Numbers 23:3-4

23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ¹  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ²  I will tell you.” ³  Then he went to a deserted height. ⁴ 

23:4 Then God met Balaam, who ⁵  said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

[23:3]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

[23:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.