Numbers Flashcards
What is the Hebrew name for the book of Numbers?
‘In the Wilderness’ / bemidbar / בְּמִדְבָּר.
Why do we call it Numbers?
Because Moses is told to number the people at the beginning. Or, to count them (census). The men of military age are counted.
Why is it full of numbers?
You need to mention all the names, so that the people could trace the fact that their tribe was there at the beginning.
At what point in the book do they set out to the Promised Land?
Chapter 10. But, they also tell about how they set out, or how they camped. And it lists all the places they stopped.
The oldest fragment of the bible is of Numbers.
A passage from chapter 6. “The Lord bless you and keep you”, etc. It’s the Aaronite blessing. The priests were supposed to use this. It was of the 7th century, on a silver amulet.
When was Numbers written, and when was Moses believed to have existed?
The 4th or 5th century BCE. Moses was around the 13th and 14th centuries BCE.
Where do we find the Nazarite vow?
Numbers 6
What does the snake on the pole represent?
Healing to those who were bitten by snakes, from Numbers 21. The symbol is still used today my medical associations.
What are some of the similarities between Exodus and Numbers?
Miriams song Complaint 3 day journey to Sinai Manna and Quail Water from the rock leaders appointed to help Moses Isreal defeats/defeated b Amalekites sacrifice to other gods killing of apostates demanded Levites (Phineas) status elevated plague on the people
Briefly describe the happenings of the first 9 chapters of Numbers.
Numbers begins with a number of things to do to get Israel ready for the journey to the Promised Land:
Numbers 1 – a census of the population of Israel by tribes
Excluding the tribe of Levi, who are given special duties vis-à-vis the Tabernacle and its accoutrements
Numbers 2 – the camp is arranged by tribes around the Tabernacle
Numbers 3-4 – the duties of the Levites
Numbers 5-6 – priestly matters
Numbers 7-9 – gifts to the Tabernacle, the consecration of the Levites, and the observance of the Passover
What do the Israelites complain about in Numbers?
Just about as soon as they depart from Mt. Sinai, the Israelites start complaining. There are two major subjects of their complaints:
Food and water
Leadership
What important structure begins to emerge in the book of Numbers?
Leadership. The focus of the toledot (beggetings) structure is on Moses’ leadership.
My contention is that the toledot that we are to focus on in Numbers is the leadership that flowed from him, civil leadership. Thus, one focus throughout Numbers is the religious and civil leadership of the people of Israel.
Korah asserts that all of Israel is holy. Is this true?
No. Only the priests are holy.
Who complains about people’s leadership?
Aaron and Miriam, and Korah.
What is the core sin of the Egypt generation?
They don’t trust the Yahweh will provide. But he has:
Yhwh provides:
manna [מָן, which means ‘what?’]
quail
water
Why does Moses not enter the Promised Land?
He doesn’t acknowledge Yahweh’s provision. Does not give God the glory for bringing water from the rock. Dr. Thomas believes the pressure of leadership and having to provide for the people got to him.
Numbers 20 is a sad point in the story of Moses. Numbers 20.7-12:
Yhwh said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
So Moses took the staff from Yhwh’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But Yhwh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
What does the tale of the 12 spies do for us in the book of Numbers?
The tale of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land is a pivotal moment. It explains why it took 40 years to get from Mt. Sinai to Canaan instead of several weeks.
What story in Exodus runs parallel to the 12 spies story in Numbers?
In this story, we see many shades of the Golden Calf incident: distrust on the part of the people, God’s desire to destroy Israel and start over with Moses, and Moses’ case to God on behalf of the people of Israel.
What do the spies report about the land and the people?
The spies come back with a mostly positive report about the land: it is fertile and good. They also have a mostly negative report about the people of that land and their prospects for invading it: the people are huge, and they have fortified cities!
How do Caleb and Joshua see the situation?
Only Caleb and Joshua (although there is some fluidity in the editing concerning whether Joshua was included here) have a positive take on the prospects for Israel’s invasion of the land: Yhwh has promised it to us, so let’s go!
The people return to the murmuring motif and side with the 10 spies who were more negative at the prospects of invasion.
What is God’s response to the people after the 12 spies incident?
In a clear reflection of the Golden Calf incident, Yhwh once again wants to kill off Israel and start over with Moses:
Numbers 14.12: Let me strike it [this people] down with pestilence and dispossess it, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier (in number) than it!
Exodus 32.10: So now, let me be, that my anger may flare against them and I may destroy them—but you I will make into a great nation!
What arguments does Moses use to convince God to not destroy the people?
Moses makes two main arguments with Yhwh, just as he had done in Exodus 32:
What will this do to your reputation (the Egyptians will hear)?
Remember what you said in Exodus 34.4-6 (Numbers 14.18). You are a God of grace and compassion.
So, Yhwh again relents.
What is the consequence of believing the 10 spies instead of Caleb and Joshua?
However, this time, Yhwh’s grace comes with a steep cost: the current generation will die in the wilderness.
According to Olson, what was wrong with the Old generation?
In the article by Dennis Olson, “Negotiating Boundaries: The Old and New Generations and the Theology of Numbers,” Olson gives a brief overview of his work on the change of generations in Numbers (pp. 230-232). His basic idea is that Numbers is structured around two generations, each introduced with census lists in Numbers 1 and 26.
The exodus generation was a generation that grew up in slavery. Thus, they had a ‘slave mentality.’ Their thinking was shaped in a world where freedom didn’t exist. They had a hard time adjusting to relying on God in the wilderness. This might help to explain the desire to return to Egypt that we see in the murmuring stories.
