23:22 God brought them 1 out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 2
24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;
they will devour hostile people 3
and will break their bones
and will pierce them through with arrows.
24:1 4 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, 5 he did not go as at the other times 6 to seek for omens, 7 but he set his face 8 toward the wilderness.
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).
3 tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.
4 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).
5 tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the
6 tn Heb “as time after time.”
7 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.
8 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.