Numbers 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ¹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 23:14

23:14 So Balak brought Balaam ²  to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ³  where ⁴  he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:30

23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ⁵ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 21:9

21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. ⁶ 

Numbers 21:12

21:12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered.

Psalms 50:16-21

50:16 God says this to the evildoer: ⁷ 

“How can you declare my commands,

and talk about my covenant? ⁸ 

50:17 For you hate instruction

and reject my words. ⁹ 

50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; ¹⁰ 

you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. ¹¹ 

50:19 You do damage with words, ¹² 

and use your tongue to deceive. ¹³ 

50:20 You plot against your brother; ¹⁴ 

you slander your own brother. ¹⁵ 

50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, ¹⁶ 

so you thought I was exactly like you. ¹⁷ 

But now I will condemn ¹⁸  you

and state my case against you! ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 21:27

21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice ²⁰  is an abomination;

how much more ²¹  when he brings it with evil intent! ²² 

Isaiah 1:10-16

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ²³ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ²⁴ 

people of Gomorrah!

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ²⁵ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²⁶  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ²⁷ 

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ²⁸ 

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ²⁹  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ³⁰ 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³¹ 

1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ³² 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ³³ 

1:16 ³⁴ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds ³⁵ 

from my sight.

Stop sinning!

Titus 1:16

1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

[23:1]  ¹ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

[23:14]  ² tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:14]  ³ tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”

[23:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he built.”

[23:1]  ⁵ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

[21:9]  ⁶ sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.

[50:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “evil [one].” The singular adjective is used here in a representative sense; it refers to those within the larger covenant community who have blatantly violated the Lord’s commandments. In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander, and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[50:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The Lord is shocked that such evildoers would give lip-service to his covenantal demands, for their lifestyle is completely opposed to his standards (see vv. 18-20).

[50:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”

[50:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you run with him.”

[50:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”

[50:19]  ¹² tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”

[50:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”

[50:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you sit, against your brother you speak.” To “sit” and “speak” against someone implies plotting against that person (see Ps 119:23).

[50:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “against the son of your mother you give a fault.”

[50:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.

[50:21]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).

[50:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).

[50:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the Lord’s resolve to accuse and judge the wicked.

[21:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.

[21:27]  ²¹ sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.

[21:27]  ²² tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.

[1:10]  ²³ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ²⁷ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[1:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[1:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ³⁰ sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[1:15]  ³² tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ³³ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[1:16]  ³⁴ sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.

[1:16]  ³⁵ sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).