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.”

Numbers 23:15-16

23:15 And Balaam 6  said to Balak, “Station yourself here 7  by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message 8  in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”

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.

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.

3 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.

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.

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.

6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

7 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”

8 tn Heb “word.”