Add parallel Print Page Options

Balaam Relocates

11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary[a] you have only blessed them!”[b] 12 Balaam replied,[c] “Must I not be careful[d] to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”[e] 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.”

14 So Balak brought Balaam[f] to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah,[g] where[h] he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 And Balaam[i] said to Balak, “Station yourself here[j] by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.” 16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message[k] in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 17 When Balaam[l] 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?”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 23:11 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
  2. Numbers 23:11 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.
  3. Numbers 23:12 tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Numbers 23:12 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 Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.
  5. Numbers 23:12 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.
  6. Numbers 23:14 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
  7. Numbers 23:14 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
  8. Numbers 23:14 tn Heb “and he built.”
  9. Numbers 23:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. Numbers 23:15 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”
  11. Numbers 23:16 tn Heb “word.”
  12. Numbers 23:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(A) but you have done nothing but bless them!”(B)

12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(C)

Balaam’s Second Message

13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place(D) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.(E) And from there, curse them for me.(F) 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,(G) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(H)

15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth(I) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”

17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.(J) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

Read full chapter