Numbers 22:2

22:2 Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites.

Numbers 24:20-21

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam ¹  looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: ² 

“Amalek was the first ³  of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

24:21 Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle:

“Your dwelling place seems strong,

and your nest ⁴  is set on a rocky cliff.

Numbers 16:19

16:19 When ⁵  Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

Numbers 16:42

16:42 When the community assembled ⁶  against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting – and ⁷  the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

Numbers 20:6

Moses Responds

20:6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

Numbers 22:31

22:31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground. ⁸ 

Numbers 22:41

22:41 Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. ⁹  From there he saw the extent of the nation.

Numbers 24:2

24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; ¹⁰  and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Numbers 25:7

25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, ¹¹  he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand,

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ¹² When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ¹³  he did not go as at the other times ¹⁴  to seek for omens, ¹⁵  but he set his face ¹⁶  toward the wilderness.

[24:20]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:20]  ² tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

[24:20]  ³ sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

[24:21]  ¹ sn A pun is made on the name Kenite by using the word “your nest” (קִנֶּךָ, qinnekha); the location may be the rocky cliffs overlooking Petra.

[16:19]  ¹ tn This clause is clearly foundational for the clause that follows, the appearance of the Lord; therefore it should be subordinated to the next as a temporal clause (one preterite followed by another preterite may be so subordinated).

[16:42]  ¹ tn The temporal clause is constructed with the temporal indicator (“and it was”) followed by the Niphal infinitive construct and preposition.

[16:42]  ² tn The verse uses וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). This is the deictic particle – it is used to point things out, suddenly calling attention to them, as if the reader were there. The people turned to look toward the tent – and there is the cloud!

[22:31]  ¹ tn The Hishtaphel verb חָוָה (khavah) – שָׁחָה (shakhah) with metathesis – has a basic idea of “bow oneself low to the ground,” and perhaps in some cases the idea of “coil up.” This is the normal posture of prayer and of deep humility in the ancient religious world.

[22:41]  ¹ sn The name Bamoth Baal means “the high places of Baal.”

[24:2]  ¹ tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”

[25:7]  ¹ tn The first clause is subordinated to the second because both begin with the preterite verbal form, and there is clearly a logical and/or chronological sequence involved.

[24:1]  ¹ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ² tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ³ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ⁴ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ⁵ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.