Numbers 22:12

22:12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, ¹  for they are blessed.” ² 

Numbers 23:4

23:4 Then God met Balaam, who ³  said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

Numbers 24:2

24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; ⁴  and the Spirit of God came upon him.

[22:12]  ¹ tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.

[22:12]  ² tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[23:4]  ³ tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.

[24:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”