Numbers 23:1-4

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ¹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ²  altar a bull and a ram. 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 

23:4 Then God met Balaam, who ⁷  said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

Numbers 23:14-15

23:14 So Balak brought Balaam ⁸  to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ⁹  where ¹⁰  he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And Balaam ¹¹  said to Balak, “Station yourself here ¹²  by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.

Numbers 23:29-30

23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

[23:1]  ¹ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

[23:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

[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.

[23:4]  ⁷ tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.

[23:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:14]  ⁹ tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”

[23:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he built.”

[23:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:15]  ¹² tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”