Numbers 23:1-8

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.” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message ⁸  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁹ 

23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still ¹⁰  standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam ¹¹  uttered ¹²  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ¹³  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ¹⁴ 

23:8 How ¹⁵  can I curse ¹⁶  one whom God has not cursed,

or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?

[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.

[23:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “word.”

[23:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”

[23:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.

[23:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ¹² tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[23:8]  ¹⁵ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

[23:8]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.