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NUMBERS a Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition * New Beacon Bible Commentary NUMBERS A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition A l e x V a r u g h e s e Barry L. Ross Robert D. Branson Copyright 2021 by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City PO Box 419527 Kansas City, MO 64141 www.BeaconHillBooks.com ISBN 978-0-8341-3943-5 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans- mitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Cover Design: J.R. Caines Interior Design: Sharon Page Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Emphasis indicated by underlining in boldface quotations and italic in lightface quotations. The following version of Scripture is in the public domain: King James Version (KJV) The following copyrighted versions of Scripture are used by permission: The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. The New American Standard Bible® (NASB®), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. www.Lockman.org. The New English Bible (NEB), © the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge Uni- versity Press 1961, 1970. New JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh (NJPS), © 2000 by The Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved. The New King James Version® (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Varughese, Alex, 1945- author. | Ross, Barry Lowell, 1938- author. | Branson, Robert, 1941- author. Title: Numbers : a commentary in the Wesleyan tradition / Alex Varughese, Barry L. Ross, Robert D. Branson. Description: Kansas City, MO : Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2021. | Series: New Beacon Bible commentary | In- cludes bibliographical references. | Summary: “This is a Bible commentary, in the Wesleyan tradition, of the book of Numbers”— Provided by publisher. Identi!ers: LCCN 2020026567 (print) | LCCN 2020026568 (ebook) | ISBN 9780834139435 | ISBN 9780834139442 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Numbers—Commentaries. Classi!cation: LCC BS1265.53 .V37 2021 (print) | LCC BS1265.53 (ebook) | DDC 222/.1407—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026567 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026568 The Internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS General Editors’ Preface 13 Acknowledgments 15 Abbreviations 17 Bibliography 21 Table of Sidebars 24 INTRODUCTION 25 A. Numbers in Its Canonical Placement 26 B. The Title of the Book 27 C. Literary Forms 27 D. Structure and Organization 28 E. Authorship and Composition 29 F. Chronology of Israel’s Wilderness Journey 30 G. Theology 31 COMMENTARY 35 I. PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH FROM SINAI: NUMBERS 1:1—10:10 35 A. The First Census of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (1:1-54) 35 1. The Command to Take a Census (1:1-3) 38 2. Tribal Leaders to Assist Moses and Aaron (1:4-16) 40 3. The Census (1:17-46) 44 4. The Special Place and the Function of the Levites (1:47-54) 45 B. The Organization of the Tribal Camps around the Tabernacle (2:1-34) 48 1. Yahweh’s Command (2:1-2) 50 2. On the East (2:3-9) 50 3. On the South (2:10-16) 51 4. In the Middle (2:17) 51 5. On the West (2:18-24) 52 6. On the North (2:25-31) 52 7. Summary Statement (2:32-34) 52 C. Census of the Levites and Their Responsibilities (3:1—4:49) 53 1. Introduction of Aaron’s Sons as Priests (3:1-4) 55 2. Duties of the Levites (3:5-10) 56 3. Yahweh’s Claim on the Levites (3:11-13) 57 4. Yahweh Commands Moses to Count the Levites (3:14-16) 58 5. Sons of Levi and Their Clans (3:17-20) 58 6. Census of the Levitical Clans and Their Responsibilities (3:21-39) 58 7. Census of the Firstborn Israelite Males and Their Redemption (3:40-51) 61 8. Census of the Levites for Their Service (4:1-49) 62 D. Puri!cation of the Camp (5:1-31) 67 1. The Removal of Unclean Persons (5:1-4) 68 2. Restitution for Defrauding Others (5:5-10) 69 3. Legislation on Marital In!delity (5:11-31) 71 E. The Nazirite Vow of Dedication and the Priestly Blessing (6:1-27) 78 1. Conditions of the Nazirite Vow (6:1-8) 79 2. Ritual Procedure for the Puri!cation of a Nazirite De!led by a Corpse (6:9-12) 80 3. The Termination of the Nazirite Vow (6:13-21) 82 4. The Priestly Blessing (6:22-27) 84 F. Offerings of the Tribal Leaders for the Dedication of the Tabernacle (7:1-89) 87 1. Initial Gifts for Transporting the Tabernacle (7:1-9) 88 2. Offerings for the Dedication of the Altar (7:10-89) 89 G. Lighting the Lampstand (8:1-4) 92 H. The Puri!cation and Consecration of the Levites for Their Work at the Tent of Meeting (8:5-26) 93 1. Puri!cation Ritual Instructions (8:5-15) 94 2. The Levites Belong to Yahweh (8:16-19) 96 3. Ful!llment of Yahweh’s Command Concerning the Levites (8:20-22) 97 4. Age Limits Set for the Levites’ Work at the Tent of Meeting (8:23-26) 97 I. Israel Celebrates the Passover (9:1-14) 98 1. The Observance of the Second Passover (9:1-5) 100 2. Complaint by the Unclean Israelites Who Were Excluded from the Celebration (9:6-8) 100 3. Provision for a Supplemental Passover (9:9-14) 100 J. The Cloud of Yahweh’s Presence (9:15-23) 102 K. The Trumpets (10:1-10) 104 1. Signal for the Assembly and the Departure of the Camps of Israel from Sinai (10:1-7) 104 2. Occasions for the Trumpet Blasts (10:8-10) 105 II. JOURNEY FROM SINAI TO THE DESERT OF PARAN: NUMBERS 10:11—12:16 107 A. Departure from Sinai (10:11-36) 107 1. The Israelites Set out When the Cloud Lifted from above the Tabernacle (10:11-28) 108 2. Another Account of Israel’s Departure (10:29-36) 109 B. Complaint, Wailing, and Opposition to Moses (11:1—12:16) 111 1. The People’s Complaint and Fire from Yahweh (11:1-3) 112 2. The Craving of the Rabble (11:4-6) 113 3. Description of the Manna (11:7-9) 113 4. Moses’ Complaint about His Burden (11:10-15) 114 5. The Exchange between Yahweh and Moses (11:16-23) 116 6. The Seventy Elders Receive a Portion of the Spirit from Moses (11:24-25) 118 7. The Exchange between Joshua and Moses Concerning Two Elders (11:26-30) 118 8. Quail and the Plague (11:31-35) 119 9. Miriam and Aaron Challenge Moses’ Authority (12:1-3) 120 10. Yahweh Speaks to Aaron and Miriam (12:4-9) 121 11. Miriam’s Skin Disease and Moses’ Plea for Her Healing (12:10-16) 123 III. EVENTS AT KADESH IN THE DESERT OF PARAN: NUMBERS 13:1—14:45 129 A. Men Explore Canaan and Their Report (13:1-33) 129 1. Moses Chooses Twelve Explorers (13:1-16) 130 2. Moses Gives Instructions to the Explorers (13:17-20) 130 3. The Exploration (13:21-25) 131 4. The Majority Report, Part 1 (13:26-29) 132 5. Caleb’s Interruption (13:30) 132 6. The Majority Report, Part 2 (13:31-33) 133 B. Continued Grumbling, Invasion of Canaan Attempted, Defeat at Hormah (14:1-45) 133 1. The People Desire to Return to Egypt (14:1-4) 134 2. The People Rebel against Yahweh (14:5-9) 134 3. Yahweh Offers Moses the Chance at National Greatness (14:10-12) 135 4. Moses Reminds Yahweh of Yahweh’s Reputation (14:13-16) 136 5. Moses Pleads with Yahweh to Show Fidelity (14:17-19) 136 6. Yahweh Demonstrates Fidelity (14:20-25) 137 7. Yahweh Declares Punishment for Grumbling (14:26-35) 137 8. Death by Plague (14:36-38) 138 9. The People Defy Yahweh and Attempt to Enter Canaan (14:39-45) 139 IV. AN INTERLUDE OF VARIOUS LAWS: NUMBERS 15:1-41 141 A. Laws Concerning Animal, Grain, and Bread Offerings (15:1-21) 142 B. Unintentional and Intentional Sins (15:22-31) 144 C. Case Law: The Sabbath Wood-gather (15:32-36) 146 D. Attach Tassels to Your Garments (15:37-41) 146 V. MOSES’ AND AARON’S LEADERSHIP: NUMBERS 16:1—19:22 149 A.
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