Israel.
These were the names of the men Moses sent to explore (investigate) the land. Moses gave Hosea, the son of Nun, the name Joshua.
[Hosea (Hebr. Hoshea) means "salvation, rescue," and Joshua means "the Lord is salvation and rescue." This emphasizes that it is not they themselves but God who would save and rescue them. The name change from Hosea to Joshua is in Hebrew only an addition of the letter yod at the beginning. This makes the beginning of the name Joshua Yah, which is the short form of God's name. Many rabbis interpret this as Moses realizing that Joshua needed courage, and that the source of courage and boldness is God. When Joshua, in accordance with his new name, chooses to trust in God, he also becomes bold with God's help.]
And Moses sent them out to explore (investigate) the land of Canaan and said to them:
"Go up here into the south (Negev) and go up into the mountains,
And they went and came to Moses and Aaron and to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, and brought back prov to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
But Caleb calmed the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up now and occupy it, for we are well equipped to overcome them."
And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "We could have died in the land of Egypt, or we could have died in the wilderness!
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly of all the children of Israel.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the signs I have done among them?
And Moses said to the Lord (Yahweh), "When the Egyptians hear about this [and they will], because you brought this people up from them with your power [],
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
And the men whom Moses sent to explore the land [to show all the good things God had given, see ] and who, when they returned, caused the whole assembly to grumble (complain) against him by giving an evil report about the land,
And Moses spoke these words to the sons of Israel, but the people mourned greatly.
But Moses said, "Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh)? It will not succeed (you will not prosper).
But they dared (recklessly and arrogantly decided; literally "they swelled" – Hebr. afal) to go up to the top of the mountain, yet the ark of the covenant of the Lord (Yahweh) and Moses did not leave the camp.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
And when you accidentally fail to do all these commandments (clear commands) that the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken to Moses,
all that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded you through Moses, from the day the Lord (Yahweh) gave the commandments and throughout your generations,
And those who found him brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole assembly.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; the whole assembly shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
And the whole assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
and they revolted against (rose up against) Moses,
with men from the sons of Israel
– 250 men,
leaders in the congregation, chosen men of good reputation.
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said to them:
"You take too much upon yourselves, the whole congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord (Yahweh) is among them.
Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Lord (Yahweh)?" [Their claim was partly true, see , but a revolt to overthrow God's chosen leadership and priesthood was evil, see . Korah is mentioned first and was the leader together with Dathan and Abiram. The latter, On, is not mentioned later. Perhaps he withdrew or had a less significant role in the rebellion, see , .]
When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.
And Moses said to Korah, "Listen, I beg you, sons of Levi,
And Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come,
And Moses became very angry and said to the Lord (Yahweh), "Do not accept their offerings; I have not taken a donkey from them, nor have I harmed any of them."
And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company appear before the Lord (Yahweh) tomorrow, you and they and Aaron,
And they took their censers, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before Moses and Aaron.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
And Moses said, "By this you shall know (be intimately acquainted with) that the Lord (Yahweh) has sent me to do all this work, and that I have not done it of my own accord (literally: from my heart).
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
to be a memorial for the sons of Israel, so that no ordinary man who is not of the seed of Aaron may come near to burn incense before the Lord (Yahweh), and not perish like Korah and his company, as the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to him through the hand of Moses.
But in the morning, the whole assembly of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the Lord (Yahweh)."
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord (Yahweh) appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put fire from the altar on it and put incense on top of it, and carry it quickly to the assembly and make atonement for them, for there is wrath that has gone forth from the Lord (Yahweh), the plague has begun."
And Aaron took what Moses had spoken and ran into the midst of the congregation, and behold, the plague had begun among the people, and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague ceased.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him rods, one for each leader according to their fathers' houses, 12 rods, and Aaron's rod was among them.
And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord (Yahweh) in the tent of the testimony.
And it came to pass on the next morning, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and brought forth buds, and blossoms, and yielded almonds.
And Moses brought all the rods out from before the Lord (Yahweh) to the sons of Israel, and they saw and took each man his rod.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Put Aaron's rod back before the testimony, to be kept (guarded, protected) there as a sign to the rebellious sons, so that their grumbling against me may cease and they may not die."
So Moses did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded him, and he did so.
And the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, we are perishing, we are destroyed, we are all destroyed.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.
And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, "It would have been better if we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord (Yahweh).
And Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the opening of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord (Yahweh) appeared to them.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses took the rod before the Lord (Yahweh), as he commanded him.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation before the rock, and he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels, can we bring water out of this rock?"
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff [instead of speaking to it, see ], and water gushed out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. [Previously, Moses was to strike the rock once, see . Jesus is the rock that has already been struck once, see . Jesus is also likened to living water, see .]
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe me and keep me holy in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."
[. The reason for the punishment was unbelief and that he did not keep God holy in the eyes of Israel, see . The expression "we" may also suggest that Moses and Aaron took it upon themselves to be responsible for the miracle and did not honor God. Striking the rock oneself also speaks of doing something in one's own strength, see . In all that is happening, there is a hint of anger and wrath on the part of Moses and Aaron, see . Miriam's death, see , may also be a cause of Moses and Aaron's feelings, but it should not affect how they lead the people.]
And Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom:
"Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the afflictions that have befallen us,
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying:
And Moses did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded, and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole assembly (in the sight of the whole assembly).
And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
and the people spoke against God and Moses, saying, "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no water or bread to eat here, and we detest this worthless manna."
Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord (Yahweh) and against you. Pray to the Lord (Yahweh) that he may take away the snakes from us." Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Make a poisonous snake [one like the snakes that are afflicting the people] and put it on a pole, and this shall come to pass: When the one who is bitten by a snake looks at it, he shall live."
Then Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. If anyone had been bitten (Hebr. nashach) by a snake, he would live if he looked at the bronze snake. [Hebr. nechoshet is used both for pure copper and its alloys, which made the metal harder. The material used here was probably bronze (90% copper and 10% tin). The word for snake is (Hebr. nachash), which has the same first three letters as the word for copper/bronze (Nun, Het and ). Interestingly, the only difference between the words is that copper/bronze has a fourth letter – , which is a picture of a cross! In , sin is likened to this poisonous snake; it is not only around us but has also bitten each one of us. Jesus was made sin and bore it on the cross, but whoever looks up to him in faith will be saved, see . The Hebrew word for pole can also be translated as "banner" or "field sign." The first time it is used is in , where the Lord is called Yahweh Nissi – the Lord is my banner. This occurs after Joshua's victory over the Amalekites, when life triumphed over death. In a similar way, Moses lifted up God's staff in his hands when he prayed on a mountain.]
And from there to Beer [meaning spring]. This is the spring (Hebr. beer) about which the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."
And Moses sent spies to Jaazer, and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there. [Jaazer was both the name of the region () and the capital ().]
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people and all his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon."
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and hang them up to the Lord (Yahweh) in the sunshine, so that the Lord's (Yahweh's) anger may be turned away from Israel."
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Kill every man who has joined himself to (united with) the Baal of Peor."
And behold, a man of the sons of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his brothers before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the whole congregation of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And it came to pass after the plague [in chapter 25 with idolatry] that the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and to Eleazar, the priest Aaron's son, saying:
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying:
" [Yes, count all the men:] from twenty years old and upward, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses!"
[Almost 38.5 years have passed since the first census, see . The census is needed in order to divide up the land they will soon occupy. Miriam () and Aaron () had died, and Moses was also old. The order of the enumeration follows the first census in the introduction to the book. At the age of 20, a man was fit for battle, see .]
These are the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt:
And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were appointed by the assembly, who fought against Moses and Aaron in Korah's group, when they fought against the Lord (Yahweh) []
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
And Amram's wife was named Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt, and she bore
Aaron
and Moses
and their sister Miriam.
[Jochebed and Miriam are the only women mentioned in the Levitical family tree. Note that it says that Jochebed bore the children; otherwise, only the father and sons are usually mentioned in the genealogical records. In this context, it says how "Jochebed was born to Levi" and "to Aaron was born," see . See also ; ; . The word "born" can also be used to mean descendant of Levi. Sometimes names can be omitted in genealogies, see, for example, , .]
These were the ones counted by Moses and the priest Eleazar, who counted the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, near Jericho.
But among these there was not a single man left of those who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai [38 years earlier, see ].
And they stood before Moses and before the priest Eleazar and before the leaders and the whole assembly, at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and said:
Moses brought their case before the Lord (Yahweh).
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying
And if his father has no brothers,
then you shall give the inheritance to his kinsman, the one closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it. And this shall be a statute (literally: 'things engraved') for the sons of Israel, a commandment (binding legal decision) that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded Moses."
[It was important that there were heirs in all families so that the people of Israel could continue to possess the land that God had given them. In the first instance, it was the eldest son who inherited, but daughters could also inherit in order to preserve the land of Israel among Jewish families. Levirate marriage also existed to continue the family line, see . In a society where widows would otherwise have been forced into begging, this guaranteed her livelihood and preserved the name of her deceased husband.]
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Go up to the top of the mountain of Abarim [mountain range northeast of the Dead Sea with the peak Nebo, see ] and see the land that I have given to the sons of Israel.
And Moses spoke to the Lord (Yahweh) and said,
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Moses, "Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hands on him
And Moses did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded him, and he took Joshua and set him before the priest Eleazar and before the whole assembly.
And he laid his hand upon him and gave him a charge, as the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken through Moses.
[A new section begins here. The order follows that in , but the focus here is specifically on the duties of the priests. Once the sacrificial service is in full swing, the priests will sacrifice 113 oxen, 32 rams, and 1,086 lambs in a year. In addition, over a ton of grain and thousands of liters of oil and wine will be needed.] The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And Moses spoke to the leaders of the sons of Israel, saying, "These are the things that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded.
When a man makes a vow to the Lord (Yahweh) and swears an oath to bind his soul with a promise, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that has come out of his mouth.
[This is the central passage:]
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
And Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm the men Hos for battle, that they may go out against Midian, to execute the Lord's (Yahweh's) vengeance upon Midian.
And Moses sent them to battle, 1,000 from each tribe, and Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, to battle with the holy objects and the trumpet for battle signals in his hand.
And they fought against Midian as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, and they struck down (killed) all the men (of Midian).
And they brought the captives and the spoil and the spoiled things to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which is by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them outside the camp.
And Moses was angry with the commanders of the armies, the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds, who came from the battle.
And Moses said to them, "Have you saved all the women alive? [Literally: "everything of the female sex."]
And the priest Elazar said to all the warriors who had gone out to battle: "This is the ordinance of the teaching (instructions, Torah) that the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded Moses.
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
And Moses and the priest Eleazar did as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
Moses gave the tribute, the Lord's (Yahweh's) separate portion, to the priest Eleazar, as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
And of the half of the sons of Israel, which Moses had separated from the men of war,
And Moses took from the half of the sons of Israel one out of every fifty, both of men and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who are responsible for (watching over and caring for) the tabernacle of the Lord (Yahweh), as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses.
And the commanders, the leaders of 1,000 and the leaders of 100, came near to Moses,
and they said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the warriors who were under our command, and not one man is missing among us.
And Moses and the priest Eleazar took the gold from them and all the adorned jewels.
And Moses and the priest Eleazar took the gold from the leaders of thousands and the leaders of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord (Yahweh).
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and the priest Eleazar and the leaders of the congregation, saying
And Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?
And Moses said to them, "If you are going to do this, if you are going to arm yourselves and go before the Lord (Yahweh) into battle,
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, "Your servants will do as my lord has commanded.
Moses gave clear orders about them to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses among the tribes of the sons of Israel.
And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord (Yahweh), and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession,
And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, the land with its cities and their borders, as well as the cities of the land around it.
And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he lived there.
These are the encampments of the sons of Israel, which they passed through when they came out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
And Moses wrote down their journey, camp by camp, at the command of the Lord (Yahweh), and these are their camps on their journey.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses, saying:
And Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, "This is the land where you shall receive your inheritance by lot, which the Lord (Yahweh) has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to one half-tribe,
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying:
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses and said:
And the leaders of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of the house of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the sons of Israel,
And Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh), saying, "The sons of the tribe of Joseph have spoken rightly.
As the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad.
These are the commands (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) and decrees (binding legal decisions) that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded (Hebrew: tsavah) the sons of Israel through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
These are the words (Hebr. devarim) that Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan, in the wilderness of the Arava, opposite Zophim [probably the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea), also called the Reed Sea; Hebr. jam sof] between Paran and Tofel, and Laban and Chatsarot and Di-Zahav.
And it came to pass in the 40th year, in the 11th month [Shvat – Jan/Feb; during the rainy season], on the first day of the month [1406 BC], that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel concerning all that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded them,
On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook (he made a conscious decision) to explain this teaching (Hebr. torah) and said:
Then Moses set apart three cities on the other side of the Jordan, toward the sunrise (on the east side),
And this is the teaching that Moses presented to the sons of Israel.
These are the testimonies (statutes – Hebr. edot) and ordinances (literally "things engraved" – Hebr. chuqim) and judgments (binding legal decisions – Hebr. mishpatim) that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
on the other side of the Jordan in the valley opposite Beit Peor in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
Hear, O Israel, the statutes (literally "things engraved") and ordinances (binding legal decisions) that I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them and do them.
[Chapters 27-34 are the fifth and final major section of the Book of Deuteronomy. Here are the concluding words and exhortations of Moses to the people, ending with his death. It consists of seven sections, the central one being the appeal to obey God, see .]
Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep (guard, protect) all the commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) that I have commanded (Hebrew tsavah) you today.
And Moses and the priests and the Levites spoke to all Israel and said, "Be quiet and listen, Israel! – Today you have become a people belonging to (owned by) the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim).
And Moses commanded the people that same day, saying:
These are the provisions of the covenant that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he made with them at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev).
[In Hebrew usage, one makes a covenant. This is because all such covenants are blood covenants. In English, we usually use the expression "enter into a covenant," but this is misleading because a covenant that is merely entered into, without blood, is a different kind of covenant than a blood covenant. Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. The Hebrew name for Horeb shares its root with cherev, which means sword.]
And Moses called all Israel and said to them:
You have seen all that the Lord (Yahweh) did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land.
Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of (before the eyes of, within sight of) all Israel:
"Be strong (firm, confident, brave)
and courageous (steadfast, alert, brave),
for you shall go with (lead) this people into the land that the Lord (Yahweh) has sworn (promised) to give to their fathers [sworn with an oath: 'seventh himself', i.e. used the number of perfection to confirm his promise to their fathers], and you shall make it their property (let them inherit it, let them take it over).
Moses wrote down this teaching (instruction, Torah) and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord [], and to the elders of Israel.
Moses commanded them, saying:
"At the end of every seven years [in the fall], at the appointed time for the sabbatical year (Hebr. shmita) [when the land lies fallow and debts are forgiven, see ], during the Feast of Tabernacles [; ; ],
The Lord said to Moses, "See, the day is coming when you must die. Call Joshua and position yourselves in the meeting tent (tabernacle) so that I can give him a mission." Moses and Joshua went and positioned themselves in the meeting tent (tabernacle).
The Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you will soon sleep [an expression for being dead] with your fathers, and this people will rise up and wander after the foreign gods of the land, where they go to be among them. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made (entered into) with them.
Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the sons of Israel.
When Moses had finished writing all the words of the book of teaching and instruction (Hebr. Torah) and completed the work,
Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord [], saying,
Moses spoke the words of this song from beginning to end within earshot (in the ears) of the entire assembly of Israel:
And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hosea [Joshua], the son of Nun. [It was Moses who gave Hosea the name Joshua, see , .]
And when Moses finished speaking (literally: completed) all these words to all Israel,
The Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses on that day (literally: 'on the bone/power of the day') and said:
This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel with before he died.
Moses commanded us a teaching (Hebr. Torah),
an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob.
Moses went
[north] from the desert of Moab up to Mount
Nebo, which is
[on the east side of the Jordan River] opposite Jericho. He went up to the top of
Pisgah.
[A mountain ridge with several peaks located just northwest of Mount Nebo.] There the Lord
(Yahweh) showed him the whole land
[that he had been promised to see ]:
[Moses stands in the middle of the eastern edge of the land that will become Israel, and starting from north to south (in a semicircle in a counterclockwise direction), God shows him the whole land.] Gilead
[north along the ridge] all the way to
[the city of] Dan.
[in the north] There in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died, just as the Lord (Yahweh) had said.
Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eyes were not dim, nor had his strength abated. [He died in full vigor.]
And the sons of Israel mourned Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days, and then the weeping and mourning for Moses ended.
[Thirty in Hebrew is shloshim, and this 30-day mourning period is called shloshim, see also .]
And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the house of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
And there has never arisen (remained; existed or come) a prophet in Israel like Moses, who knew (had an intimate relationship with) the Lord (Yahweh) face to face [; ],
And as for
the mighty hand [the great power]
and the great fear (terror) [the mighty deeds]
that Moses showed before the eyes of all Israel (in the sight of all Israel).
[Refers both to the fear that came upon the Egyptians in the ten plagues that increased in severity (), but also to the receiving of the Torah on Sinai ().]
And after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh) [around 1406 BC, according to Jewish tradition 7 Adar (often in March) – after a 30-day mourning period, see ], the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant [east of the Jordan River in the plains of Moab, see ].
["And it came to pass after" is the literal beginning of the Book of Joshua, and it is a transition from the last chapter of the previous book, which describes Moses' death in particular, see . The first time Joshua is mentioned is when Moses appoints him to lead the battle against the Amalekites, see . Joshua was also one of the twelve spies, and Moses gave him a new name, see , , . He had been Moses' servant since his youth, see ; ; and was also appointed Moses' successor, see .
Thirty-eight years had passed since Joshua and Caleb had spied out the land from Kadesh-Barnea, see . At that time, Caleb was 40 years old, see . Joshua was probably the same age or younger (but over 20 years old, see ), which means that he is now 60-78 years old. Joshua will live another 40 years and die at the age of 110, see .]
He [the Lord] said [to Joshua]:
My servant Moses is dead. Now get up and cross this Jordan [the Jordan River near Jericho, just north of the Dead Sea], you and all these people, to the land I am giving to them, the children of Israel (sons).
Every place that the sole of your foot treads upon, I have given to you, as I promised Moses [].
No one (no man) shall be able to stop you (stand against you) all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you [Joshua]. I will not leave you (fail you, let you down) or forsake (abandon, let go of) you. [; , ; ]
Just be strong (firm, confident, brave) and very courageous (steadfast, alert, bold)!
[Same phrase as in verses 6 and 9, but with the adverb "just" and the intensifier "very".]
Be careful to observe and follow (watch over; make sure to do)
all the teaching (Hebr. Torah) that my servant Moses has given (commanded) you.
Do not turn from it to the right or to the left [follow the instructions],
so that you may act wisely [with insight and understanding and have success]
wherever you go.
Remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim) gives you rest and will give you this land.
Your wives and your little ones shall remain in the land that Moses gave you on the other side of the Jordan, but you shall cross over before your brothers, all the mighty men of valor, to help them,
until the Lord (Yahweh) has given your brothers rest, just as you have, and they too have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim) is giving them. Then you shall return to your own possessions, which Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave you on the other side of the Jordan toward the sunrise (in the east)."
As we listened to Moses in everything, so we will listen to you, if only (provided that) the Lord our God (Yahweh Elohim) is with you as he was with Moses.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to make you great in the sight of Israel, so that they may know (be intimately acquainted with) that I am with you as I was with Moses,
The priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried to cross over.
And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed, before the sons of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.
On that day the Lord (Yahweh) made Joshua great in the sight of all Israel, and they revered (feared) him, as they had revered (feared) Moses, all the days of his life.
as Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the teaching of Moses [Torah – the five books of Moses], an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron was used, and they offered burnt offerings to the Lord on it and offered peace offerings (communion offerings).
And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the teaching of Moses (Hebr. Torah) which he wrote before the sons of Israel.
[Between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal lies the city of Shechem. An altar has been found on the northern slope of Mount Ebal during excavations by Adam Zertal in 1980. Right next to it is also the place where Abraham received a promise that his descendants would receive this land and where he built an altar, see . In , "all Israel" is mentioned, as opposed to "Israel" here in . One possible scenario is that Joshua and a small group of priests and elders are present at this ceremony at the altar, then they take the ark and go to the south side of Ebal in the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, where all the people gather.]
And all Israel, their elders and leaders and their judges stood on both sides of the ark, and opposite them stood the priests, the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and the native-born. Half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal. As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded, first to bless the people of Israel.
There was not a single word that Joshua failed to read, of all that Moses had commanded, before the whole assembly of Israel, the women and children, and the strangers who walked among them.
And they answered Joshua and said, "Since it was surely told (Hebr. nagad nagad) to your servants how the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, therefore we were utterly terrified (frightened, panicked) for our lives because of you and have done this.
And all the cities of these kings and their kings, Joshua took and smote them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them, as Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), had commanded.
As the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses had commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
[Chatsor (also known as Hazor or Hazor) means castle/fortress in Hebrew. The first excavation took place in 1926, followed by a larger expedition in the 1950s and 1990s. The city covered an area of 80 hectares, with an upper and lower part. At that time, it had a population of 15,000–20,000, ten times more than Jerusalem. During the excavations in 1992, an inscription "to King Javin" was found, dating from 1500-1600 BC. Previously, another older inscription from 1700 BC was found there, also using the name Javin. Javin was probably a title, similar to pharaoh, the king of Egypt, see . In the layer from this period, ashes and stones cracked by heat were found, confirming that the city had been burned down. This type of destruction has not been seen in excavations in surrounding cities.]
For it was the Lord's (Yahweh's) intention to harden their hearts and come against Israel in battle so that they would be utterly destroyed. They had no mercy (undeserved love; favor), but they were to be destroyed as the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded Moses.
So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions.
And the land rested (was quiet; had peace) from war.
Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), and the sons of Israel defeated them, and Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave it [the land east of the Jordan] as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh [; ].
With him, the Reubenites and Gadites received their inheritance that Moses gave them on the other side of the Jordan to the east, as Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave them.
the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, the same as the remnant of Rephaim, whom Moses smote and drove out.
And Moses gave to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families.
and all the cities in the lowlands, and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Tsor and Hur (Hebr. Chor) and Reva, the princes of Sihon who lived in the land,
And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad, according to their families.
And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh, and it was for half of the sons of Manasseh according to their families.
This is the inheritance that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.
But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), is their inheritance, as he promised them.
by lot for the inheritance, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded through Moses for the nine tribes and for the half-tribe.
For Moses had given the inheritance to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan, but to Levi he gave no inheritance among them.
As the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did, and they divided the land.
[The Levites did not receive their own territory, only cities among the other tribes. However, Levites could own their own land for their livelihood, see ; ; .]
[In the chiastic pattern, this passage is connected to , where Josh. 1, like Caleb here, receives his reward for the events at Kadesh-Barnea.]
Then the sons of Judah came near to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him: "You know (are intimately familiar with) the things that the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and you at Kadesh-Barnea.
I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to spy out the land, and I returned to him with words as they were in my heart.
And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Truly, the land that your feet have trodden shall be an inheritance to you and your sons forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God (Yahweh Elohim).'
And now, behold, the Lord (Yahweh) has kept me alive, as he spoke, these 45 years from the time that the Lord (Yahweh) spoke these words to Moses while Israel was wandering in the wilderness. And now, I am 85 years old today.
Yet I am as strong today as I was on the day Moses sent me away. As my strength was then, so is my strength now, to fight and to go out and to come in.
And they came near before the priest Eleazar and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the leaders, and said, "The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers." Therefore, according to the command of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers.
But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance, and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, to the east, which Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave them."
Speak to the sons of Israel and say, "Appoint for yourselves the cities of refuge, of which I have spoken to you through Moses [; ; ],
and spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The Lord (Yahweh) commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in with open country around them for our livestock."
And the sons of Israel gave these cities to the Levites by lot, with open country around them, as the Lord (Yahweh) commanded through Moses.
and said to them, "You have kept (guarded, protected, preserved) all that the Lord (Yahweh)'s servant Moses commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you,
Now the Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim) has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore, return now and go to your tents in the land where you have your possessions, which Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
But be very careful (watch over yourselves) to do the commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) and the teaching (Hebr. Torah) that the Lord's (Yahweh's) servant Moses commanded (Hebr. tsavah) to you, to love the Lord your God (Yahweh Elohim) and walk in all his ways and keep (guard, protect, preserve) his commandments (clear commands) and cling to him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul (person)." []
And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given an inheritance in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave among their brothers beyond the Jordan to the west. When Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them
So the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned and left the sons of Israel. They went out from Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River], to the land of their possessions which they had taken according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh) through the hand of Moses. []
Therefore, you shall be very strong (firm, secure, brave) and keep (guard, protect, preserve) and do all that is written in the book of Moses' teaching (Hebr. Torah), so that you do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left,
And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted Egypt according to all that I did in its midst, and afterward I brought you out.
And the Kenites, the sons of Moses' father-in-law [], went up from the City of Palms [usually Jericho (), but may refer to another city here] with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah, which is south [literally: "Negev"] of Arad, and they went and lived with the people.
And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and they drove out from there the three sons of Anak [; ; ].
They were there to test Israel through them to see if they would listen to the Lord's (Yahweh's) commands (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) that he had commanded (Hebrew tsavah) their fathers through Moses.
Chever, the Kenite, had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law, and he pitched his tent as far away as Elon-Betsananim, which is near Kedesh.
Samuel then said to the people:
"It is the Lord (Yahweh) who chose (literally, made) Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
When Jacob came to Egypt [, ], your fathers cried out to the Lord (Yahweh), and the Lord (Yahweh) sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and let you dwell in this place.
and be careful to keep (guard, protect, preserve) the ways of the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) so that you walk in them to keep (guard, protect, preserve) his statutes (literally "things engraved"), his commandments (clear commands), his statutes (binding legal decisions), and his ordinances (testimonies, God's fundamental rules) in accordance with everything written in the teaching of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,
There was nothing left in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses put there at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev) [Mount Sinai], when the Lord (Yahweh) made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. [The Hebrew word for Horeb shares its root with cherev, which means sword.]
For you have set them apart from all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance, as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord of Lords (Adonai Yahweh)."
"Blessed is the Lord (Yahweh) who has given rest (also meaning peace and comfort – Hebr. menocha) to his people Israel according to all his words (promises), not one word that he has spoken has failed (no promise has been unfulfilled, all words have come to pass), as he spoke through the hand of his servant Moses.
But he did not kill the sons of the murderers, according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord commanded, saying, "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers. But each one shall be put to death for his own transgression." []
He removed the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles [poles for idol worship], and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made [], for to this day the sons of Israel had been sacrificing to it, and it was called Nechushtan.
For he clung to the Lord (Yahweh) and did not turn away from following him, and kept (guarded, protected, preserved) his commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) that the Lord (Yahweh) had commanded (Hebrew tsavah) Moses.
because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord (Yahweh), their God (Elohim), [and obey him], but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), commanded. They would not listen, and they would not do.
I will no longer let the feet of Israel wander [as refugees] out of the land I gave their fathers, if only they hold fast to (guard, protect, preserve) and do all that I have commanded them and all the teaching (Hebr. Torah) that my servant Moses commanded them."
And there was no king like him before him, who turned to the Lord (Yahweh) with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the teaching of Moses, and none after him who arose like him.
The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
But Aaron and his descendants were in charge of the sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. They took care of everything in the Most Holy Place and made atonement for Israel, just as Moses, the servant of God, had commanded.
And as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh), the Levites carried the ark of God (Elohim) with poles resting on their shoulders.
The tabernacle of the Lord (Yahweh), which Moses had made in the desert, was at that time with the altar of burnt offering at the high place in Gibeon.
Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the Lord commanded Moses to lay upon Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged.
The sons of Amram were:
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron and his sons were set apart forever and consecrated to the most holy, to burn incense before the Lord (Yahweh) forever and to serve and bless in his name forever,
but the sons of Moses, the man of God, were counted among the tribe of Levi.
The sons of Moses were:
Gershom and Eliezer.
Shebuel, son of Gershom, son of Moses, was the chief overseer of the taxes.
Then he went with the whole assembly to the high place at Gibeon [just north of Jerusalem, see ], for that was where the tent of meeting with God was, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
In the ark there was nothing but the two tablets [also manna and Aaron's rod, see ; ; ] that Moses had placed there at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev) [Mount Sinai] when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt. [The Hebr. word for Horeb shares its root with cherev, which means sword.]
Every day he offered the prescribed sacrifices for that day, according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, at the new moons, and at the appointed feasts three times a year: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Joiada entrusted the supervision of the house of the Lord (Yahweh) to the Levitical priests, whom David had divided into classes for service in the house of the Lord (Yahweh), to offer burnt offerings to the Lord (Yahweh), as prescribed in the teaching of Moses (Hebr. Torah), with rejoicing and singing according to David's instructions.
Then the king summoned the high priest Jehoiada and said to him, "Why have you not ensured that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax for the tabernacle of the testimony, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded the congregation of Israel?
And they proclaimed throughout Judah and Jerusalem that the tax which Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness should be paid to the Lord (Yahweh).
But he did not kill their children, for he did as it is written in the Law of Deut. Moses, where the Lord commanded, "Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents. Each person shall be put to death for his own sin." []
They took up their positions as prescribed for them in the teachings of Moses, the man of God (Hebr. Torah). The priests sprinkled the blood they had received from the Levites.
I will no longer allow Israel to wander from the land I have assigned to your fathers, if only they hold fast to and follow all that I have commanded them according to the teaching (Hebr. Torah) and the statutes (literally: things engraved) and ordinances (binding legal decisions) that they have received through Moses."
When they took out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord (Yahweh), the priest Hilkiah (Hebr. Chilqijaho) found the Torah scroll of the Lord (Yahweh) that had been given through Moses.
Slaughter the Passover lamb and consecrate yourselves and prepare it for your brothers. Do according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh) through Moses."
And they separated the burnt offerings and distributed them to the people according to their families, so that they might offer them to the Lord (Yahweh), as prescribed in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls.
Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers, the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers rose up and built the altar to offer burnt offerings to the God of Israel (Elohim) as it is written in the teaching of Moses the man of God.
They appointed the priests according to their divisions and the Levites according to their divisions [exact details are given in 1 Chron. 23-27] to perform the service of God in Jerusalem, as it was prescribed in the book of Moses.
[Here ends the Aramaic section that began in ; is in Hebrew.]
This Ezra came up from Babylon. He was skilled in the teachings of Moses (Hebr. ) that the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), had given. The king granted him everything he asked for, because the hand of the Lord (Yahweh), his God (Elohim), was upon him.
We have acted very deceitfully toward you [God] and have not kept your commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) and ordinances (Hebr. chuqim), and have not followed your decrees (binding legal decisions – Hebr. mishpatim), which you commanded (Hebr. tsavah) Moses, your servant.
I beg you, remember the words you commanded Moses, your servant, when you said:
If you are treacherous and unfaithful,
I will scatter you among the nations.
All the people gathered as one man in the open space in front of the Water Gate. They spoke to Ezra, the scribe, that he should bring out the book (scroll) with Moses' teaching, which the Lord (Yahweh) had established for Israel.
They found it written in the teaching (Hebr. Torah) that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast in the 7th month [15th-22nd of Tishri, falls in Sept/Oct, see Num. 29:12-38],
You gave them knowledge of your holy Sabbath [; ]
and gave them commandments (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot),
ordinances (Hebr. chuqim)
and the teaching (Torah – the five books of Moses),
which you commanded (Hebr. tsavah) them,
through the hand of your servant Moses.
join their leading brothers and solemnly promise to live according to God's teaching (Hebr. Torah), which was given through God's servant Moses, and to keep and follow all the commandments (Hebr. mitzvot), decrees (Hebr. mishpatim) and statutes (ordinances; literally "things engraved" – Hebr. ).
On that day, they read from the Book of Moses to the people. There it was written [] that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be allowed to enter the assembly of God.
[Verses 1b-2 form a chiasm framed by "you," followed by generation/eternity and, centrally, the earth.]
You, Lord (Adonai), have been our refuge
from generation to generation.
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call (raise their voices in prayer) upon his name.
They called (raised their voices in prayer) upon the Lord (Yahweh)
and he answered them.
[, ; ; ; , ; ; ]
He showed his ways to Moses [],
his deeds to the people of Israel.
[Ways indicate intimacy and a close relationship.]
He sent Moses,
his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. []
They were jealous of Moses in the camp
and of Aaron, God's (Yahweh's) holy one.
Therefore, he [God] said he would destroy them.
If Moses, his chosen one,
had not stood before him in the gap
to turn away his wrath, he would have destroyed them. [; ]
At the waters of Meribah, they provoked his anger [Ps. 81:7; 95:8] and Moses was troubled because of them.
Then his people remembered the days of old,
the days of Moses.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds over his flock?
Where is he who placed
his Holy Spirit in their midst?
What made his glorious arm
walk at Moses' right hand?
Who divided the waters before them,
to give him an everlasting name?
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to me [Jeremiah]: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul cannot be turned toward this people, cast them away from my presence and let them go.
The whole people of Israel abandoned your teaching (crossed a boundary) and turned away [from your way], refusing to obey (listen to your voice). That is the reason for the curse and oath in the teaching (Hebr. Torah) of Moses, God's servant [], because we have sinned against you.
Just as it is written in the teaching of Moses (Hebr. Torah), all this evil (this disaster) came upon us. Despite this, we have not yet tried to reconcile ourselves with the Lord our God. [Literally, 'to appease his face'; to turn one's face toward someone is a sign of favor and goodwill.] We have not turned away from (ceased) our misdeeds (sins) and begun to seek (ask for, obey) your truth [your rules of life and your morals in your teaching].
For I brought you up and out of the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of bondage (slavery)
and I sent Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam before you.
Remember (consider) the teaching (Hebr. Torah) of my servant Moses [the five books of Moses with instructions] that I commanded him at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev) [Mount Sinai], the statutes (literally "things engraved" – Hebr. chuqim) and the ordinances (binding legal decisions – Hebr. mishpatim) for all Israel.
[The word Chorev shares its root with the word for dry/desolate (Hebr. charev), which describes the area around Mount Sinai. The word also shares its root with the word cherev, which means sword. This takes on a deeper meaning when we know that God's word is described as a sword () and the covenant that was made here, see .]
Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses prescribed [for your healing, see ], as a testimony to them."
[This is the first of several occasions where Jesus urges those who have been healed not to tell anyone, see ; ; ; . Here, the reason is probably that the man should obey the law. Another reason is that the attention surrounding the miracles would lead the people to want to make Jesus king by force, see . This happens on several occasions and forces him to withdraw to deserted places, see ; .]
Suddenly they saw Moses and Elijah talking with him.
Then Peter began to speak, saying to Jesus, "It is wonderful (good, glorious) to be here! If you want, I will make three tents. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
[In it also says that "Peter did not know what he was saying." It is possible that he is referring to the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, which is celebrated in the fall. During this festival, huts with roofs of leaves are built under the open sky to commemorate the Israelites' journey through the desert after their exodus from Egypt. According to Jewish belief and tradition, the festival is also associated with both the coming of the Messiah and the beginning of the Messianic age, see . These connections to messianic expectation are clear when Jesus visits Jerusalem during Sukkot, see, for example, , , , .]
They asked, "Why then did Moses command the man [in ] to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?"[It is not entirely clear what "dislike" in refers to. Some believed that anything about the wife that caused the husband discomfort was "dislike" and reason enough for divorce, while the more strict believed that it referred to sexual infidelity. Others argued that the choice of words, together with , means that it cannot refer to infidelity in marriage, since this was punished by stoning, see e.g. where they want to stone a woman who has committed adultery. In that case, the divorce law Moses refers to concerns sexual sin before marriage during betrothal, which was the case in when Joseph believed Mary had been unfaithful.]
He replied, "Because your hearts are so hard, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
"Teacher, Moses said:
If a man dies childless, his [younger unmarried] brother shall marry the widow
and raise up offspring for his brother.
[A correct summary of , which guarantees the livelihood of a childless widow in a society where she would otherwise be forced into begging. The custom also preserves the name of the deceased husband. These marriages are called levirate marriages, from the Latin word "levir," meaning brother-in-law. The custom already existed before Moses received God's commandments and instructions on Mount Sinai, see ; .]
"The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat [and still sit] on Moses' seat [to teach from the books of Moses and exercise authority].
saying, "Don't tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest [in Jerusalem] and offer the sacrifice for your cleansing that Moses commanded. This will be a testimony to them." []
Moses said [in one of the Ten Commandments, see ; ]: 'Honor (value, respect) your father and your mother'
and [where the violation of this commandment is described in ]:
'Anyone who curses (curses) his father or mother shall be put to death.
Then Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
[Six days after Peter's words that Jesus is the Messiah, see , three of his disciples see how Jesus' human nature fades and his divinity shines through. Moses and Elijah represent the Old Testament. Together, they confirm that Jesus is the one who fulfills the teachings (Torah) and the promises of the prophets.]
Peter answered [even though no one had asked him, he interrupted their conversation] and said to Jesus, "Master, it is good (wonderful) for us to be here. Let us make three huts [he was probably referring to the huts that were built during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles], one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
He replied, "What did Moses command you?"
They replied, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and divorce her." []
Teacher, Moses said,
If a man dies without children, his [younger unmarried] brother shall marry the widow
and raise up offspring for his brother.
[An accurate summary of , which guarantees a childless widow's livelihood in a society where she would otherwise be forced into begging. The custom also preserves the name of the deceased husband. These marriages are called levirate marriages, from the Latin word levir, meaning brother-in-law. The custom already existed before Moses received God's commandments and instructions on Mount Sinai, see .]
But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses [, which was the part of the Bible they believed in] about [the burning] bush, how God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?
[After giving birth, the woman is unclean for seven days, followed by a purification period of several weeks in the home, see . The word “unclean” has a negative connotation, but the word is also used positively in Jewish tradition to refer to the Torah scroll. The hands of the person who touches it are “defiled”. The meaning is that it is so holy that it must not be touched. For a new mother, the impurity and the long period of purification are about giving the woman time to recover. It is a time of rest and peace.]
When the time came for their purification according to Moses’ teaching [40 days after the birth of a boy, see ], they took Jesus to Jerusalem [4,3 miles (7 km) north of Bethlehem] to bring him before the Lord –
Jesus forbade him to tell anyone [whom he would meet on the way to the temple in Jerusalem], saying, "Go and show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice for your purification that Moses has appointed [Lev. 14:1-32]. It will be a testimony to them." [Mark tells how the man disobeyed Jesus' command, see Mark 1:45.]
Suddenly there were two men talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah
As the men were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.
[Although this event probably takes place in the spring, Peter makes connections to the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, which is celebrated in the fall. During this festival, people build huts with roofs of leaves under the open sky to commemorate the Israelites' journey through the desert after their exodus from Egypt. According to Jewish belief and tradition, the festival is also associated with both the coming of the Messiah and the beginning of the Messianic age, see . These connections to messianic expectation are clear when Jesus visits Jerusalem during Sukkot, see, for example, , , , .]
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to [and obey] them.
Abraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
[The greatest testimony anyone can receive is the word of God. A miracle attracts attention, but it is the word of God that saves. Although the rich man is not named, it is the Pharisees who are identified with him. The high priest wore a purple robe and linen garments, see . When Jesus told this story, Caiaphas was the high priest, serving from 18-35 AD. His father-in-law, Annas, had five sons whom he made high priests, see verses 27-28. Lazarus has sometimes been associated with Martha and Mary's brother, but it is probably not the same person, see . However, there is a connection between the name Lazarus and Abraham. The name Lazarus comes from the Hebrew name Eliezer, which means "one whom God helps." Eliezer was Abraham's faithful servant, see . Just as Abraham's good servant Eliezer was expected to go to the same place of residence as his master after death, so too will the righteous beggar. Jesus does not say whether this is a parable or a story, and there are different interpretations, but what we do know is that Jesus would not speak untruths or teach false doctrines. Some conclusions:
What we do in this life has consequences after death. We should help the poor. Jesus uses a contemporary term, "Abraham's bosom," but changes certain details. The English word "lazaret" (a place for people with infectious diseases) has its origin in the biblical name Lazarus.]
They said:
"Teacher, Moses gave us a command that
if a man dies without children, his [younger unmarried] brother should marry the widow
and raise up children for his brother.
[A correct summary of , which guarantees a childless widow's livelihood in a society where she would otherwise be forced into begging. The custom also preserves the name of the deceased husband. These marriages are called levirate marriages, from the Hebrew word levir, meaning brother-in-law. The custom already existed before Moses received God's commandments and instructions on Mount Sinai, see ; .]
Moses has clearly shown (he has revealed something that is hidden) that the dead are resurrected in the story of the burning bush []. Here Moses calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [even though they were not living here on earth when Moses said this].
Then he began with the books of Moses and went on through all the prophets, explaining to them what was said about him in the Scriptures.
[Some of the references Jesus brought up may have been:
– The story known in Judaism as Akedah – "the binding" of Isaac (Hebr. ). There are many prophetic parallels between Isaac and Jesus. Abraham took his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah, which is the same place as the Temple Mount in present-day Jerusalem, where the Father took his only Son Jesus. Isaac carried the wood himself, Jesus carried the cross; both were in their thirties; a ram got its head caught in a thicket of thorns and became a substitute sacrifice, Jesus was crowned with a crown of thorns and died a substitute death for all mankind.
– The Passover feast is instituted. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the flawless one-year-old lamb was sacrificed, the same hour that the Lamb of God died on the cross.
– which speaks of the scapegoat that took Israel's guilt upon itself and was sent out into the wilderness. – The bronze serpent in the desert, see .
– Where it is said that anyone hung on a tree is accursed, see . – He was despised, familiar with suffering, pierced, bore our transgressions, laid in a rich man's tomb, etc.]
Then he said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the teachingsof Moses [Torah – Gk. nomos], the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
for the teaching (Torah – Gk. nomos) was given through Moses [],
grace and truth came through Jesus the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) [God's chosen one, see ].
[There is no contradiction between Moses and Jesus or between the teaching in the Old Testament and "grace and truth." God conveys his grace through both of them. They are both gifts and become "gift upon gift." There is a nice connection to where the phrase "abundant in mercy and truth" is used. On this occasion, God showed his mercy to Moses and the Israelites in a concrete way by renewing his covenant with a new set of stone tablets – even when the books of Moses were given, it was in mercy! John now shows how Jesus fulfills the promise given there of "mercy to thousands." Jesus fulfills Scripture, see . Those who love Jesus also follow the commandments, see .]
Philip sought out Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law
(Torah – Gk. nomos) and the prophets wrote about – Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph
[adopted]."
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [on a pole, see ],
so (in the same way) it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up [on a cross; to heaven],
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, the one you rely on (have put your hope in).
For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.
Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth (amen, amen), it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
Has not Moses given you the teaching (the law – Gk. nomos) [the Books of Moses]? Yet none of you fulfills (keeps) the teaching. Why do you seek to kill me [and go against the commandment not to kill, in ]?"
Moses gave you the custom of circumcision [of boys on the eighth day after birth, see ] actually, it was not Moses who introduced the custom, but the fathers [Abraham, see ] – and you circumcise boys even on the Sabbath.
If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses' law is not broken, how can you be furious (enraged) with me for making a man completely well (restoring him) on the Sabbath?
In the law [], Moses commands that such a woman be stoned. [It also says that the man should be punished, which the scribes seem to have forgotten.] What do you say?"
Then they hurled insults (abuse, harsh taunts) at him and said, "You are that man's disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.
We know for certain that God spoke to Moses, but we don't know where that one [Jesus] comes from."
Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You shall listen to him in everything he tells you.
So they secretly hired some men and instructed them to say that they had heard him speak blasphemous (aggressive) words against Moses and God.
We have heard him say that Jesus of
Nazareth will destroy this place and change the statutes that
Moses gave us."
[, but also prophesied earlier, see ; .] [The reason false witnesses were brought forward was that the Sanhedrin did not have the authority to accuse anyone on its own initiative. Witnesses had to request that their case be heard in order for it to be taken up.]At that time (era), Moses was born, and he was incredibly beautiful in God's eyes [had both inner and outer beauty; literally 'from a city', i.e. behaved elegantly (not uneducated), but also in the sense that he came from a heavenly city]. For three months he grew up [and was kept hidden] in his father's house. [; ]
Moses was taught all Egyptian wisdom (philosophy) and he was powerful (strong) in words (Gk. logos) and deeds (actions). [Luke uses the same phrase about Jesus, see Luke 24:19. Although Moses himself did not consider himself a good speaker (), he was a man of his word. His words and deeds were consistent. Logos also often emphasizes the written word; he was a good rhetorician and author of the Books of Moses, see .]
When he heard these words, he fled. Moses then lived as a stranger in the land of Midian, where he [married and] had two sons.
Moses was amazed at the sight he saw, and when he drew near to see what it was, the voice of the Lord was heard:
'I am the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' [] Then Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
This Moses, whom they rejected when they said,
Who made you a ruler and a judge? [] – God sent him as a leader and deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush.
It was this Moses who said to the sons (children) of Israel:
God will raise up for you a prophet like me
from among your brothers.
[. Jesus is this prophet who is like Moses, see ; .]
They said to Aaron, "Make us gods who can go before us! We don't know what happened to that Moses who brought us out of Egypt. []
Our ancestors had the tent of testimony [the tabernacle, with the ark] in the desert, designed as God had determined. He had commanded Moses to make it according to the pattern (model, example) God had shown him.
[Concluding exhortation to accept the promise:]
Therefore, men and brothers, know that it is through this man [the risen Jesus] that the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
But some men had come down from
Judea [to the church in Antioch in Syria]. They had begun to teach the brothers
(and insisted on their opinion): "You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised, as
Moses taught us."
[The sentence begins with "But" and is related to Paul and Barnabas' testimony about how the door of faith had been opened to the Gentiles, see . According to , all Jewish men must be circumcised. The fact that those who taught this came from Judea indicates that they came from this area with its capital Jerusalem, but also that they had a strict Jewish mindset. While Paul and Barnabas were away on their missionary journey, these Jewish men had begun to teach that everyone must follow Jewish customs, even the large Gentile Christian part of the congregation without a Jewish background. Paul describes the same subject in the Epistle to the Galatians. Although there are differences and Bible scholars are divided on the date of the letter, it is the same conflict that is addressed there, where even Peter and Barnabas had been drawn in by fear of those who insisted that the Gentiles should also be circumcised, see .]But some of the Pharisees who had come to believe stood up and said, "It is absolutely necessary (it is a commandment of God) to circumcise the Gentiles and command them to keep the law of Moses."
[The reason for these four rules of conduct is that] Moses has had his preachers in all cities since ancient times, and [his words are read aloud] in the synagogues every Sabbath. [In synagogues around the world, the books of Moses were read through every year. The rules in were well known.]
Now they have heard (rumor has it – Gk. katecheo) that you [Paul] are teaching all the Jews among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses and say that they should not circumcise their children or live according to our customs. [Literally: "apostasy (divorce letter) from Moses, you teach". The word apostasy (Gk. apostasia) is the feminine form of Gk. apostasion, which is divorce, see . The word is only used here and in .]
But with God's help, I stand here today as a witness to both small and great. And I say nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
They set a day for him, and even more people came to his lodging. From morning till evening he explained and testified to them about the kingdom of God, trying to convince them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses [the teachings in the five books of Moses] and the Prophets.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned by such transgression as Adam's. Adam was a type of the one who was to come.
He says to Moses, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy." []
[In the following passage, Paul uses more Old Testament references than in any other passage he writes. He wants to show that Scripture has always been clear about God's plan of salvation.]
For Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from teaching [Torah – the five books of Moses]:
The person who does this (these things) [lives according to the teaching and follows the commandments],
shall (will) live by it. []
I also ask: Has Israel perhaps not understood [that the gospel would go out to the whole world]?
First, Moses says [in ]:
I will make you jealous of a nation that is not a nation,
I will make you angry with a nation that has no understanding.
It is written in the teaching of Moses:
You shall not muzzle an ox
while it is threshing. [; ] Is it only oxen that God cares about?
all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea.
If now the ministry (office, teaching system, order) of death – which was based on letters carved on stone tablets – came in such glory (splendor, honor, magnificence) that the sons (children) of Israel could not look at Moses' face because of its fleeting radiance [divine presence] that disappeared,
and do not do as (just as) Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the sons (children) of Israel would not see (observe) the end of that which [faded away and completely] disappeared [].
Yes, even today a veil lies over their hearts when Moses is read [when one reads from the five books of Moses – the Torah],
Like [the Egyptian sorcerers] Jannes and Jambres defied Moses, these men defy the truth. They [these false teachers] are people with corrupt minds, their faith is not genuine.
See how he is always faithful to God who appointed him [as apostle and high priest], just as Moses was faithful in all God's house (God's spiritual family) [].
For Jesus deserves much greater honor than Moses, just as the one who builds a house deserves much greater honor than the house itself.
[Jesus is often called high priest, but this is the only time in the New Testament that he is referred to as an apostle. The same Greek word apostello is used in the story where Moses is called and "sent" by God to go to Pharaoh, see .]
Certainly Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant, to testify to what would be spoken of later.
[Now come three questions that follow the key words from Ps. 95 (rebellion, anger, and rest, see , , , ). The questions are answered with a new question. See also .] Who were those who heard but still rebelled
(were angry, provoked) [verses 8 and 15]?
Were they not all those whom
Moses led out of
Egypt?
It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.
[Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah, see ; . When Jacob blesses and prophesies over his sons in , more details are given as to why Jude is considered the firstborn. The birthright was taken from Reuben because he slept with his father's concubine. It passed over Simeon and Levi because of their cruelty in murdering an entire village after Dina was raped. Therefore, Jude was counted as the firstborn. A verse in the blessing from clearly points to Jesus: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come, and the peoples shall obey him."]
They serve in a sanctuary that is only a copy (prototype, model) and a shadow of the [real and true] heavenly sanctuary. For even when Moses was building the tabernacle, he was warned by God:
See that you make everything according to the pattern (the model, the design)
that you saw on the mountain. []
When Moses had proclaimed all the commandments of the law to the whole people, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled it both on the scroll itself and on all the people.
Anyone who rejects the law of Moses [and the teachings of the Torah] dies without mercy (compassion) on the basis of two or three witnesses (after two or three testimonies/pieces of evidence) [according to ].
In faith, Moses – who had just been born – was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful [little] child [he had inner and outer beauty; literally: "he was from/belonged to a city," i.e., he carried himself elegantly (not uneducated), but also in the sense that he came from a heavenly city], and they were not afraid of the king's [Pharaoh's] decree [to kill all Hebrew newborn boys because they posed a future threat to the Egyptians, see , , ; ; ].
In faith, Moses as an adult refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
So terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am terrified and trembling." []
But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil over the body of Moses, he [Michael] did not dare to pronounce any scornful judgment on him, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you."
[When Moses died, after seeing the Promised Land, he was buried by the Lord himself somewhere in the land of Moab, see . The quote "May the Lord punish you" has a parallel in where the devil argued about the priest Joshua's dirty clothes. The angel Michael was considered to be the special guardian angel of the people of Israel, see . According to Jewish tradition, the dispute over Moses' body concerned the devil accusing Moses of not being righteous because of his killing of the Egyptian, see . These details are not included in the Bible and are believed to come from a Jewish text from the middle of the first century called "The Ascension of Moses," which deals with his ascension to heaven. There is only one manuscript, and these particular parts, which are believed to deal with the dispute over Moses' body, are missing.
In this case, it is irrelevant whether the story is true or not. Perhaps Jude chose to include it because his audience was familiar with the story. The point is clear – these false teachers spoke about things they knew nothing about. Luke and Paul also quote Greek poets in their writings, without thereby validating everything in these extra-biblical works, see ; ; .]
and sing the song of God's servant Moses and the song of the Lamb:
Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
you King of the nations.
