Numbers 23:21-23 New English Translation
21 He[a] has not looked on iniquity in Jacob,[b]
nor has he seen trouble[c] in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
his acclamation[d] as king is among them.
22 God brought them[e] out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull.[f]
23 For there is no spell[g] against[h] Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time[i] it must be said[j] of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at[k] what God has done!’
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:21 tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- Numbers 23:23 tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time”—according to the time, about this time, now.
- 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.”
- Numbers 23:23 tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
New English Translation (NET)
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