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Texts -- Numbers 23:1-7 (NET)

Context
Balaam Blesses Israel
23:1 Balaam said to Balak , “Build me seven altars here , and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams .” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said . Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram . 23:3 Balaam said to Balak , “Station yourself by your burnt offering , and I will go off ; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height . 23:4 Then God met Balaam , who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars , and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram .” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said , “Return to Balak , and speak what I tell you.” 23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering , he and all the princes of Moab . 23:7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle , saying , “Balak , the king of Moab , brought me from Aram , out of the mountains of the east , saying, ‘Come , pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come , denounce Israel .’

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 1

    [isbe] PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 1 - prof'-e-si, prof'-e-si, prof'-ets: I. THE IDEA OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY 1. The Seer and Speaker of God 2. Prophetical Inspiration 3. Relation to Dreams 4. Freedom of Inspiration 5. Supernatural Visions of...

  • Moabites

    [nave] MOABITES Descendants of Lot through his son Moab, Gen. 19:37. Called the people of Chemosh, Num. 21:29. The territory E. of Jordan, bounded on the N. by the river Arnon, Num. 21:13; Judg. 11:18. Children of Israel command...

  • Sorcery

    [nave] SORCERY, divination by an alleged assistance of evil spirits. Forbidden, Lev. 19:26-28, 31; 20:6; Deut. 18:9-14. Denounced, Isa. 8:19; Mal. 3:5. Practiced: By the Egyptians, Isa. 19:3, 11, 12; by the magicians, Ex. 7:11, 22...

  • Hypocrisy

    [nave] HYPOCRISY. Job 8:13-15; Job 13:16; Job 15:31, 33, 34; Job 17:8; Job 20:4, 5 vs. 6-18.; Job 27:8-10 vs. 13-18.; Job 31:33, 34; Job 34:30; Job 36:13, 14; Psa. 5:9; Psa. 50:16, 17; Psa. 52:4; Psa. 55:12-14, 20, 21, 23; Psa. 78...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • POETRY, HEBREW

    [isbe] POETRY, HEBREW - po'-et-ri: I. IS THERE POETRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? Poetry Defined: 1. In Matter, Concrete and Imaginative 2. In Form, Emotional and Rhythmical II. NEGLECT OF HEBREW POETRY: CAUSES III. CHARACTERISTICS OF HE...

  • Temptation

    [nave] TEMPTATION. Gen. 3:1-13; Gen. 20:6; Ex. 34:12 vs. 13-16.; Deut. 7:25; Deut. 8:11-14, 17, 18; Deut. 13:3; 1 Chr. 21:1; 2 Chr. 32:30, 31; Psa. 119:165; Prov. 1:10-17; Prov. 2:10-12, 16; Prov. 4:14, 15; Prov. 5:6-21; Prov. 6:2...

  • Worldliness

    [nave] WORLDLINESS. 1 Sam. 8:19, 20; Job 20:4-29; Job 21:11-15; Psa. 49:16-18; Psa. 73:2-22; Prov. 14:12, 13; Prov. 15:21; Prov. 21:17; Prov. 23:20, 21; Prov. 27:1, 7; Eccl. 1:8; Eccl. 2:1-12; Eccl. 6:11, 12; Eccl. 8:15-17; Eccl. ...

  • BALAAM

    [ebd] lord of the people; foreigner or glutton, as interpreted by others, the son of Beor, was a man of some rank among the Midianites (Num. 31:8; comp. 16). He resided at Pethor (Deut. 23:4), in Mesopotamia (Num. 23:7). It is evi...
    [isbe] BALAAM - ba'-lam bil`am, "devourer"): The son of Beor, from a city in Mesopotamia called Pethor, a man possessing the gift of prophecy, whose remarkable history may be found in Nu 22:2 through 24:25; compare Num 31:8,16; Dt ...

  • Seven

    [smith] The frequent recurrence of certain numbers in the sacred literature of the Hebrews is obvious to the most superficial reader, but seven so far surpasses the rest, both in the frequency with which it recurs and in the importan...
    [nave] SEVEN Interesting facts concerning the number. Days Week consists of, Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:11; Deut. 5:13, 14. Noah in the ark before the flood, Gen. 7:4, 10; remains in the ark after sending forth the dove, Gen. 8:10, 12. M...

  • Altar

    [isbe] ALTAR - ol'-ter (mizbeach, literally, "place of slaughter or sacrifice," from zabhach, which is found in both senses; bomos, (only in Acts 17:23), thusiasterion): I. CLASSIFICATION OF HEBREW ALTARS Importance of the Distinct...
    [nave] ALTAR Built by Noah, Gen. 8:20; Abraham, Gen. 12:7, 8; 13:18; 22:9; Isaac, Gen. 26:25; Jacob, Gen. 33:20; 35:1-7; Moses, Ex. 17:15; 24:4; Balaam, Num. 23:1, 14, 29; Joshua, Deut. 27:4-7; Josh. 8:30-32; Reubenites and Gadites...

  • PARABLE

    [ebd] (Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1 Sam. 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chr. 7:20), (2) a prophetic utterance (Num. 23:7;...
    [smith] (The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by anoth...

  • Syria

    [nave] SYRIA, highlands lying between the river Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea. Called Aram, from the son of Shem, Gen. 10:22, 23; Num. 23:7; 1 Chr. 1:17; 2:23. In the time of Abraham it seems to have embraced the region betwe...

  • Prophets

    [nave] PROPHETS Called Seers, 1 Sam. 9:19; 2 Sam. 15:27; 24:11; 2 Kin. 17:13; 1 Chr. 9:22; 29:29; 2 Chr. 9:29; 12:15; 29:30; Isa. 30:10; Mic. 3:7. Schools of, 1 Kin. 20:35; 2 Kin. 2:3-15; 4:1, 38; 9:1. Kept the chronicles, 1 Chr....

  • Prayer

    [nave] PRAYER. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Answer to, Promised; Answered, Instances of Answered; Confession in; Importunity in, Instances of Importunity in; Intercessor...

  • ARABIA

    [smith] (desert, barren), a country known in the Old Testament under two designations:-- The East Country , (Genesis 25:6) or perhaps the East, ((Genesis 10:30; Numbers 23:7; Isaiah 2:6) and Land of the Sons of the East , (Genesis 2...

  • NUMBER

    [isbe] NUMBER - num'-ber: I. NUMBER AND ARITHMETIC II. NOTATION OF NUMBERS 1. By Words 2. By Signs 3. By Letters III. NUMBERS IN OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY IV. ROUND NUMBERS V. SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS 1. Seven and Its Multiples (1) Ritual U...

  • DEFY

    [isbe] DEFY - de-fi' (charaph, za`am): In 1 Sam 17:10,25,26,36,45 (the story of David and Goliath) and kindred passages, this word is used in its most familiar sense--"to taunt," "challenge to combat" (Hebrew charaph). In Nu 23:7,8...

  • PROVERB

    [isbe] PROVERB - prov'-erb (mashal, chidhah; parabole (Lk 4:23), paroimia (Jn 16:25,29)): I. FOLK MEANING AND USE 1. The Primitive Sense 2. The Communal Origin 3. Animus of Proverbs II. LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROVERB 1. Discov...

  • REVELATION, 3-4

    [isbe] REVELATION, 3-4 - III. The Modes of Revelation. 1. Modes of Revelation: Theophany may be taken as the typical form of "external manifestation"; but by its side may be ranged all of those mighty works by which God makes Himse...
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Arts

Questions

  • They were the descendants of Lot and were neighbors of the Amorites on the opposite side of the River Arnon (Num. 21:13). They were governed by kings and possessed many great cities (Num. 21:28-30; Is. 15:1; Num. 23:7). They ...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This pericope serves a double purpose. It introduces the rigorous conditions under which the Egyptians forced the Israelites to live, and it sets the stage for the birth of Moses.1:8-14 The new king (v. 8) was perhaps Ahmose ...
  • "Only voluntary gifts were acceptable as materials for the Lord's house (25:2; 35:3, 21-22, 29), since love rather than compulsion is the basis of all truly biblical giving (2 Cor. 9:7)."431Moses employed four different terms...
  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • 22:1-20 Moab had not attacked Israel as the people of God had moved north along Moab's eastern border. In fact the Moabites sold the Israelites bread and water (Deut. 2:29). The Moabites probably counted on Sihon, who had for...
  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • This chapter contains one of the great failures of Israel that followed one of its great blessings.238As God was preparing to bless His people they were preparing to disobey Him."So now we come to the ultimate rebellion of Is...
  • In the preceding chapter Moses explained the proper types of marital union. In this chapter he set forth the proper types of union of individuals with the covenant community.This section of verses (vv. 1-8) deals with people ...
  • Jephthah did not rush into battle but wisely tried to settle the Ammonites' grievance with Israel peacefully. His approach reveals his humility as well as his wisdom. Most men would have wanted to demonstrate their prowess in...
  • 6:1-2 Micah called his audience to hear what Yahweh had told him to say. Yahweh had a case (lawsuit, Heb. rib) to bring against His people. The Lord was summoning Israel to defend herself in a courtroom setting. He addressed ...
  • 2:1-2 When did the Magi visit Jesus in Bethlehem?74There are several factors that point to a time about a year after Jesus' birth. First, Matthew described Jesus as a "child"(Gr. paidion, v. 11), not an "infant"(Gr. brephos, ...
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