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Numbers 23:3-5
New English Translation
Numbers 23:3-5
New English Translation
3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself[a] by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me[b] I will tell you.”[c] Then he went to a deserted height.[d]
4 Then God met Balaam, who[e] said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 Then the Lord put a message[f] in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”[g]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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.
- 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.
- Numbers 23:3 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. This clause is dependent on the clause that precedes it.
- 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.
- 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.
- Numbers 23:5 tn Heb “word.”
- Numbers 23:5 tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”
New English Translation (NET)
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