Numbers 22:36-41
New English Translation
Balaam Meets Balak
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab that was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again[a] to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”[b] 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able[c] to speak[d] just anything? I must speak[e] only the word that God puts in my mouth.” 39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some[f] to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. 41 Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal.[g] From there he saw the extent of the nation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 22:37 tn The emphatic construction is made of the infinitive absolute and the perfect tense from the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “to send”). The idea must be more intense than something like, “Did I not certainly send.” Balak is showing frustration with Balaam for refusing him.
- Numbers 22:37 sn Balak again refers to his ability to “honor” the seer. This certainly meant payment for his service, usually gold ornaments, rings and jewelry, as well as some animals.
- Numbers 22:38 tn The verb is אוּכַל (ʾukhal) in a question—“am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”
- Numbers 22:38 tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical—he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.
- Numbers 22:38 tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.
- Numbers 22:40 sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.
- Numbers 22:41 sn The name Bamoth Baal means “the high places of Baal.”
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