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1Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”[#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).]
2So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram.[#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.]
3Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height.[#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.; #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.; #tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.; #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.]
4Then God met Balaam, who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”[#tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa.]
5Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”[#tn Heb “word.”; #tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”]
6So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.[#tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.]
7Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying,[#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “took up.”]
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’
8How can I curse one whom God has not cursed,[#tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.; #tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.]
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
9For from the top of the rocks I see them;[#tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).]
from the hills I watch them.
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned among the nations.
10Who can count the dust of Jacob,[#tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.; #tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.; #sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.]
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let the end of my life be like theirs.”
11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!”[#tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.; #tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.]
12Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”[#tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.; #tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.]
13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
14So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.[#tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”; #tn Heb “and he built.”]
15And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.[#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”]
16Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”[#tn Heb “word.”]
17When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”[#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.]
18Balaam uttered his oracle, and said,[#tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “took up.”]
“Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor:
19God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a human being, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
20Indeed, I have received a command to bless;[#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.]
he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob,[#tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”; #sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.]
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
his acclamation as king is among them.
22God brought them out of Egypt.[#tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.]
They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull.
23For there is no spell against Jacob,[#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.]
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time it must be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’
24Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,
and like a lion raises himself up;
they will not lie down until they eat their prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.”
25Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”[#tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.; #tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism – “don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.]
26But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?”[#tn Heb “answered and said.”; #tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”]
27Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”[#tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”; #sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.]
28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness.[#tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon” (cf. 21:20).]
29Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”
30So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.