Numbers 13:31

13:31 But the men ¹  who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Numbers 14:24

14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully – I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants ²  will possess it.

Numbers 21:33

21:33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces ³  marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.

Numbers 21:35

21:35 So they defeated Og, ⁴  his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, ⁵  and they possessed his land.

Numbers 23:21

23:21 He ⁶  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ⁷ 

nor has he seen trouble ⁸  in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them;

his acclamation ⁹  as king is among them.

Numbers 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ¹⁰  gathered all his forces ¹¹  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ¹²  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Numbers 21:34

21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

Numbers 22:5

22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam ¹³  son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River ¹⁴  in the land of Amaw, ¹⁵  to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face ¹⁶  of the earth, and they are settling next to me.

Numbers 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ¹⁷  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ¹⁸  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

¹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.

² tn Heb “seed.”

³ tn Heb “people.”

⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Og) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “no remnant.”

⁵ tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “Sihon.”

⁷ tn Heb “people.”

⁸ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

⁷ sn There is much literature on pagan diviners and especially prophecy in places in the east like Mari (see, for example, H. B. Huffmon, “Prophecy in the Mari Letters,” BA 31 [1968]: 101-24). Balaam appears to be a pagan diviner who was of some reputation; he was called to curse the Israelites, but God intervened and gave him blessings only. The passage forms a nice complement to texts that deal with blessings and curses. It shows that no one can curse someone whom God has blessed.

⁸ tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁹ tn Heb “in the land of Amaw” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV); traditionally “in the land of the sons of his people.” The LXX has “by the river of the land.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.

⁸ sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

⁹ tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).