22:15 Balak again sent princes, 1 more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 2 22:16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: ‘Please do not let anything hinder you from coming 3 to me. 22:17 For I will honor you greatly, 4 and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.’”
22:18 Balaam replied 5 to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment 6 of the Lord my God 7 to do less or more. 22:19 Now therefore, please stay 8 the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me.” 9 22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.” 22:21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled 10 because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose 11 him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.
1 tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys. It uses the Hiphil preterite of the verb “to add” followed by the Qal infinitive “to send.” The infinitive becomes the main verb, and the preterite an adverb: “he added to send” means “he sent again.”
2 tn Heb “than these.”
3 tn The infinitive construct is the object of the preposition.
4 tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive כַּבֵּד (kabbed) to intensify the verb, which is the Piel imperfect/cohortative אֲכַבֶּדְךָ (’akhabbedkha). The great honor could have been wealth, prestige, or position.
5 tn Heb “answered and said.”
6 tn Heb “mouth.”
7 sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.
8 tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).
9 tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the
10 sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.
11 tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).