Numbers 22:10

22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

Numbers 24:25

24:25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, ¹  and Balak also went his way.

Joshua 13:22

13:22 The Israelites killed Balaam son of Beor, the omen reader, ²  along with the others. ³ 

Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ⁴  (Higgaion. ⁵  Selah)

Psalms 10:2

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ⁶ 

the oppressed are trapped ⁷  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ⁸ 

Psalms 10:1

Psalm 10 ⁹ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ¹⁰ 

Psalms 6:9-10

6:9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;

the Lord has accepted ¹¹  my prayer.

6:10 May all my enemies be humiliated ¹²  and absolutely terrified! ¹³ 

May they turn back and be suddenly humiliated!

Psalms 6:2

6:2 Have mercy on me, ¹⁴  Lord, for I am frail!

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 2:1

Psalm 2 ¹⁶ 

2:1 Why ¹⁷  do the nations rebel? ¹⁸ 

Why ¹⁹  are the countries ²⁰  devising ²¹  plots that will fail? ²² 

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ²³  and because of greed ²⁴  have abandoned themselves ²⁵  to ²⁶  Balaam’s error; hence, ²⁷  they will certainly perish ²⁸  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, ²⁹  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ³⁰  before the people ³¹  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ³² 

Revelation 19:20

19:20 Now ³³  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³⁴  – 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. ³⁵ 

[24:25]  ¹ tn Heb “place.”

[13:22]  ² tn Or “diviner.”

[13:22]  ³ tn Heb “Balaam son of Beor, the omen-reader, the Israelites killed with the sword, along with their slain ones.”

[9:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ⁵ tn This is probably a technical musical term.

[10:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ⁷ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[10:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[6:9]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.

[6:10]  ¹² tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies.

[6:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the Lord to turn the tables and cause his enemies to know what absolute terror feels like.

[6:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “show me favor.”

[6:2]  ¹⁵ tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ²² tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[1:11]  ²³ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

[2:14]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”