Discovery BoxNumbers 23:20
Context23:20 Indeed, I have received a command 1 to bless;
he has blessed, 2 and I cannot reverse it. 3
Numbers 23:23
Context23:23 For there is no spell against 4 Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time 5 it must be said 6 of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at 7 what God has done!’
Isaiah 44:25
Context44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers 8
and humiliates 9 the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men 10
and makes their advice 11 seem foolish,
Isaiah 47:12-13
Context47:12 Persist 12 in trusting 13 your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited 14 since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful 15 –
maybe you will scare away disaster. 16
47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. 17
Let them take their stand –
the ones who see omens in the sky,
who gaze at the stars,
who make monthly predictions –
let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 18
[23:20] 1 tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.
[23:20] 2 sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the
[23:20] 3 tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.
[23:23] 4 tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.
[23:23] 5 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.
[23:23] 6 tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”
[23:23] 7 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
[44:25] 8 tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).
[44:25] 9 tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.
[44:25] 10 tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”
[44:25] 11 tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[47:12] 12 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
[47:12] 13 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
[47:12] 14 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
[47:12] 15 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
[47:12] 16 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
[47:13] 17 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
[47:13] 18 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”
