Numbers 22:13

22:13 So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, ¹  for the Lord has refused to permit me to go ²  with you.”

Numbers 23:3

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ³  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ⁴  I will tell you.” ⁵  Then he went to a deserted height. ⁶ 

Numbers 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ⁷  uttered ⁸  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁹  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ¹⁰ 

Numbers 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ¹¹  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ¹² 

[22:13]  ¹ tc The LXX adds “to your lord.”

[22:13]  ² tn The main verb is the Piel perfect, “he has refused.” This is followed by two infinitives. The first (לְתִתִּי, lÿtitti) serves as a complement or direct object of the verb, answering the question of what he refused to do – “to give me.” The second infinitive (לַהֲלֹךְ, lahalokh) provides the object for the preceding infinitive: “to grant me to go.”

[23:3]  ³ tn The verb הִתְיַצֵּב (hityatsev) means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It is more intentional than simply standing by something. He was to position himself by the sacrifice as Balaam withdrew to seek the oracle.

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the word of what he shows me.” The noun is in construct, and so the clause that follows functions as a noun clause in the genitive. The point is that the word will consist of divine revelation.

[23:3]  ⁵ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

[23:3]  ⁶ sn He went up to a bald spot, to a barren height. The statement underscores the general belief that such tops were the closest things to the gods. On such heights people built their shrines and temples.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[24:14]  ⁷ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.