23:10 Who 1 can count 2 the dust 3 of Jacob,
Or number 4 the fourth part of Israel?
Let me 5 die the death of the upright, 6
and let the end of my life 7 be like theirs.” 8
1 tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.
2 tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.
3 sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.
4 tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.
5 tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.
6 sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.
7 tn Heb “my latter end.”
8 tn Heb “his.”
9 sn Here again we see that there was no unified empire, but Midianite tribal groups.
10 sn And what was Balaam doing among the Midianites? The implication is strong. This pagan diviner had to submit to the revealed will of God in the oracles, but he nonetheless could be hired. He had been a part of the attempt to destroy Israel that failed; he then apparently became part of the plan, if not the adviser, to destroy them with sexual immorality and pagan ritual.