24:5 ‘How 1 beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
and your dwelling places, O Israel!
23:8 How 4 can I curse 5 one whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
24:22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. 6
How long will Asshur take you away captive?”
22:28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary 16 you have only blessed them!” 17
23:23 For there is no spell against 19 Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time 20 it must be said 21 of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at 22 what God has done!’
1 tn Here מָה (mah) has an exclamatory sense: “How!” (see Gen 28:17).
2 tn The verb is simply “stand,” but in the more general sense of waiting to hear the answer.
3 tn The cohortative may be subordinated to the imperative: “stand…[that I] may hear.”
3 tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.
4 tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.
4 tc Heb “Nevertheless Cain will be wasted; how long will Asshur take you captive?” Cain was believed to be the ancestor of the Kenites. The NAB has “yet destined for burning, even as I watch, are your inhabitants.” Asshur may refer to a north Arabian group of people of Abrahamic stock (Gen 25:3), and not the Assyrian empire.
5 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; the word therefore carries the volitional mood of the preceding imperatives. It may be either another imperative, or it may be subordinated as a purpose clause.
6 tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”
6 sn The question indicates that they had been murmuring against Aaron, that is, expressing disloyalty and challenging his leadership. But it is actually against the
7 tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).
8 tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the
8 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.
9 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.
10 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.
11 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.
9 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
10 tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.
12 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.
13 tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”
14 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “your way.”
13 tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.