Numbers 23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 23:1 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. Numbers 23:2 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. Numbers 23:3 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. Numbers 23:3 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. Numbers 23:3 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.
6. Numbers 23:3 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. Numbers 23:4 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. Numbers 23:5 tn Heb “word.”
9. Numbers 23:5 tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”
10. Numbers 23:6 tn The Hebrew text draws the vividness of the scene with the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh)—Balaam returned, and there he was, standing there.
11. Numbers 23:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12. Numbers 23:7 tn Heb “took up.”
13. Numbers 23:7 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.
14. Numbers 23:7 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.
15. Numbers 23:8 tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.
16. Numbers 23:8 tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.
17. Numbers 23:9 tn Heb “him,” but here it refers to the Israelites (Israel).
18. Numbers 23:9 sn Balaam reports his observation of the nation of Israel spread out below him in the valley. Based on that vision, and the Lord’s word, he announces the uniqueness of Israel—they are not just like one of the other nations. He was correct, of course; they were the only people linked with the living God by covenant.
19. Numbers 23:9 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.
20. Numbers 23:10 tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them—they are innumerable.
21. Numbers 23:10 tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.
22. Numbers 23:10 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.
23. Numbers 23:10 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.
24. Numbers 23:10 tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature—me.
25. Numbers 23:10 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.
26. Numbers 23:10 tn Heb “my latter end.”
27. Numbers 23:10 tn Heb “his.”
28. Numbers 23:11 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.
29. 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.
30. Numbers 23:12 tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. Numbers 23:14 tn Heb “he brought him”; the referents (Balak and Balaam) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
34. Numbers 23:14 tn Some scholars do not translate this word as “Pisgah,” but rather as a “lookout post” or an “elevated place.”
35. Numbers 23:14 tn Heb “and he built.”
36. Numbers 23:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37. Numbers 23:15 tn The verse uses כֹּה (koh) twice: “Station yourself here…I will meet [the Lord] there.”
38. Numbers 23:16 tn Heb “word.”
39. Numbers 23:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
40. Numbers 23:18 tn Heb “he.” The antecedent has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
41. Numbers 23:18 tn Heb “took up.”
42. Numbers 23:18 tn The verb probably means “pay attention” in this verse.
43. Numbers 23:19 tn Heb “son of man.”
44. Numbers 23:19 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.
45. Numbers 23:20 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.
46. Numbers 23:20 sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the Lord blessed Israel. Balaam knows that there is nothing he can do to reverse what God has said.
47. Numbers 23:20 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.
48. Numbers 23:21 tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”
49. Numbers 23:21 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.
50. Numbers 23:21 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.
51. Numbers 23:21 tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them—they are proclaiming the Lord God as their king. The word is used normally for the sound of the trumpet, but also of battle shouts, and then here acclamation. This would represent their conviction that Yahweh is king. On the usage of this Hebrew word see further BDB 929-30 s.v. תְּרוּעָה; HALOT 1790-91 s.v.
52. Numbers 23:22 tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsaʾ) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.
53. Numbers 23:22 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; 132).
54. Numbers 23:23 tn The words נַחַשׁ (nakhash, “magic curse, omen”) and קֶסֶם (qesem, “prediction, divination”) describe two techniques of consulting gods. The first concerns omens generally, perhaps the flight of birds (HALOT 690 s.v.). The second relates to casting lots, sometimes done with arrows (Ezek 21:26). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-296.
55. Numbers 23:23 tn The ASV says “with Jacob,” but most translations use “against” (both are theoretically possible) because of the context, esp. v. 20.
56. Numbers 23:23 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time”—according to the time, about this time, now.
57. Numbers 23:23 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.”
58. Numbers 23:23 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
59. Numbers 23:24 tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.
60. Numbers 23:24 sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.
61. Numbers 23:25 tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.
62. Numbers 23:25 tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism—“don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.
63. Numbers 23:26 tn Heb “answered and said.”
64. Numbers 23:26 tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks”—is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”
65. Numbers 23:27 tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”
66. Numbers 23:27 sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.
67. Numbers 23:28 tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon” (cf. 21:20).
68. Numbers 24:1 sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).
69. Numbers 24:1 tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”
70. Numbers 24:1 tn Heb “as time after time.”
71. Numbers 24:1 tn The word נְחָשִׁים (n^ekhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.
72. Numbers 24:1 tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.
73. Numbers 24:2 tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”
74. Numbers 24:3 tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”
75. Numbers 24:3 tn The word נְאֻם (n^eʾum) is an “oracle.” It is usually followed by a subjective genitive, indicating the doer of the action. The word could be rendered “says,” but this translations is more specific.
76. Numbers 24:3 tn The Greek version reads “the one who sees truly.” The word has been interpreted in both ways, “shut” or “open.”
77. Numbers 24:4 tn The phrase “flat on the ground” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The Greek version interprets the line to mean “falling asleep.” It may mean falling into a trance.
78. Numbers 24:4 tn The last colon simply has “falling, but opened eyes.” The falling may simply refer to lying prone; and the opened eyes may refer to his receiving a vision. See H. E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, 37-41.
79. Numbers 24:5 tn Here מָה (mah) has an exclamatory sense: “How!” (see Gen 28:17).
80. Numbers 24:6 tn Heb “as valleys they spread forth.”
81. Numbers 24:6 tn Or “rows of palms.”
82. Numbers 24:6 sn The language seems to be more poetic than precise. N. H. Snaith notes that cedars do not grow beside water; he also connects “aloes” to the eaglewood that is more exotic, and capable of giving off an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 298).
83. Numbers 24:7 tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.
84. Numbers 24:7 tn Heb “many.”
85. Numbers 24:7 sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.
86. Numbers 24:7 sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.
87. Numbers 24:8 tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.
88. Numbers 24:9 tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.
89. Numbers 24:10 sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).
90. Numbers 24:10 tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”
91. Numbers 24:11 tn Heb “flee to your place.”
92. Numbers 24:13 tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”
93. Numbers 24:13 tn Heb “mouth.”
94. Numbers 24:13 tn Heb “from my heart.”
95. Numbers 24:14 tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”
96. Numbers 24:14 tn For “in future days,” see the note at Gen 49:1. For more on this expression, see E. Lipiński, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.
97. Numbers 24:15 tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”
98. Numbers 24:17 tn Heb “near.”
99. Numbers 24:17 sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.
100. Numbers 24:17 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like “tread on, walk, march.”
101. Numbers 24:17 sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”
102. Numbers 24:17 tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”
103. Numbers 24:17 tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.
104. Numbers 24:17 sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.
105. Numbers 24:18 sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.
106. Numbers 24:19 tn Or, understanding the Hebrew word for “city” as a place name, “of Ir” (cf. NRSV, NLT).
107. Numbers 24:20 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
108. Numbers 24:20 tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.
109. Numbers 24:20 sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.
110. Numbers 24:21 sn A pun is made on the name Kenite by using the word “your nest” (קִנֶּךָ, qinnekha); the location may be the rocky cliffs overlooking Petra.
111. Numbers 24:22 tc Heb “Nevertheless Cain will be wasted; how long will Asshur take you captive?” Cain was believed to be the ancestor of the Kenites. The NAB has “yet destined for burning, even as I watch, are your inhabitants.” Asshur may refer to a north Arabian group of people of Abrahamic stock (Gen 25:3), and not the Assyrian empire.
112. Numbers 24:23 tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).
113. Numbers 24:24 tc The MT is difficult. The Kittim refers normally to Cyprus, or any maritime people to the west. W. F. Albright proposed emending the line to “islands will gather in the north, ships from the distant sea” (“The Oracles of Balaam,” JBL 63 [1944]: 222-23). Some commentators accept that reading as the original state of the text, since the present MT makes little sense.
114. Numbers 24:24 tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
115. Numbers 24:24 tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”
116. Numbers 24:25 tn Heb “place.”
117. Numbers 25:1 sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8, ” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.
118. Numbers 25:1 tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.
119. Numbers 25:1 sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.
120. Numbers 25:2 tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.
121. Numbers 25:2 sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.
122. Numbers 25:3 tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal Peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.sn The evidence indicates that Moab was part of the very corrupt Canaanite world, a world that was given over to the fertility ritual of the times.
123. Numbers 25:4 sn The meaning must be the leaders behind the apostasy, for they would now be arrested. They were responsible for the tribes’ conformity to the Law, but here they had not only failed in their duty, but had participated. The leaders were executed; the rest of the guilty died by the plague.
124. Numbers 25:4 sn The leaders who were guilty were commanded by God to be publicly exposed by hanging, probably a reference to impaling, but possibly some other form of harsh punishment. The point was that the swaying of their executed bodies would be a startling warning for any who so blatantly set the Law aside and indulged in apostasy through pagan sexual orgies.
125. Numbers 25:4 tn Heb “in the sun.” This means in broad daylight.
126. Numbers 25:5 tn Heb “slay—a man his men.” The imperative is plural, and so “man” is to be taken collectively as “each of you men.”
127. Numbers 25:6 tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (v^ehinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.
128. Numbers 25:6 tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”
129. Numbers 25:6 tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”
130. Numbers 25:6 tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.
131. Numbers 25:7 tn The first clause is subordinated to the second because both begin with the preterite verbal form, and there is clearly a logical and/or chronological sequence involved.
132. Numbers 25:8 tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8, ” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).
133. Numbers 25:8 tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.
134. Numbers 25:8 sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.
135. Numbers 25:11 tn Heb “he was zealous with my zeal.” The repetition of forms for “zeal” in the line stresses the passion of Phinehas. The word “zeal” means a passionate intensity to protect or preserve divine or social institutions.
136. Numbers 25:11 tn The word for “zeal” now occurs a third time. While some English versions translate this word here as “jealousy” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), it carries the force of God’s passionate determination to defend his rights and what is right about the covenant and the community and parallels the “zeal” that Phinehas had just demonstrated.
137. Numbers 25:12 tn Heb “say.”
138. Numbers 25:12 tn Here too the grammar expresses an imminent future by using the particle הִנְנִי (hin^eni) before the participle נֹתֵן (noten)—“here I am giving,” or “I am about to give.”
139. Numbers 25:12 tn Or “my pledge of friendship” (NAB), or “my pact of friendship” (NJPS). This is the designation of the leadership of the priestly ministry. The terminology is used again in the rebuke of the priests in Mal 2.
140. Numbers 25:13 tn The motif is reiterated here. Phinehas was passionately determined to maintain the rights of his God by stopping the gross sinful perversions.
141. Numbers 25:13 sn The atonement that he made in this passage refers to the killing of the two obviously blatant sinners. By doing this he dispensed with any animal sacrifice, for the sinners themselves died. In Leviticus it was the life of the substitutionary animal that was taken in place of the sinners that made atonement. The point is that sin was punished by death, and so God was free to end the plague and pardon the people. God’s holiness and righteousness have always been every bit as important as God’s mercy and compassion, for without righteousness and holiness mercy and compassion mean nothing.
142. Numbers 25:14 tn Heb “a father’s house.” So also in v. 15.
143. Numbers 25:15 tn Heb “head.”
144. Numbers 25:15 sn The passage makes it clear that this individual was a leader, one who was supposed to be preventing this thing from happening. The judgment was swift and severe, because the crime was so great, and the danger of it spreading was certain. Paul refers to this horrible incident when he reminds Christians not to do similar things (1 Cor 10:6-8).
145. Numbers 25:17 tn The form is the infinitive absolute used in place of a verb here; it clearly is meant to be an instruction for Israel. The idea is that of causing trouble, harassing, vexing Midian. The verb is repeated as the active participle in the line, and so the punishment is talionic.
146. Numbers 25:18 tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”
147. Numbers 25:18 sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.