Numbers 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ¹  the word that I will speak to you.” ²  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 23:5-12

23:5 Then the Lord put a message ³  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁴ 

23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still ⁵  standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam ⁶  uttered ⁷  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁸  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁹ 

23:8 How ¹⁰  can I curse ¹¹  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; ¹² 

from the hills I watch them. ¹³ 

Indeed, a nation that lives alone,

and it will not be reckoned ¹⁴  among the nations.

23:10 Who ¹⁵  can count ¹⁶  the dust ¹⁷  of Jacob,

Or number ¹⁸  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ¹⁹  die the death of the upright, ²⁰ 

and let the end of my life ²¹  be like theirs.” ²² 

Balaam Relocates

23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary ²³  you have only blessed them!” ²⁴  23:12 Balaam replied, ²⁵  “Must I not be careful ²⁶  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ²⁷ 

Numbers 23:16-26

23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message ²⁸  in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When Balaam ²⁹  came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

Balaam Prophesies Again

23:18 Balaam ³⁰  uttered ³¹  his oracle, and said,

“Rise up, ³²  Balak, and hear;

Listen to me, son of Zippor:

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ³³  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ³⁴ 

23:20 Indeed, I have received a command ³⁵  to bless;

he has blessed, ³⁶  and I cannot reverse it. ³⁷ 

23:21 He ³⁸  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ³⁹ 

nor has he seen trouble ⁴⁰  in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them;

his acclamation ⁴¹  as king is among them.

23:22 God brought them ⁴²  out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. ⁴³ 

23:23 For there is no spell against ⁴⁴  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ⁴⁵  it must be said ⁴⁶  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ⁴⁷  what God has done!’

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ⁴⁸  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ⁴⁹ 

Balaam Relocates Yet Again

23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all ⁵⁰  nor bless them at all!” ⁵¹  23:26 But Balaam replied ⁵²  to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, ⁵³  I must do’?”

Numbers 24:9

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, ⁵⁴  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ⁵⁵ 

how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.

Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,

so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ⁵⁶ 

Romans 8:31

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ⁵⁷  in Christ Jesus has set you ⁵⁸  free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

[22:35]  ¹ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ² tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[23:5]  ³ tn Heb “word.”

[23:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”

[23:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁸ 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.

[23:7]  ⁹ 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.

[23:8]  ¹⁰ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

[23:8]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.

[23:9]  ¹² tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).

[23:9]  ¹³ sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel – they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.

[23:9]  ¹⁴ 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.

[23:10]  ¹⁵ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

[23:10]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.

[23:10]  ¹⁷ 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.

[23:10]  ¹⁸ 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.

[23:10]  ¹⁹ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

[23:10]  ²⁰ 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.

[23:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “my latter end.”

[23:10]  ²² tn Heb “his.”

[23:11]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.

[23:11]  ²⁴ 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.

[23:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ²⁶ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

[23:12]  ²⁷ tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.

[23:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “word.”

[23:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:18]  ³² tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.

[23:19]  ³³ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ³⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[23:20]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.

[23:20]  ³⁶ sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the Lord blessed Israel. Balaam knows that there is nothing he can do to reverse what God has said.

[23:20]  ³⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.

[23:21]  ³⁸ tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”

[23:21]  ³⁹ sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.

[23:21]  ⁴⁰ tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.

[23:21]  ⁴¹ tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the Lord God as their king. The word is used normally for the sound of the trumpet, but also of battle shouts, and then here acclamation. This would represent their conviction that Yahweh is king. On the usage of this Hebrew word see further BDB 929-30 s.v. תְּרוּעָה; HALOT 1790-91 s.v.

[23:22]  ⁴² tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.

[23:22]  ⁴³ sn The expression is “the horns of the wild ox” (KJV “unicorn”). The point of the image is strength or power. Horns are also used in the Bible to represent kingship (see Pss 89 and 132).

[23:23]  ⁴⁴ 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.

[23:23]  ⁴⁵ tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

[23:23]  ⁴⁶ 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.”

[23:23]  ⁴⁷ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ⁴⁸ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

[23:24]  ⁴⁹ sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

[23:25]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.

[23:25]  ⁵¹ tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism – “don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.

[23:26]  ⁵² tn Heb “answered and said.”

[23:26]  ⁵³ tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”

[24:9]  ⁵⁴ tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.

[6:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).

[8:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ⁵⁸ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.