Discovery BoxNumbers 23:1-4 
Context23:1 1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each 2 altar a bull and a ram. 23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself 3 by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me 4 I will tell you.” 5 Then he went to a deserted height. 6
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 23:14-15
Context23:14 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. 23:15 And Balaam 11 said to Balak, “Station yourself here 12 by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.
Numbers 23:29-30
Context23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
1 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).
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.
6 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.
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.
8 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
10 tn Heb “and he built.”
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the
