Numbers 22:13-15

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.” 22:14 So the princes of Moab departed ³  and went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

Balaam Accompanies the Moabite Princes

22:15 Balak again sent princes, ⁴  more numerous and more distinguished than the first. ⁵ 

[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.”

[22:14]  ³ tn Heb “rose up.”

[22:15]  ⁵ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys. It uses the Hiphil preterite of the verb “to add” followed by the Qal infinitive “to send.” The infinitive becomes the main verb, and the preterite an adverb: “he added to send” means “he sent again.”

[22:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “than these.”