Numbers 21:18

21:18 The well which the princes ¹  dug,

which the leaders of the people opened

with their scepters and their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;

Numbers 22:14

22:14 So the princes of Moab departed ²  and went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

Numbers 22:21

22:21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

Numbers 22:40

22:40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some ³  to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.

Numbers 23:6

23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still ⁴  standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

¹ sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

² tn Heb “rose up.”

³ sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.