Numbers 22:5-7

22:5 And he sent messengers to Balaam ¹  son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River ²  in the land of Amaw, ³  to summon him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face ⁴  of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 22:6 So ⁵  now, please come and curse this nation ⁶  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ⁷  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ⁸  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ⁹  to him the words of Balak.

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ¹⁰ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ¹¹  he did not go as at the other times ¹²  to seek for omens, ¹³  but he set his face ¹⁴  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 31:8

31:8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – five Midianite kings. ¹⁵  They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. ¹⁶ 

Numbers 31:2

31:2 “Exact vengeance ¹⁷  for the Israelites on the Midianites ¹⁸  – after that you will be gathered to your people.” ¹⁹ 

Numbers 2:15

2:15 Those numbered in his division are 45,650.

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ²⁰  and because of greed ²¹  have abandoned themselves ²²  to ²³  Balaam’s error; hence, ²⁴  they will certainly perish ²⁵  in Korah’s rebellion.

Revelation 2:14

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, ²⁶  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ²⁷  before the people ²⁸  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ²⁹ 

Revelation 19:20

19:20 Now ³⁰  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³¹  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ³² 

[22:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “by the river”; in most contexts this expression refers to the Euphrates River (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[22:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “eye.” So also in v. 11.

[22:6]  ⁵ tn The two lines before this verse begin with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), and so they lay the foundation for these imperatives. In view of those circumstances, this is what should happen.

[22:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 10, 17, 41.

[22:6]  ⁷ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense אוּכַל (’ukhal, “I will be able”) followed by the imperfect tense נַכֶּה (nakkeh, “we will smite/attack/defeat”). The second verb is clearly the purpose or the result of the first, even though there is no conjunction or particle.

[22:6]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of בָּרַךְ (barakh), with the nuance of possibility: “whomever you may bless.” The Pual participle מְבֹרָךְ (mÿvorakh) serves as the predicate.

[22:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “spoke.”

[24:1]  ¹⁰ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ¹² tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ¹³ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ¹⁴ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[31:8]  ¹⁵ sn Here again we see that there was no unified empire, but Midianite tribal groups.

[31:8]  ¹⁶ 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.

[31:2]  ¹⁷ tn The imperative is followed by its cognate accusative to stress this vengeance. The Midianites had attempted to destroy Israel with their corrupt pagan practices, and now will be judged. The accounts indicate that the effort by Midian was calculated and evil.

[31:2]  ¹⁸ sn The war was commanded by the Lord and was to be divine vengeance on the Midianites. So it was holy war. No Israelites then could take spoils in this – it was not a time for plunder and aggrandizement. It was part of the judgment of God upon those who would destroy or pervert his plan and his people.

[31:2]  ¹⁹ sn This would be the last major enterprise that Moses would have to undertake. He would soon die and “be gathered to his people” as Aaron was.

[1:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ²¹ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ²² tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

[1:11]  ²³ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

[2:14]  ²⁶ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

[2:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

[2:14]  ²⁹ tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”

[19:20]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ³¹ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ³² tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”