Numbers 16:47

16:47 So Aaron did ¹  as Moses commanded ²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

Numbers 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ³  uttered ⁴  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁵  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁶ 

Numbers 23:19

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

nor a human being, ⁷  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? ⁸ 

[16:47]  ¹ tn Heb “took.”

[16:47]  ² tn Or “had spoken” (NASB); NRSV “had ordered.”

[23:7]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[23:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ⁶ 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.