Numbers 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 23:14

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.

Numbers 23:30

23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

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

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

tn Heb “and he built.”