Numbers 23: Balaam's first two oracles
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
Balaam has Balak build seven altars and offer a bull and a ram on each, and Yahweh puts a word in Balaam's mouth. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam blesses them, and Balak takes him to the top of Pisgah to try again. Balaam blesses Israel a second time, saying God is not a man that he should lie, and Balak takes him on to the top of Peor and builds seven more altars.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. God's own words are in 2 of the 30 verses: verses 5 and 16, where Yahweh puts a word in Balaam's mouth and tells him, "Return to Balak". Balaam's two oracles, in verses 7 to 10 and 18 to 24, are Balaam's words. The text says Yahweh put the word in his mouth, but it is Balaam who speaks them, so they are not printed in gold. Balaam also speaks to Balak in verses 1, 3, 12, 15, 26 and 29, and to God in verse 4. Balak speaks in verses 11, 13, 17, 25 and 27. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
In plain English: Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and get seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here."
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2Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
In plain English: Balak did as Balaam had said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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3Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.
In plain English: Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me, I will tell you." He went to a bare hill.
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4God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”
In plain English: God met Balaam, and Balaam said to him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar."
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5Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”God speaks
In plain English: Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say."
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6He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
In plain English: He went back to him, and there Balak was, standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
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7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
In plain English: Balaam took up his oracle (this Bible: parable) and said, "Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, speak against (or: denounce) Israel.
The Hebrew word: "Parable" is mashal, which the dictionary gives as "a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse)".
How it is translated: This Bible says "parable" in all 7 verses of Numbers that use mashal, all of them about Balaam's sayings in chapters 23 and 24. In the whole Bible it says "proverb" or "proverbs" in 20 of its 39 verses. Many Bibles call Balaam's sayings "oracles".
Good to know: The oracles are Balaam's words. The text says Yahweh put a word in his mouth ( and ), and Balaam says he must speak what Yahweh puts in his mouth ().
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8How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
In plain English: How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I speak against those whom Yahweh has not spoken against?
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9For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.
In plain English: From the tops of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I watch him. Look, it is a people that lives alone, and does not count itself among the nations.
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10Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
In plain English: Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part (or: a quarter) of Israel? Let me (literally: my soul) die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"
The Hebrew word: "The fourth part" is rova, which the dictionary gives as "a quarter". It is in only 2 verses of the Bible, this one and .
What changes: Some Bibles read the Hebrew differently, as "the dust cloud of Israel". Then the line says Israel is as many as a cloud of dust.
Good to know: Yahweh promised Abraham offspring "as the dust of the earth", so many that no one could count them ().
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11Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”
In plain English: Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them!"
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12He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
In plain English: He answered, "Must I not be careful to speak what Yahweh puts in my mouth?"
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13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”
In plain English: Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, where you can see them. You will see only the edge of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there."
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14He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
In plain English: He took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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15He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”
In plain English: Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I go to meet God over there (the Hebrew says only: while I meet over there)."
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16Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”God speaks
In plain English: Yahweh met Balaam, put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and say this."
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17He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”
In plain English: He came to him, and there Balak was, standing beside his burnt offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak said to him, "What has Yahweh said?"
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18He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
In plain English: Balaam took up his oracle and said, "Get up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.
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19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?
In plain English: God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man (a human being), that he should change his mind. Has he said something, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
Good to know: says much the same: "the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."
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20Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
In plain English: Look, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot take it back.
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21He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
In plain English: He has not seen wrongdoing (or: disaster) in Jacob, and he has not seen trouble in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
The Hebrew words: "Iniquity" is aven, which the dictionary gives as "strictly nothingness; also trouble, vanity, wickedness". "Perverseness" is amal, which the dictionary gives as "toil", "worry".
What changes: Read as "disaster" and "trouble", the line says God sees no harm coming on Jacob, rather than that he sees no wrong in Jacob.
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22God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
In plain English: God brings them out of Egypt. He has the strength (literally: the horns) of the wild ox.
The Hebrew word: "Wild ox" is re'em, which the dictionary gives as "a wild bull". This Bible says "wild ox" or "wild oxen" in all 9 verses that use it. Older Bibles, like the King James, say "unicorn".
What changes: The Hebrew says "like the horns of a wild ox are to him". It does not say whether "him" is God or the people he brings out of Egypt.
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23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
In plain English: Surely there is no enchantment (spell) in (or: against) Jacob, and no divination in (or: against) Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'What God has done!'
The Hebrew words: "Enchantment" is nachash, which the dictionary gives as "an incantation or augury" (reading signs). It is in only 2 verses, this one and , where this Bible says "divination". "Divination" here is qesem, as in .
What changes: The Hebrew says "in Jacob". It can mean there is no sorcery among Israel, or that no spell works against Israel.
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24Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
In plain English: Look, a people rises up like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion. It will not lie down until it eats its prey and drinks the blood of those it has killed."
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25Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
In plain English: Balak said to Balaam, "Then do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
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26But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”
In plain English: But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'Whatever Yahweh says, that I must do'?"
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27Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
In plain English: Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God (literally: be right in God's eyes) for you to curse them for me from there."
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28Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
In plain English: Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down over the desert.
Good to know: The dictionary gives Peor as "a mountain East of Jordan". The god worshipped there, Baal Peor, comes in .
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29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
In plain English: Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and get seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here."
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30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
In plain English: Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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