In this past year alone I have taught many books/topics: Church history and heresies, Introduction to the Prophets and Amos, Gospel of Matthew, Revelation. Every time I receive lots of feedback: “Are you recording the teachings”, “I wish I could do the SBS”, “I would love to hear more about those books!” BUT I have heard nothing about Numbers. No feedback, no excitement…
Why? Let’s start with the title.
Genesis
Hebrew word which means “in the beginning.” This is simply the first word of the book. The Greek translation bears the title Genesis, “beginning,” which in this case is almost an exact translation of the Hebrew word and is also a good description of the actual contents of the book. English transliterated the word: Genesis.
Exodus
Hebrew words it begins with: “and these are the names.” Or sometimes: “Names.” This Hebrew title, however, gives no idea of the contents of the book. While the book begins by naming the sons of Jacob who went down into Egypt, this is purely introductory. In the Greek translation a descriptive title was substituted, consisting of the Greek word Exodos, which means “going out.” This title is an excellent description of the contents of the book, and is clearly an improvement over the Hebrew designation. English- Transliterated
Leviticus
Hebrew Bible, the title of the third book consists of its first word, “and he called.” This gives practically no idea of its contents. )In the Greek translation the word Leuitikon was substituted, indicating that the book contains directions for the activities of the Levitical priests and their Levitical assistants. English- Transliterated
Numbers: We will skip and come back to it
Deuteronomy
Hebrew is titled by its first two words “and these are the words.” This is very similar to the title of Exodus, “and these are the names,” or of Leviticus, “and he called.” The Greek version has substituted the title Deuteronomion, which means “Second Law.” Moses is repeating the law, so it means 2nd law. Thus, the Greek title aptly describes the contents of the book, and is very appropriate. English- Transliterated, but there are no English speakers that would understand it means second law.
Summary
In three of these four instances, The Greek improves the title, letting us know the contents more clearly. While in the case of Genesis, the two are substantially identical. In all four cases, our English Bibles use a simple transliteration of the Greek word. Surely it would have been better if these titles had been translated into English instead of being merely transliterated from the Greek.
So now Numbers:
Numbers
Hebrew Bible, it is not its first word, but its fourth, that is used as a title which means “in the wilderness” This word forms an admirable description of the contents of the book. The Greek translators gave it a descriptive title, which instead of fitting excellently, as in the case of the other four books, is not at all well selected. It is Arithmos. It is a mathematical term.
In English, instead of transliterating the Greek title, we have in this ONE instance translated it. So first a bad choice of the title in Greek, now made worse in English: Numbers. This makes it seem like a dry list of statistics. If a few chapters were taken out, there would be less numbers remaining than in many another book of the Bible.
I was chatting with a friend who said he didn’t like the book of Numbers. After a little discussion we realized he actually meant Chronicles. So again, the title doesn’t help one to remember the content/message of the book.
It is actually sad, because Numbers is one of my favorite books of the Pentateuch and really shows so many important timeless truths!
- Theology – What do we learn about God? That He is faithful to his promise to dwell with man. He desires to make his face shine upon mankind. That He is Holy and Perfect, and makes a way where there seems to be no way. That He is just and does what is right. He is merciful and slow to anger.
- We see that the death and resurrection of Jesus is absolutely crucial for us to be able to be in God’s presence.
- Describes the temptations and the challenges we have as believers as we await the promised land.
- Describes the age of tension and helps us see how to finish the Christian life well.
- It also shows that rebellion against God’s ways does not lead to the place where God dwells with his people.
This may be the most relevant book in the Torah for us as believers today! Such a great book, it is too bad more believers don’t take the time to study it deeply. If you would like a good commentary to read on this book, I highly recommend L. Michael Morales and his commentary
Teaching Adventures 