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Numbers 20:15-17
New English Translation
Numbers 20:15-17
New English Translation
15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time,[a] and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly.[b] 16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger,[c] and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now[d] we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country.[e] 17 Please let us pass through[f] your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway;[g] we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’”[h]
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- Numbers 20:15 tn Heb “many days.”
- Numbers 20:15 tn The verb רָעַע (raʿaʿ) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”
- Numbers 20:16 tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.
- Numbers 20:16 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.
- Numbers 20:16 tn Heb “your border.”
- Numbers 20:17 tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.
- Numbers 20:17 sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).
- Numbers 20:17 tn Heb “borders.”
New English Translation (NET)
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