(Pioneer Bible Translators and The Word for the World use the following introduction in many of their translation projects around the world.)
The book of Numbers tells about Israel’s journey of 40 years through the wilderness before they reached the promised land, Canaan. The book is called Numbers because it has two sections that show the number of fighting men in each tribe of Israel (chapter 1 and chapter 26). Traditionally, scholars believe that the book of Numbers, as well as the other books in the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy), were written by the prophet Moses. This seems to be suggested by the text itself because Numbers starts by saying that God spoke to Moses (Numbers 1:1). It is also possible that Moses wrote most of the book and that scribes later added some parts. For example: it is difficult to think that Moses would have written a verse like Numbers 12:3, where his own humility is praised.
During their journey through the wilderness, the Israelites complained and rebelled against God several times. In response, they were punished. One example of this is when the Israelites were afraid and complained that the people of Canaan were too strong (Numbers 14:1–4). Because of this, God said that a whole generation of people would die before the Israelites could enter the promised land. Moses himself also disobeyed God and was not allowed to go into the promised land. And even though the people rebelled, God continued to protect them. When the Israelites’ enemies hired a pagan seer called Balaam to speak curses on the Israelites, God only allowed him to speak blessings on them instead (Numbers 22-24).
Outline:
1. Chapters 1 through 10:11 contain information about a census of the Israelites, as well as the arrangement of their camp, the priests’ duties, and the gifts that were received from each tribe when the altar was dedicated.
2. Then Numbers tells about Israel’s journey through the wilderness, in chapters 10:12 through 25.
3. Chapters 26 through 36 describe the second census and other instructions for the nation of Israel. This includes the names of places where the Israelites had set up camp on their way to the promised land and how this land would be divided among the tribes when they entered it.
Le Livre des Nombres relate les 40 années du voyage d’Israël à travers le désert avant d’atteindre Canaan, le pays promis. Le livre s’appelle les Nombres parce qu’il a deux sections qui montrent le nombre d’hommes au combat de chaque tribu d’Israël (chapitre 1 et chapitre 26). Traditionnellement les experts croient que le livre des Nombres de même que les autres livres du Pentateuque (la Genèse, l’Exode, le Lévitique et le Deutéronome) avaient été écrits par le prophète Moïse. Ceci semble être suggéré par le texte lui-même parce que le livre des Nombres commence en disant que Dieu avait parlé à Moïse (Nombres 1 :1). Il est aussi possible que Moïse aie écrit la plus grande partie du livre et que des scribes aient ajouté certaines parties ultérieurement. Par exemple : il est difficile de penser que Moïse aurait écrit un verset comme Nombres 12 :3 dans lequel sa propre humilité était célébrée.
Durant leur voyage au travers du désert, les Israélites s’étaient plaints et rebellés de nombreuses fois contre Dieu. Ils avaient été punis en réponse à cela. Un exemple à ce sujet est quand les Israélites avaient eu peur et s’étaient plaints que le peuple de Canaan était trop fort (Nombres 14 :1-4). Pour cette raison Dieu avait dit que toute une génération de personnes allait mourir avant que les Israélites puissent entrer dans le pays promis. Moïse lui-même avait désobéi à Dieu et n’avait pas été autorisé d’entrer dans le pays promis. Et même si le peuple se rebellait, Dieu continuait à les protéger. Lorsque les ennemis d’Israël avaient engagé un voyant païen du nom de Balaam pour prononcer des malédictions sur les Israélites, au lieu de ceci Dieu lui a permis de prononcer seulement des bénédictions (Nombres 22-24).
Résumé
1. Les chapitres 1 à 10:11 contiennent des informations sur un recensement des Israélites ainsi que sur l’arrangement de leur camp, les devoirs des prêtres et les offrandes qui étaient reçues de chaque tribu lorsque l’autel fut dédicacé.
2. Puis le livre des Nombres parle du voyage d’Israël à travers le désert dans les chapitres 10:12 jusqu’au chapitre 25.
3. Les chapitres 26 à 36 décrivent le second recensement et d’autres instructions pour la nation d’Israël. Ceci inclut les noms d’endroits où les Israélites avaient dressé leur camp en route vers le pays promis et comment ce pays allait être divisé parmi les tribus lorsqu’elles y seraien
Translation: Swahili
Utangulizi wa Kitabu cha Hesabu
Kitabu cha Hesabu kinaelezea safari ya miaka 40 ya wana wa Israeli kupitia jangwani, walipokuwa hawajaingia ndani ya nchi ya ahadi, yaani nchi ya Kanaani. Kitabu chenyewe kinaitwa Hesabu kwa sababu kina sehemu mbili zinazotoa idadi ya wanaume wapiganaji waliokuwamo katika kila kabila la Israeli (sura 1 na 26). Kimapokeo, wanazuoni wa mambo ya kibiblia wanaamini kwamba kitabu cha Hesabu, na pia vitabu vingine vilivyomo ndani ya Torati (Mwanzo, Kutoka, Walawi, na Kumbukumbu la Torati), viliandikwa na nabii Musa. Ukweli huu unadokezwa na kitabu chenyewe kwa kusema Mwenyezi Mungu aliongea na Musa (Hesabu 1:1). Yawezekana pia kwamba Musa aliandika sehemu kubwa ya kitabu chenyewe, na waandishi wengine wakaongeza baadhi ya sehemu katika miaka iliyofuata baadaye. Kwa mfano, ni vigumu kufikiria kwamba Musa angeweza kuwa aliandika aya kama ya Hesabu 12:3, mahali ambapo unyenyekevu wake mwenyewe ulisifiwa.
Katika safari yao ya jangwani, wana wa Israeli walinung’unika na kumuasi Mungu mara kadhaa. Kutokana na vitendo vyao hivyo, waliadhibiwa. Mfano mmoja wa jambo hili ni wakati wana wa Israeli walipoogopa na kulalamika kwamba Wakanaani walikuwa na nguvu sana kuliko wao (Hesabu 14:1-4). Kutokana na tendo hili, Mungu alisema kwamba kizazi chote cha watu kingekufa kabla wana wa Israeli hawajaingia ndani ya nchi ya ahadi. Ilifikia hata Musa mwenyewe akakosa kumtii Mungu, na kutokana na hili hata yeye hakuweza kuingia ndani ya nchi ya ahadi. Japokuwa watu waliasi, lakini Mungu aliendelea kuwalinda. Wakati maadui wa watu wa Israeli walipomkodisha nabii wa kipagani aliyeitwa Balaamu atamke laana juu ya watu wa Israeli, Mungu alimruhusu tu atamke baraka juu yao (Hesabu 22-24).
Mhutasari wa Yaliyomo:
1. Sura 1 hadi 10:11 zimebeba habari zinazohusisha sensa ya wana wa Israeli, pia kuna mpangilio wa kambi yao ulivyokuwa, majukumu ya makuhani, na matoleo yaliyokusanywa kutoka katika kila kabila wakati madhabahu na hema la ibada vilipowekwa wakfu.
2. Baada ya hapo kitabu cha Hesabu kinaelezea safari ya Watu wa Israeli kupitia jangwani, katika sura 10:12 hadi 25.
3. Sura 26 hadi 36 inaelezea sensa ya pili na maelezo mengine kwa ajili ya taifa la Israeli. Hii ni pamoja na majina ya sehemu ambako watu wa Israeli waliweka kambi wakiwa safarini kuelekea katika nchi ya ahadi, na jinsi ambavyo nchi hiyo ingegawanywa kati ya makabila yote watakapokuwa wameingia ndani ya nchi yao wenyewe.
(The Catholic Christian Community Bible [first English edition 1997, other translations into Indonesian, Chinese, Cebuano, Chavacano, French, Ilonggo, Korean, Quechuan, Spanish, and Tagalog] “for the Christian Communities of the Third World” uses the following introduction.)
Exodus presents the Israelites leaving Egypt for the desert. The next book, Leviticus, presented itself as a body of laws given by Moses in the desert. The book of Numbers, in turn, shows the Israelites wandering through the deserts of Sinai. In this journey the people gather experiences that will guide them in the future.
This book is called “Numbers” because it begins and ends with a census of the Israelites.
Many readers will find this book frustrating because it seems to ignore what is historically plausible. Likewise, many pages devoted to the laws and customs of Israel will appear as dry and dated as the chapters of Leviticus that precede this book.
Therefore, it helps to understand, from the beginning, that this book superimposes two histories. On one hand, we are dealing with ancient traditions found especially in chapters 11-14 and 20-25. At times, certain events of Exodus are related again in a different form. The book assumes that on Sinai, immediately after the great revelation to Moses and the story of the golden calf, God gave all the laws that are mentioned in Leviticus. Following that, the book situates all the events that it relates: all that we are going to read was supposed to have taken place in the course of the following year, during the crossing of the desert of Paran or upon arriving at the oasis of Kadesh.
The chapters we have just mentioned do contain ancient traditions. However, like Leviticus, most of the book was written in the priestly circles of Jerusalem, after the Israelites returned from the Exile, namely, around seven hundred years after Moses. The purpose of these priests was to justify the religious and social structure that they intended to establish in Israel in order to make of Israel the people consecrated to the worship of the one God.
All the initiatives attributed to Moses are meant for the Jews, back from the Exile. Thus, the authors depicted the setting in which they lived on the basis of the people before them: the hundred or so families of the Exodus became a people of six hundred thousand men, plus their wives, children and their cattle. The small wooden ark, that was carried on a donkey, became the center of a portable sanctuary, almost as impressive as the Jerusalem Temple and the priests with their rubrics always occupy center stage. When the account was written, Israel was just a quiet province within the Persian Empire: all the more reason to flatter their imagination and to build up Moses’ companions into a formidable, aggressive and conquering army at the service of the one God.
As with Leviticus, we have to say the following: those who accept this way of rewriting history will find the Word of the Holy God at every instant; the call to holiness is not just a personal matter but it conditions the entire life of the people of God. For God, Christians are holy people who have broken away from the ideal that liberal societies have about free humans who only seek the fulfillment of their desires or whims in this world. Before the God who called them to follow the path of Christ, human beings are totally at the service of a mission, so are couples who become families and the Christian community totally turned toward evangelization.
Down below are the introductions in the Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Spanish editions.
Tinatawag na "Mga Bilang" ang librong ito dahil nagsisimula ito sa mga bilang ng isang senso ng bayang Hebreo. Para rin dito ang sinasabi sa introduksyon sa Levitico: ang mga senso, mga pangyayari at mga deklarasyon ni Yawe kay Moises ay isang paraan lamang ng paglalahad sa mga batas na tinipon o inedit ng mga pari ng Israel pagkatapos ng panahon ni Moises.
Pero hindi gawa-gawa lamang ang lahat ng nasa kasaysayang ito: batay ito sa matatandang tradisyong may kinalaman sa panahon ng pananatili sa disyerto. Makikita ang mga ito partikular sa mga Kabanata 11-14 at 20-25 na umuulit nang ilang beses sa mga pangyayari sa Exodo sa ibang kaanyuan. Pagkatapos ng paglabas sa Ehipto, inilalahad ang aklat ng Mga Bilang bilang isang martsa ng bayan ng Diyos patawid sa disyerto. Sa pagmamartsang ito, nag-iipon ang bayan ng mga karanasang kikintal sa buong hinaharap nito.
Translation: Cebuano
Gitawag nig “Mga Numero,” kay nagsugod man sa paglista (mga numero) sa usa ka senso sa katawhang Hebreo. Susama sa nahisgotan na sa Pasiuna sa Levitico: Ang senso, ang panghitabo ug Pamahayag sa Diyos kang Moises pamaagi pagpadayag sa mga balaod nga gihiusa ug gihashasan sa mga pari sa Israel.
Ang mga ulohan 11-14 ug 20-25 hinuon angayng lainon og tan-aw. Makita dinhi ang nagkalainlaing tradisyon ug ang karaan kaayong mga saysay nga nahinumdoman sa didto pa sila sa kamingawan; mohingpit ni sa mabasa sa Exodo.
Translation: Spanish
Este libro se llama los “Números” porque comienza y acaba con un censo de los israelitas. Desconcertará a muchos lectores porque al parecer hace caso omiso de la veracidad histórica. Es conveniente pues tener claro desde un comienzo que este libro sobrepone dos historias.
Los Números se ubican a continuación del Éxodo y el Levítico. Suponen que en el Sinaí, inmediatamenåte después de la gran revelación a Moisés y de la historia del ternero de oro, Dios entregó todas las leyes a que se refiere el Levítico. Los hechos que nos cuentan habrían sucedido en el transcurso del año siguiente, durante la travesía del desierto de Parán o cuando llegaron al oasis de Cadés. Así es como los Números retoman antiguas tradiciones que se encontrarán muy especialmente en los capítulos 11-14 y 20-25 y que a veces repiten bajo una forma diferente algunos acontecimientos del Éxodo.
Pero, si bien es cierto que los capítulos que acabamos de indicar conservan elementos muy antiguos, lo esencial del libro fue redactado en los medios sacerdotales de Jerusalén en la misma época que el libro del Levítico, es decir, al regreso del exilio, unos setecientos años después de Moisés. El objetivo principal de esos sacerdotes era darle una legitimidad a toda la estructura religiosa y social de Israel como pueblo consagrado al culto del Dios único.
Todas las iniciativas que se atribuyen a Moisés van dirigidas en realidad a la comunidad judía de los tiempos posteriores al exilio, y los autores van a pintar el cuadro en que aquél se mueve a escala del pueblo que tienen bajo sus ojos: unos cientos de familias del Exodo se han transformado en un pueblo de seiscientos mil hombres adultos, sin contar sus mujeres, hijos y ganado. La pequeña arca de madera que se transportaba a lomo de burro es en ese momento el centro de un santuario portátil casi tan impresionante como el templo de Jerusalén, y los sacerdotes con sus ceremonias ocupan continuamente el centro de la escena. El relato fue escrito en una época en que Israel no era más que una modesta provincia del imperio persa: razón demás para estimular su imaginación y transformar a los compañeros de Moisés en un ejército formidable, agresivo y conquistador al servicio del Dios único.
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