Numbers 23:22

23:22 God brought them ¹  out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. ² 

Numbers 24:8

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ³ 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ⁴ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ⁵  he did not go as at the other times ⁶  to seek for omens, ⁷  but he set his face ⁸  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 2:20

2:20 Next to them will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

[23:22]  ¹ tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.

[23:22]  ² 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).

[24:8]  ³ tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[24:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.