Numbers 22:9

22:9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

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.

Numbers 22:20

22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Numbers 22:22

God Opposes Balaam

22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled ⁵  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ⁶  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁷  to speak ⁸  just anything? I must speak ⁹  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

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

[22:22]  ¹ sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

[22:22]  ² tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).

[22:38]  ¹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ² tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ³ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.