Numbers 1–20 (The Anchor Yale Bible | AYBC)

by Baruch A. Levine

Publisher:

Yale University Press

, 2008

Overview

The book of Numbers—from the numbering or census of the people in the opening chapters—is a much-neglected part of the Torah, the five books of Moses, which constitutes the heart of Holy Scriptures for Jews, while also forming an integral part of the Bible for Christians.

The book of Numbers is an account of the young would-be nation of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness after the magnificent event at Sinai, where Moses speaks with God face-to-face and receives the Ten Commandments. Throughout this time of trial, the people complain, sensing the contrast between the relative security of slavery in Egypt, from which they have fled, and the precarious insecurity of freedom in the wilderness.

Numbers is a book filled with power struggles, raising questions about who speaks for God, along with personal and communal crises of faith and rumors of revolt. Yet despite the people’s blindness and rebelliousness, God remains faithful to the promises made to Israel’s ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Moses—and remains at Israel’s side, guiding her slowly but surely to the Promised Land. In all, Numbers describes a terrific journey of discipline and dependence upon the God who liberated the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt: a journey to strengthen Israel for the challenge of a new and wondrous land and the battles she will have to fight in order to claim and keep it.

Despite the importance of the book of Numbers, its rich collection of stories is not easily assimilated, even by the most conscientious of readers. As such, it requires the help of an expert guide to thread one’s way through this mixture of interesting episodes and anecdotes on the one hand, and the many lists, prescriptive rules, ritual regulations, and repeated admonitions on the other. Baruch A. Levine shows us the way into this difficult and sometimes forbidding book of the Bible, and we can be confident of our guide, and secure in the knowledge that the one who led us into the thicket will lead us out again into a broad and fair land.

Logos Bible Software gives you the tools you need to use this volume effectively and efficiently. With your digital library, you can search for verses, find Scripture references and citations instantly, and perform word studies. Along with your English translations, all Scripture passages are linked to Greek and Hebrew texts. What’s more, hovering over a Scripture reference will instantly display your verse! The advanced tools in your digital library free you to dig deeper into one of the most important contributions to biblical scholarship in the past century!

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Key Features

• Offers original translations, including alternative translations, annotations, and variants
• Provides verse-by-verse commentary on the text
• Presents the reader with historical background, including analysis of authorship and dating
• Features an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary literature

Contents

• Numbers 1–4: Getting Organized
• Numbers 5: Aspects of Purity
• Numbers 6: The Vow of the Nazirite, with a Benediction Added
• Numbers 7: The Consecration of the Tabernacle
• Numbers 8: The Dedication of the Levites
• Numbers 9: Two Matters of Cultic Significance
• Numbers 10:1–28: The Israelites on the March
• Numbers 10:29–12:16: Encounters and Experiences in the Sinai
• Numbers 13–14: Unsuccessful Attempts to Penetrate Canaan
• Numbers 15: Unfinished Cultic Business
• Numbers 16–17: The Korah Incident
• Numbers 18: The Duties and Perquisites of the Priests and Levites, a Summary Statement
• Numbers 19: The Impure Dead
• Numbers 20: The End of the Wilderness Period—Miriam and Aaron Pass Away

Top Highlights

“JE’ is the siglum given to a composite Torah document, primarily historiographic in substance and narrative in form. It is largely comprised of two earlier sources: J (= Jahwist), a Judean source, and E (= Elohist), a northern Israelite source. Both J and E go back to the ninth to eighth centuries b.c.e., perhaps even earlier (Gray 1971: xxiv–xxxix).” (Page 48)

“Presumably Moses doubted that merely commanding the rock would produce water, so he hit the rock to make certain. Seeing this action, the people did not get the same message as they would have received had he commanded the rock.” (Page 490)

“The criticism leveled against Moses and Aaron is unclear.” (Page 490)

“The woman in question was most certainly not Zipporah, who is identified as a Midianite woman. According to Exod 18:23 (E), Zipporah had been sent home earlier, but was later brought back to join Moses by Jethro, her father. Most likely, Moses had married the Cushite woman during Zipporah’s absence.” (Page 328)

“In contrast, the E tradition expressed in Exodus 32–34 resumes the cultic theme of Exod 24:1–11: Moses had, indeed, ascended the mountain to receive God’s law, but had failed to return at the expected time, generating anxiety among the people.” (Page 50)

Product Details

• Title: Numbers 1–20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
• Author: Baruch A. Levine
• Series: Anchor Yale Bible
• Volume: 4
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2008
• Logos Release Date: 2009
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Numbers 1-20 › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9780300140774, 0300140770
• Resource ID: LLS:ANCHOR04ANU
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-24T16:15:02Z

About Baruch A. Levine

Baruch Levine is the Skirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University, and has also served as Guest Professor at the Hebrew University and at Ben Gurion University. He is the Editor of the Israel Exploration Journal and a member of the Archaeological Council of the Israel Exploration Society.

The Jewish Publication Society of Americawas founded in Philadelphia in 1888 to provide the children of Jewish immigrants to America with books about their heritage in the language of the New World. As the oldest publisher of Jewish titles in the English language, the mission of JPS is to enhance Jewish culture by promoting the dissemination of religious and secular works of exceptional quality, in the United States and abroad, to all individuals and institutions interested in past and contemporary Jewish life.

Over the years JPS has issued a body of works for all tastes and needs. Its many titles include biographies, histories, art books, holiday anthologies, books for young readers, religious and philosophical studies, and translations of scholarly and popular classics. It is perhaps known best for its famous JPS Tanakh, the translation of the Hebrew Bible in English from the original Hebrew.