23:1 1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each 2 altar a bull and a ram. 23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself 3 by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me 4 I will tell you.” 5 Then he went to a deserted height. 6
23:4 Then God met Balaam, who 7 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 8 in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 9
23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still 10 standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam 11 uttered 12 his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me 13 from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’ 14
23:8 How 15 can I curse 16 one whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; 17
from the hills I watch them. 18
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned 19 among the nations.
1 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).
2 tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.
3 tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.
4 tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.
5 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.
6 sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.
7 tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.
8 tn Heb “word.”
9 tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”
10 tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “took up.”
13 tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.
14 sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.
15 tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.
16 tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.
17 tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).
18 sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the
19 tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.