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Numbers 19

Ashes of the Red Heifer.

1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron:

2This is the statute for the ritual which the LORD has commanded. Tell the Israelites to procure for you a red heifer without defect and free from every blemish and on which no yoke has ever been laid.

3You will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be led outside the camp^* and slaughtered in his presence.

4Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.^*

5Then the heifer will be burned in his sight; it will be burned with its hide and flesh, its blood and dung;

6and the priest will take cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is being burned.

7The priest shall then wash his garments and bathe his body in water, afterward he may enter the camp. The priest remains unclean until the evening.

8Likewise, the one who burned the heifer shall wash his garments in water, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until evening.

9Then somebody who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them in a clean place outside the camp. There they are to be kept to prepare purification water for the Israelite community. This is a purification offering.

10The one who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer shall also wash his garments and be unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute, both for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them.

Use of the Ashes.

11Those who touch the corpse of any human being will be unclean for seven days;

12they shall purify themselves with the water on the third and on the seventh day, and then be clean. But if they fail to purify themselves on the third and on the seventh day, they will not become clean.

13^a Those who touch the corpse of a human being who dies and who fail to purify themselves defile the tabernacle of the LORD and these persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since the purification water has not been splashed over them, they remain unclean: their uncleanness is still on them.

14This is the ritual: When someone dies in a tent, everyone who enters the tent, as well as everyone already in it, will be unclean for seven days;

15and every open vessel with its lid unfastened will be unclean.

16Moreover, everyone who in the open country touches a person who has been slain by the sword or who has died naturally, or who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

17For anyone who is thus unclean, ashes shall be taken from the burnt purification offering, and spring water will be poured on them from a vessel.^b

18Then someone who is clean will take hyssop, dip it in this water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the vessels and persons that were in it, or on the one who touched the bone, the slain person or the other corpse, or the grave.

19The clean will sprinkle the unclean on the third and on the seventh day, and thus purify them on the seventh day. Then they will wash their garments and bathe in water, and in the evening be clean.

20^* Those who become unclean and fail to purify themselves—those people will be cut off from the assembly, because they defile the sanctuary of the LORD. The purification water has not been splashed over them; they remain unclean.

21This will be a permanent statute for you.

Those who sprinkle the purification water will wash their garments, and those who come in contact with the purification water will be unclean until evening.

22Moreover, anything that the unclean person touches becomes unclean itself, and the one who touches such a person becomes unclean until evening.

Numbers 20

Death of Miriam.

1The Israelites, the whole community, arrived in the wilderness of Zin^* in the first month, and the people stayed at Kadesh. It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried.

Need for Water at Kadesh.

2Since the community had no water, they held an assembly against Moses and Aaron.

3The people quarreled with Moses, exclaiming, “Would that we had perished when our kindred perished before the LORD!

4Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

5Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place for grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates! And there is no water to drink!”

6But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, where they fell prostrate.

Sin of Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them,

7and the LORD said to Moses:

8Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and in their presence command the rock to yield its waters. Thereby you will bring forth water from the rock for them, and supply the community and their livestock with water.

9So Moses took the staff from its place before the LORD, as he was ordered.

10Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, where he said to them,^a “Just listen, you rebels! Are we to produce water for you out of this rock?”

11^b Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice^* with his staff, and water came out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.

12^* But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: Because you did not have confidence in me, to acknowledge my holiness before the Israelites, therefore you shall not lead this assembly into the land I have given them.

13These are the waters of Meribah,^c where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and through which he displayed his holiness.

Edom’s Refusal.

14From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel:^* You know of all the hardships that have befallen us,

15how our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors harshly.

16When we cried to the LORD,^d he heard our cry and sent an angel who led us out of Egypt. Now here we are at Kadesh, a town at the edge of your territory.

17Please let us pass through your land. We will not cross any fields or vineyards, nor drink any well water, but we will go straight along the King’s Highway^* without turning to the right or to the left, until we have passed through your territory.”

18But Edom answered him, “You shall not pass through here; if you do, I will advance against you with the sword.”

19The Israelites said to him, “We will go up along the highway. If we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. It is nothing—just let us pass through on foot.”

20But Edom replied, “You shall not pass through,”^e and advanced against them with a large and heavily armed force.

21Therefore, since Edom refused to let Israel pass through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

Death of Aaron.

22^f Setting out from Kadesh, the Israelites, the whole community, came to Mount Hor.^*

23There at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

24Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land I have given to the Israelites, because you both rebelled against my directions at the waters of Meribah.

25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up on Mount Hor.^g

26Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar, his son; but there Aaron shall be gathered up in death.

27Moses did as the LORD commanded. When they had climbed Mount Hor in view of the whole community,

28Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain.^h When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,

29all the community understood that Aaron had breathed his last; and for thirty days the whole house of Israel mourned Aaron.

Numbers 21

Victory over Arad.

1When the Canaanite, the king of Arad,^* who ruled over the Negeb,^a heard that the Israelites were coming along the way of Atharim, he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them captive.

2Israel then made this vow to the LORD: “If you deliver this people into my hand, I will put their cities under the ban.”^b

3The LORD paid attention to Israel and delivered up the Canaanites,^c and they put them and their cities under the ban. Hence that place was named Hormah.^*

The Bronze Serpent.

4From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey;

5so the people complained^d against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”^*

6So the LORD sent among the people seraph^* serpents, which bit^e the people so that many of the Israelites died.

7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people,

8and the LORD said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover.^*

9Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent^* and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.^f

Journey Around Moab.

10The Israelites moved on and encamped in Oboth.^g

11Then they moved on from Oboth and encamped in Iye-abarim^* in the wilderness facing Moab on the east.

12Moving on from there, they encamped in the Wadi Zered.

13Moving on from there, they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites; for the Arnon forms Moab’s boundary, between Moab and the Amorites.

14Hence it is said in the “Book of the Wars of the LORD”:^*

“Waheb in Suphah and the wadies,

15Arnon and the wadi gorges

That reach back toward the site of Ar^*

and lean against the border of Moab.”

16From there they went to Beer,^* which is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, Gather the people together so that I may give them water.

17Then Israel sang this song:

Spring up, O well!—so sing to it—

18The well that the princes sank,

that the nobles of the people dug,

With their scepters and their staffs—

from the wilderness, a gift.

19From Beer to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20from Bamoth to the valley in the country of Moab at the headland of Pisgah that overlooks Jeshimon.^*

Victory over Sihon.

21Now Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with the message,

22“Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, nor will we drink any well water, but we will go straight along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

23Sihon,^h however, would not permit Israel to pass through his territory, but mustered all his forces and advanced against Israel into the wilderness. When he reached Jahaz, he engaged Israel in battle.

24But Israel put him to the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and as far as Jazer of the Ammonites, for Jazer is the boundary of the Ammonites.

25ⁱ Israel seized all the towns here, and Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies.

26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land from him as far as the Arnon.

27That is why the poets say:

“Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt,

let Sihon’s city be firmly constructed.

28For fire went forth from Heshbon

and a blaze from the city of Sihon;

It consumed Ar of Moab

and swallowed up the high places of the Arnon.

29Woe to you, Moab!

You are no more, people of Chemosh!^*

He let his sons become fugitives

and his daughters be taken captive by the Amorite king Sihon.

30From Heshbon to Dibon their dominion is no more;

Ar is laid waste; fires blaze as far as Medeba.”

31So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

32Moses sent spies to Jazer; and the Israelites captured it with its dependencies and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Victory over Og.

33^j Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan. But Og, king of Bashan, advanced against them with all his forces to give battle at Edrei.

34The LORD, however, said to Moses: Do not fear him; for into your hand I deliver him with all his forces and his land. You will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.^k

35So they struck him down with his sons and all his forces, until not a survivor was left to him, and they took possession of his land.

Hebrews 3

Jesus, Superior to Moses.^*

1Therefore, holy “brothers,” sharing in a heavenly calling, reflect on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

2who was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was “faithful in [all] his house.”^a

3But he is worthy of more “glory” than Moses, as the founder of a house has more “honor” than the house itself.^b

4Every house is founded by someone, but the founder of all is God.

5Moses was “faithful in all his house” as a “servant” to testify to what would be spoken,

6^{* c} but Christ was faithful as a son placed over his house. We are his house, if [only] we hold fast to our confidence and pride in our hope.

Israel’s Infidelity a Warning.

7^* Therefore, as the holy Spirit says:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice,^d

8‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion

in the day of testing in the desert,

9where your ancestors tested and tried me

and saw my works^e

10for forty years.

Because of this I was provoked with that generation

and I said, “They have always been of erring heart,

and they do not know my ways.”

11As I swore in my wrath,

“They shall not enter into my rest.”’”

12Take care, brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God.

13Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.

14We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end,^f

15for it is said:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion.’”^g

16^h Who were those who rebelled when they heard? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt under Moses?

17With whom was he “provoked for forty years”? Was it not those who had sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert?ⁱ

18And to whom did he “swear that they should not enter into his rest,” if not to those who were disobedient?^j

19And we see that they could not enter for lack of faith.

Jesus, Superior to Moses.^*

1Therefore, holy “brothers,” sharing in a heavenly calling, reflect on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

2who was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was “faithful in [all] his house.”^a

3But he is worthy of more “glory” than Moses, as the founder of a house has more “honor” than the house itself.^b

4Every house is founded by someone, but the founder of all is God.

5Moses was “faithful in all his house” as a “servant” to testify to what would be spoken,

6^{* c} but Christ was faithful as a son placed over his house. We are his house, if [only] we hold fast to our confidence and pride in our hope.

Israel’s Infidelity a Warning.

7^* Therefore, as the holy Spirit says:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice,^d

8‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion

in the day of testing in the desert,

9where your ancestors tested and tried me

and saw my works^e

10for forty years.

Because of this I was provoked with that generation

and I said, “They have always been of erring heart,

and they do not know my ways.”

11As I swore in my wrath,

“They shall not enter into my rest.”’”

12Take care, brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God.

13Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.

14We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end,^f

15for it is said:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion.’”^g

16^h Who were those who rebelled when they heard? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt under Moses?

17With whom was he “provoked for forty years”? Was it not those who had sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert?ⁱ

18And to whom did he “swear that they should not enter into his rest,” if not to those who were disobedient?^j

19And we see that they could not enter for lack of faith.

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The complete Book of Numbers

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

The Book of Numbers derives its name from the account of the two censuses taken of the Hebrew people, one near the beginning and the other toward the end of the journey in the wilderness (chaps. 1 and 26). It continues the story of that journey begun in Exodus, and describes briefly the experiences of the Israelites for a period of thirty-eight years, from the end of their encampment at Sinai to their arrival at the border of the promised land. Numerous legal ordinances are interspersed in the account, making the book a combination of law and history.

The book divides neatly into two parts. Each part begins with a census of the people (chaps. 1 and 26) and inaugurates a period of preparation prior to entering the promised land. In the first case these preparations come to a tragic end when scouts are sent forth to survey the promised land (chaps. 13–14). Upon their return, the people are so disheartened by the description of the native inhabitants and the seemingly impossible task that lies in front of them that they refuse to enter the land. This results in a decision to doom that entire generation to death and to allow another generation the chance to enter. After the death of the first generation, then, a second census is taken (chap. 26) and again preparations are made to enter the land. In this case, however, the birth of a new generation suggests these preparations will not be in vain. The book ends with the Israelites across the Jordan outside the land of Canaan, underscoring a chief theme of the Pentateuch as a whole: the people anticipating the fulfillment of God’s promise of the land.

In the New Testament numerous allusions to incidents in the Book of Numbers appear: the bronze serpent (Jn 3:14–15), the sedition of Korah and its consequences (1 Cor 10:10), the prophecies of Balaam (2 Pt 2:15–16), and the water gushing from the rock (1 Cor 10:4).

The chief divisions of the Book of Numbers are as follows:

Census and Preparation for the Departure from Sinai (1:1–10:10)
Departure, Rebellion, and Wandering in the Wilderness for Forty Years (10:11–25:18)
Second Census of a New Generation and Preparation to Enter the Promised Land (25:19–36:13)

I. CENSUS AND PREPARATION FOR THE DEPARTURE FROM SINAI

The book of Hebrews

THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS

As early as the second century, this treatise, which is of great rhetorical power and force in its admonition to faithful pilgrimage under Christ’s leadership, bore the title “To the Hebrews.” It was assumed to be directed to Jewish Christians. Usually Hebrews was attached in Greek manuscripts to the collection of letters by Paul. Although no author is mentioned (for there is no address), a reference to Timothy (Heb 13:23) suggested connections to the circle of Paul and his assistants. Yet the exact audience, the author, and even whether Hebrews is a letter have long been disputed.

The author saw the addressees in danger of apostasy from their Christian faith. This danger was due not to any persecution from outsiders but to a weariness with the demands of Christian life and a growing indifference to their calling (Heb 2:1; 4:14; 6:1–12; 10:23–32). The author’s main theme, the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus (Heb 3–10), is not developed for its own sake but as a means of restoring their lost fervor and strengthening them in their faith. Another important theme of the letter is that of the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem (11:10; 12:1–3, 18–29; 13:14). This theme is intimately connected with that of Jesus’ ministry in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 9:11–10:22).

The author calls this work a “message of encouragement” (Heb 13:22), a designation that is given to a synagogue sermon in Acts 13:15. Hebrews is probably therefore a written homily, to which the author gave an epistolary ending (Heb 13:22–25). The author begins with a reminder of the preexistence, incarnation, and exaltation of Jesus (Heb 1:3) that proclaimed him the climax of God’s word to humanity (Heb 1:1–3). He dwells upon the dignity of the person of Christ, superior to the angels (Heb 1:4–2:2). Christ is God’s final word of salvation communicated (in association with accredited witnesses to his teaching: cf. Heb 2:3–4) not merely by word but through his suffering in the humanity common to him and to all others (Heb 2:5–16). This enactment of salvation went beyond the pattern known to Moses, faithful prophet of God’s word though he was, for Jesus as high priest expiated sin and was faithful to God with the faithfulness of God’s own Son (Heb 2:17–3:6).

Just as the infidelity of the people thwarted Moses’ efforts to save them, so the infidelity of any Christian may thwart God’s plan in Christ (3:6–4:13). Christians are to reflect that it is their humanity that Jesus took upon himself, with all its defects save sinfulness, and that he bore the burden of it until death out of obedience to God. God declared this work of his Son to be the cause of salvation for all (Heb 4:14–5:10). Although Christians recognize this fundamental teaching, they may grow weary of it and of its implications, and therefore require other reflections to stimulate their faith (5:11–6:20).

Therefore, the author presents to the readers for their reflection the everlasting priesthood of Christ (Heb 7:1–28), a priesthood that fulfills the promise of the Old Testament (Heb 8:1–13). It also provides the meaning God ultimately intended in the sacrifices of the Old Testament (Heb 9:1–28): these pointed to the unique sacrifice of Christ, which alone obtains forgiveness of sins (Heb 10:1–18). The trial of faith experienced by the readers should resolve itself through their consideration of Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary and his perpetual intercession there on their behalf (Heb 7:25; 8:1–13). They should also be strengthened by the assurance of his foreordained parousia, and by the fruits of faith that they have already enjoyed (Heb 10:19–39).

It is in the nature of faith to recognize the reality of what is not yet seen and is the object of hope, and the saints of the Old Testament give striking example of that faith (Heb 11:1–40). The perseverance to which the author exhorts the readers is shown forth in the earthly life of Jesus. Despite the afflictions of his ministry and the supreme trial of his suffering and death, he remained confident of the triumph that God would bring him (Heb 12:1–3). The difficulties of human life have meaning when they are accepted as God’s discipline (Heb 12:4–13), and if Christians persevere in fidelity to the word in which they have believed, they are assured of possessing forever the unshakable kingdom of God (Heb 12:14–29).

The letter concludes with specific moral commandments (Heb 13:1–17), in the course of which the author recalls again his central theme of the sacrifice of Jesus and the courage needed to associate oneself with it in faith (Heb 13:9–16).

As early as the end of the second century, the church of Alexandria in Egypt accepted Hebrews as a letter of Paul, and that became the view commonly held in the East. Pauline authorship was contested in the West into the fourth century, but then accepted. In the sixteenth century, doubts about that position were again raised, and the modern consensus is that the letter was not written by Paul. There is, however, no widespread agreement on any of the other suggested authors, e.g., Barnabas, Apollos, or Prisc(ill)a and Aquila. The document itself has no statement about its author.

Among the reasons why Pauline authorship has been abandoned are the great difference of vocabulary and style between Hebrews and Paul’s letters, the alternation of doctrinal teaching with moral exhortation, the different manner of citing the Old Testament, and the resemblance between the thought of Hebrews and that of Alexandrian Judaism. The Greek of the letter is in many ways the best in the New Testament.

Since the letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, written about A.D. 96, most probably cites Hebrews, the upper limit for the date of composition is reasonably certain. While the letter’s references in the present tense to the Old Testament sacrificial worship do not necessarily show that temple worship was still going on, many older commentators and a growing number of recent ones favor the view that it was and that the author wrote before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In that case, the argument of the letter is more easily explained as directed toward Jewish Christians rather than those of Gentile origin, and the persecutions they have suffered in the past (cf. Heb 10:32–34) may have been connected with the disturbances that preceded the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 under the emperor Claudius. These were probably caused by disputes between Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and those who did not.

The principal divisions of the Letter to the Hebrews are the following:

1. Introduction (1:1–4)
2. The Son Higher than the Angels (1:5–2:18)
3. Jesus, Faithful and Compassionate High Priest (3:1–5:10)
4. Jesus’ Eternal Priesthood and Eternal Sacrifice (5:11–10:39)
5. Examples, Discipline, Disobedience (11:1–12:29)
6. Final Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings (13:1–25)