Text -- Numbers 23:12-30 (NET)

23:12 Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” 23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.” 23:14 So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

Balaam Prophesies Again

23:18 Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? 23:20 Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 23:21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 23:23 For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’ 23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”

Balaam Relocates Yet Again

23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 23:26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?” 23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. 23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 23:12

¹ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

³ tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.

NET Notes: Num 23:14

¹ tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”

³ tn Heb “and he built.”

NET Notes: Num 23:15

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”

NET Notes: Num 23:16

¹ tn Heb “word.”

NET Notes: Num 23:17

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Num 23:18

¹ tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “took up.”

³ tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.

NET Notes: Num 23:19

¹ tn Heb “son of man.”

² tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

NET Notes: Num 23:20

¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.

² sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the Lord blessed Israel. Balaam knows that there is nothing he can do to reverse what God has said.

³ tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.

NET Notes: Num 23:21

¹ tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”

² sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.

³ tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.

⁴ tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the Lord God as their king. The word is used normally for the sound of the trumpet, but also of battle shouts, and then here acclamation. This would represent their conviction that Yahweh is king. On the usage of this Hebrew word see further BDB 929-30 s.v. תְּרוּעָה; HALOT 1790-91 s.v.

NET Notes: Num 23:22

¹ tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.

² sn The expression is “the horns of the wild ox” (KJV “unicorn”). The point of the image is strength or power. Horns are also used in the Bible to represent kingship (see Pss 89 and 132).

NET Notes: Num 23:23

¹ tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

² tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

³ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

⁴ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Num 23:24

¹ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

² sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

NET Notes: Num 23:25

¹ tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.

² tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism – “don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.

NET Notes: Num 23:26

¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

² tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”

NET Notes: Num 23:27

¹ tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”

² sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.

NET Notes: Num 23:28

¹ tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon” (cf. 21:20).