Discovery BoxNumbers 23:7 
Context23:7 Then Balaam 1 uttered 2 his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me 3 from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’ 4
Numbers 30:8
Context30:8 But if when her husband hears it he overrules her, then he will nullify 5 the vow she has taken, 6 and whatever she uttered impulsively which she has pledged for herself. And the Lord will release her from it.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “took up.”
3 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.
4 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.
5 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb פָּרַר (parar, “to annul”). The verb functions here as the equivalent of an imperfect tense; here it is the apodosis following the conditional clause – if this is the case, then this is what will happen.
6 tn Heb “which [she is] under it.”
