Discovery BoxNumbers 23:6-23 
Context23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still 1 standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam 2 uttered 3 his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me 4 from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’ 5
23:8 How 6 can I curse 7 one whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; 8
from the hills I watch them. 9
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned 10 among the nations.
23:10 Who 11 can count 12 the dust 13 of Jacob,
Or number 14 the fourth part of Israel?
Let me 15 die the death of the upright, 16
and let the end of my life 17 be like theirs.” 18
23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary 19 you have only blessed them!” 20 23:12 Balaam replied, 21 “Must I not be careful 22 to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” 23 23:13 Balak 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.”
23:14 So Balak brought Balaam 24 to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, 25 where 26 he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And Balaam 27 said to Balak, “Station yourself here 28 by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message 29 in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When Balaam 30 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?”
23:18 Balaam 31 uttered 32 his oracle, and said,
“Rise up, 33 Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor:
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a human being, 34 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? 35
23:20 Indeed, I have received a command 36 to bless;
he has blessed, 37 and I cannot reverse it. 38
23:21 He 39 has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, 40
nor has he seen trouble 41 in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
his acclamation 42 as king is among them.
23:22 God brought them 43 out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 44
23:23 For there is no spell against 45 Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time 46 it must be said 47 of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at 48 what God has done!’
1 tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) – Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “took up.”
4 tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.
5 sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.
6 tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.
7 tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.
8 tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).
9 sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the
10 tn The verb could also be taken as a reflexive – Israel does not consider itself as among the nations, meaning, they consider themselves to be unique.
11 tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.
12 tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.
13 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.
14 tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.
15 tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.
16 sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.
17 tn Heb “my latter end.”
18 tn Heb “his.”
19 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
20 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.
21 tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 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
23 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.
24 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
26 tn Heb “and he built.”
27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the
29 tn Heb “word.”
30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “took up.”
33 tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.
34 tn Heb “son of man.”
35 tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.
36 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.
37 sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the
38 tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.
39 tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”
40 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.
41 tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.
42 tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the
43 tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.
44 sn The expression is “the horns of the wild ox” (KJV “unicorn”). The point of the image is strength or power. Horns are also used in the Bible to represent kingship (see Pss 89 and 132).
45 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.
46 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.
47 tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”
48 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
