Discovery BoxNumbers 22:3-5
Context22:3 And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites.
22:4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “Now this mass of people 1 will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field. Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time. 22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam 2 son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River 3 in the land of Amaw, 4 to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face 5 of the earth, and they are settling next to me.
Habakkuk 3:7
Context3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; 6
the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. 7
[22:4] 1 tn The word is simply “company,” but in the context he must mean a vast company – a horde of people.
[22:5] 2 sn There is much literature on pagan diviners and especially prophecy in places in the east like Mari (see, for example, H. B. Huffmon, “Prophecy in the Mari Letters,” BA 31 [1968]: 101-24). Balaam appears to be a pagan diviner who was of some reputation; he was called to curse the Israelites, but God intervened and gave him blessings only. The passage forms a nice complement to texts that deal with blessings and curses. It shows that no one can curse someone whom God has blessed.
[22:5] 3 tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[22:5] 4 tn Heb “in the land of Amaw” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV); traditionally “in the land of the sons of his people.” The LXX has “by the river of the land.”
[22:5] 5 tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.
[3:7] 6 tn Heb “under trouble I saw the tents of Cushan.”
[3:7] 7 tn R. D. Patterson takes תַּחַת אֲוֶן (takhat ’aven) in the first line as a place name, “Tahath-Aven.” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 237.) In this case one may translate the verse as a tricolon: “I look at Tahath-Aven. The tents of Cushan are shaking, the tent curtains of the land of Midian.”
