Numbers 11:28-30

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 11:28 tn The form is the Piel participle מְשָׁרֵת (m^esharet), meaning “minister, servant, assistant.” The word has a loftier meaning than the ordinary word for slave.
2. Numbers 11:28 tn The verb is בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”); here the form is the masculine plural participle with a suffix, serving as the object of the preposition מִן (min). It would therefore mean “[one of] his chosen men,” or “[one of] his choice men.”
3. Numbers 11:28 tn Heb “answered and said.”
4. Numbers 11:28 sn The effort of Joshua is to protect Moses’ prerogative as leader by stopping these men in the camp from prophesying. Joshua did not understand the significance in the Lord’s plan to let others share the burden of leadership.
5. Numbers 11:29 tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (m^eqanneʾ) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses—was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?
6. Numbers 11:29 tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.