Números 10:31

31 Moisés, porém, disse: “Por favor, não nos deixe. Você sabe onde devemos acampar no deserto e pode ser o nosso guia.[a]

Números 10:31 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 10:31

And he said
That is, Moses, he replied to Hobab, unwilling to take him at his word and go without him:

leave us not, I pray thee;
or "not now"; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; at this present time, under our present difficulties, while we are in the wilderness; though Jarchi says the particle (an) signifies beseeching or supplication:

forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness;
that this will be our case, that we shall be obliged, before we get to the promised land, to pitch our tents in the wilderness, in our passage through it; and thou knowest which are the best and most convenient places for that purpose, and therefore must entreat thee to go with us:

and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes;
not to show the way, as Aben Ezra notes, or guide and direct them in the road through the wilderness; for the cloud by day and the fire by night were of that use to them, as well as when it rested, it directed them when and where to pitch their tents; rather to assist with his advice in difficult matters, when they should be in pressing circumstances: the Targum of Jonathan is,

``thou hast been dear unto us, as the apple of our eyes, and therefore we cannot part with thee.''

Números 10:31 In-Context

29 Então Moisés disse a Hobabe, filho do midianita Reuel, sogro de Moisés: “Estamos partindo para o lugar a respeito do qual o SENHOR disse: ‘Eu o darei a vocês’. Venha conosco e o trataremos bem, pois o SENHOR prometeu boas coisas para Israel”.
30 Ele respondeu: “Não, não irei; voltarei para a minha terra e para o meu povo”.
31 Moisés, porém, disse: “Por favor, não nos deixe. Você sabe onde devemos acampar no deserto e pode ser o nosso guia.
32 Se vier conosco, partilharemos com você todas as coisas boas que o SENHOR nos der”.
33 Então eles partiram do monte do SENHOR e viajaram três dias. A arca da aliança do SENHOR foi à frente deles durante aqueles três dias para encontrar um lugar para descansarem.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebraico: "os nossos olhos."
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