Numbers 7:10

The Time of Presentation

7:10 The leaders offered ¹  gifts ²  for ³  the dedication ⁴  of the altar when it was anointed. ⁵  And the leaders presented ⁶  their offering before the altar.

Numbers 23:4

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

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.

[7:10]  ¹ tn The verse begins with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive: “and they offered.”

[7:10]  ² tn The direct object, “gifts,” is implied but not actually stated in the Hebrew text. It has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[7:10]  ³ tn The sign of the accusative here must indicate an adverbial accusative and not the direct object; they offered their gifts for the dedication of the altar.

[7:10]  ⁴ sn Some commentators take the word “dedication” in the sense of a dedication gift, and so make it the direct object. Many modern scholars assume that this is a late word, belonging only in P, the Chronicler, and the heading of Ps 30 (a Davidic psalm).

[7:10]  ⁵ tn The adverbial clause uses the Niphal infinitive construct as the main verb. The word is the well-known מָשַׁח (mashakh, “to anoint, smear”).

[7:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “offered,” but this is redundant and has been translated as “presented” for stylistic reasons. The same phrase occurs in vv. 11 and 12.

[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]  ¹³ tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[23:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he built.”