1 Kings 13:20-21

13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke through the old prophet ¹  13:21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You ²  have rebelled against the Lord ³  and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you.

Numbers 23:4-5

23:4 Then God met Balaam, who ⁴  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 ⁵  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁶ 

Numbers 24:2

24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; ⁷  and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ⁸ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ⁹  he did not go as at the other times ¹⁰  to seek for omens, ¹¹  but he set his face ¹²  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 10:11

The Journey From Sinai to Kadesh

10:11 ¹³ On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony. ¹⁴ 

Numbers 10:2

10:2 “Make ¹⁵  two trumpets of silver; you are to make ¹⁶  them from a single hammered piece. ¹⁷  You will use them ¹⁸  for assembling the community and for directing the traveling of the camps.

Numbers 23:18

Balaam Prophesies Again

23:18 Balaam ¹⁹  uttered ²⁰  his oracle, and said,

“Rise up, ²¹  Balak, and hear;

Listen to me, son of Zippor:

Ezekiel 13:2

13:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophesy from their imagination: ²²  ‘Hear the word of the Lord!

Ezekiel 13:16

13:16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem ²³  and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the sovereign Lord.’

Matthew 7:22

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ²⁴  many powerful deeds?’

Matthew 7:2

7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. ²⁵ 

Matthew 2:16

2:16 When Herod ²⁶  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ²⁷  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ²⁸  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

¹ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.”

² tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord.”

³ tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.

⁴ tn Heb “word.”

⁵ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”

⁵ tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”

⁶ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

⁷ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Heb “as time after time.”

⁹ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

¹⁰ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

⁷ sn This section is somewhat mechanical: It begins with an introduction (vv. 11, 12), and then begins with Judah (vv. 13-17), followed by the rest of the tribes (vv. 18-27), and finally closes with a summary (v. 28). The last few verses (vv. 29-36) treat the departure of Hobab.

⁸ tc Smr inserts a lengthy portion from Deut 1:6-8, expressing the command for Israel to take the land from the Amorites.

⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses what is called the “ethical dative” – “make [for] you two trumpets.” It need not be translated, but can simply be taken to underscore the direct imperative.

⁹ tn The imperfect tense is again instruction or legislation.

¹⁰ sn The instructions are not clearly spelled out here. But the trumpets were to be made of silver ingots beaten out into a sheet of silver and then bent to form a trumpet. There is archaeological evidence of silver smelting as early as 3000 b.c. Making silver trumpets would have been a fairly easy thing for the Israelites to do. The trumpet would have been straight, with a tapered form, very unlike the “ram’s horn” (שׁוֹפָר, shofar). The trumpets were used by the priests in Israel from the outset, but later were used more widely. The sound would be sharp and piercing, but limited in scope to a few notes. See further C. Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments.

¹¹ tn Heb “and they shall be for you for assembling,” which is the way of expressing possession. Here the intent concerns how Moses was to use them.

⁹ tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “took up.”

¹¹ tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.

¹⁰ tn Heb “from their mind.”

¹¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹² tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

¹⁴ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

¹⁵ tn Or “soldiers.”

¹⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.