Balaam’s First Oracle
Numbers 23:1-12
Num.23.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- בנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,3,f,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בזה: PREP+DEM
- שבעה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מזבחת: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- והכן: VERB,hiph,impv,2,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בזה: PREP+DEM
- שבעה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ושבעה: CONJ+NUM,m,sg,abs
- אילים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Num.23.14 (verbal): Immediate repetition within the Balaam cycle: Balaam again has seven altars built and offers seven bulls and seven rams before pronouncing an oracle (same ritual formula repeated).
- Num.24.1 (structural): Continuation of the Balaam oracle sequence—Balaam performs sacrificial rites and then delivers an extended prophetic blessing, showing the ritual–oracle pattern begun in 23:1.
- Exod.20.24 (thematic): Legal/cultic background for building altars: God’s instruction to ‘make an altar of earth’ and offer sacrifices, providing the priestly/ritual context for Balaam’s altar-building act.
- Gen.8.20 (thematic): Noah builds an altar and offers burnt offerings after divine deliverance—parallel motif of constructing an altar and offering animals as a response to divine encounter or to elicit/acknowledge God’s presence.
- 1 Kgs.18.30-39 (thematic): Elijah rebuilds an altar and offers a sacrifice to call down God’s power—a prophetic use of altar and sacrifice to secure a divine response, analogous to Balaam’s sacrificial preparations before pronouncing God’s word.
Alternative generated candidates
- Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
- Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
Num.23.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- כאשר: CONJ
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- ובלעם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במזבח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joshua 8:30–31 (thematic): Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal and offers burnt and peace offerings — parallels Balak’s erection of altars and animal sacrifices (same ritual act of altar-building and offering).
- 1 Kings 18:30–32 (structural): Elijah repairs and rebuilds the LORD’s altar and prepares a bull for sacrifice on Mount Carmel — a close structural parallel in the preparation of an altar and sacrificial animal(s).
- Genesis 8:20 (thematic): Noah builds an altar and offers burnt offerings of clean animals after the flood — an early instance of building an altar and offering animals like Balak’s sacrifices.
- Genesis 12:7 (thematic): Abram builds an altar to the LORD when God appears to him — the recurring motif of erecting an altar in response to divine action or a ritual need.
- Judges 6:26–28 (thematic): Gideon builds an altar to the LORD and offers a sacrifice (after tearing down a foreign altar) — another example of constructing an altar and offering animals within Israelite worship practice.
Alternative generated candidates
- Balak did as Balaam had spoken; Balak and Balaam went up and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
- Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on the altar.
Num.23.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לבלק: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg
- התיצב: VERB,hitpael,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- עלתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
- ואלכה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- אולי: ADV
- יקרה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לקראתי: PREP+VERB,qal,infc,1,_,sg
- ודבר: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- יראני: VERB,hifil,impf,3,m,sg+1,sg
- והגדתי: VERB,piel,perf,1,com,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- וילך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- שפי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 22:20 (structural): Immediate narrative fulfillment: God actually 'came to meet' Balaam — the very event Balaam anticipates in 23:3.
- Numbers 22:18–19 (verbal): Balaam elsewhere frames his role as waiting for and reporting whatever word God gives him to Balak, echoing the language of 'perhaps the LORD will come… and I will tell you.'
- 1 Samuel 9:9–10 (thematic): Saul's consultation of the seer Samuel (‘he will tell us what we should do’) parallels the practice of seeking a prophet/seer to receive and relay God's direction.
- Psalm 25:14 (thematic): The idea that the LORD reveals his 'secret' or guidance to those who seek/fear him resonates with Balaam’s expectation that God will come and show him something to report.
Alternative generated candidates
- Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go—perhaps the LORD will come to meet me; whatever he shows me I will tell you." So he went aside.
- Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you." Then Balaam went to a high place.
Num.23.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- שבעת: NUM,card,construct
- המזבחת: NOUN,f,pl,def
- ערכתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- ואעל: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- פר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במזבח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Num.22.41 (verbal): Immediate narrative parallel — the previous account explicitly records Balaam’s erection of seven altars and offering a bull and a ram on each, which 23:4 echoes as God speaks to him.
- Exod.24:4-5 (thematic): Moses builds an altar and offers young bulls and rams as part of a covenant ceremony on Sinai — similar language and cultic action (altar + sacrificial bulls/ram) accompanying divine encounter.
- Josh.8:30-31 (verbal): Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal and offers burnt and peace offerings — a close verbal and functional parallel of erecting an altar and performing sacrifices in the context of covenant/manifestation of God.
- 1 Kgs.18:30-32 (thematic): Elijah repairs and builds the altar to the LORD at Carmel and arranges the offering to provoke God’s manifest response — parallels the motif of constructing an altar and offering sacrifices to obtain divine revelation/action.
- Gen.22:9 (thematic): Abraham’s building of an altar to the LORD and arranging the offering (Isaac) reflects the broader theme of erecting altars and presenting sacrifices in moments of divine encounter and testing.
Alternative generated candidates
- And God came to Balaam and said to him, "What have you done? I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar."
- God met Balaam and said to him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar."
Num.23.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בפי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,construct
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שוב: ADV
- אל: NEG
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- וכה: ADV
- תדבר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 18:18 (verbal): God promises to raise a prophet and says 'I will put my words in his mouth' — same formula of God placing words in a messenger's mouth.
- Jeremiah 1:9 (verbal): The LORD touches Jeremiah's mouth and says, 'I have put my words in your mouth,' closely echoing the language and motif of divine placement of prophetic speech.
- Exodus 4:15 (verbal): God tells Moses 'you shall put words in his mouth' regarding Aaron — the same idea of God enabling or putting words into another's mouth.
- Ezekiel 3:4 (thematic): God commands Ezekiel to 'speak my words unto them,' reflecting the theme of prophets speaking words supplied by the LORD rather than their own.
- 1 Kings 22:23 (thematic): Narrates that the LORD 'put a lying spirit in the mouths' of the prophets — a related motif of God placing a spirit/word in prophets' mouths, here with a deceptive result.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and he said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."
- Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth; and he said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."
Num.23.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- והנה: ADV
- נצב: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- עלתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,m
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- שרי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- מואב: NOUN,m,sg,prop
Parallels
- Numbers 23:1 (verbal): Immediate verbal and situational parallel — Balak tells Balaam to 'stand here by thy burnt offering,' the same setting of Balaam standing by the sacrifice when the princes of Moab are present.
- Numbers 22:41 (structural): Same narrative episode: Balaam builds altars and offers sacrifices 'on every altar a bullock and a ram,' explaining the presence of Balaam and Moabite leaders at the sacrificial site.
- Exodus 24:5-8 (thematic): Moses and the elders build an altar, offer sacrifices, and enact a covenant with leaders and people standing by — parallels the ritual setting where leaders stand beside sacrificial rites as witnesses.
- 1 Kings 18:30-40 (thematic): Elijah repairs and stands by the altar on Mount Carmel before Israel and the prophets of Baal; like Num 23:6, a public ritual/contest at an altar with leaders and onlookers present to witness divine action.
Alternative generated candidates
- He returned to him, and there he stood on his altar—he and all the chiefs of Moab.
- He returned to him, and behold, Balak stood by his burnt offering — he and all the princes of Moab.
Num.23.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משלו: NOUN,m,sg,suff_3ms
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מן: PREP
- ארם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ינחני: VERB,hiph,imperfect,3,m,sg,obj_1cs
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- מואב: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- מהררי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,const
- קדם: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- לכה: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- ארה: VERB,qal,imp,2,ms
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ולכה: CONJ
- זעמה: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 22:5-6 (quotation): Balak's original message to Balaam — the summons to ‘come, curse Jacob…come, defy Israel’ that Balaam here recounts; the language and intent are directly reflected.
- Numbers 23:4-10 (verbal): Immediate context: Balaam ‘took up his parable’ and delivers the first oracle (including v.7); this passage contains the same speech and wording.
- Numbers 22:21-22 (structural): Narrative background: Balaam sets out from home toward Balak but God opposes him — explains the motif of being brought from Aram and the divine control over his mission.
- Deuteronomy 23:4-5 (allusion): Later summary of the episode: Deuteronomy recalls that Balak hired Balaam (of Pethor in Aram) to curse Israel and how God turned the intended curse into a blessing.
- Micah 6:5 (allusion): Prophetic allusion to the Balak–Balaam incident used as an example; Micah cites ‘what Balak consulted and what Balaam answered,’ echoing the theme of Balak’s attempt to hire a curse against Israel.
Alternative generated candidates
- Balaam took up his parable and said, "From Aram Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the heights of the east: 'Come, curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.'
- Balaam lifted up his voice and said: "From Aram Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east; come, curse for me Jacob; come, denounce Israel."
Num.23.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- אקב: VERB,qal,impf,1,-,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- קבה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- אזעם: VERB,qal,impf,1,-,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- זעם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Num.23:20 (verbal): Same oracle sequence of Balaam: affirms God has ordained a blessing and Balaam cannot reverse or annul what God has spoken—close verbal and thematic parallel.
- Num.22:18 (structural): Earlier statement by Balaam that he will only speak what the LORD commands; provides the immediate structural context for his claim that he cannot curse whom God has not cursed.
- Deut.18:18-19 (thematic): God’s promise to raise prophets who speak God’s words and are accountable for them—echoes the principle that a prophet’s pronouncements are controlled by YHWH, not by personal will.
- Ps.105:15 (allusion): “Touch not mine anointed…” expresses divine protection of God’s chosen/people; thematically parallels the idea that one may not successfully curse Israel because the LORD has not cursed them.
Alternative generated candidates
- How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
- He said, "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? Or how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?"
Num.23.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- מראש: PREP
- צרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אראנו: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- ומגבעות: PREP
- אשורנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הן: PART
- עם: PREP
- לבדד: ADV
- ישכן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ובגוים: PREP
- לא: PART_NEG
- יתחשב: VERB,hithp,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (thematic): Both passages portray Israel as God’s distinct allotment among the nations—God dividing the peoples and assigning Israel as His special portion, emphasizing separateness and divine election.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (thematic): Declares Israel ‘a holy people’ chosen above other peoples, paralleling Numbers’ assertion that Israel will ‘dwell alone’ and be set apart from the nations.
- Psalm 33:12 (thematic): Speaks of the blessedness of the nation whose God is the Lord and of God’s choice of a people, echoing Numbers’ theme of Israel’s unique status before the nations.
- Psalm 147:19-20 (verbal): Explicitly states God has not dealt thus with other nations—He revealed statutes to Israel alone—closely echoing the language and idea that Israel is not reckoned like the nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- For from the top of the rocks I behold him, and from the hills I see him: behold, a people dwelling alone, who will not be reckoned among the nations.
- For from the tops of the rocks I see him, and from the heights I behold him: a people who dwell apart, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Num.23.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- מנה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ומספר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- רבע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תמת: VERB,qal,juss,3,f,sg
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
- ישרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ותהי: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אחריתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- כמהו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 13:16 (allusion): Uses the same image of Israel’s offspring compared to the dust of the earth — an ancestral promise of innumerable descendants echoed in Balaam’s rhetorical question about counting Jacob’s dust.
- Genesis 15:5 (allusion): God’s promise to Abraham to make his descendants as numerous as the stars parallels the theme of Israel’s uncountable multitude invoked in Num 23:10.
- Deuteronomy 1:10 (verbal): Speaks of Israel’s multiplication ‘as the stars of heaven’ (or innumerable), a parallel expression of the same idea that no one can number Israel’s people.
- Psalm 37:37 (thematic): Connects to the latter clause’s concern with the fate of the righteous: ‘Mark the perfect man… for the end of that man is peace,’ resonating with ‘let my soul die the death of the righteous; and let my end be like his.’
- Psalm 116:15 (thematic): ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints’ relates to Balaam’s wish to die the death of the righteous and share the righteous’ end — an affirmation of value attached to the righteous’ death.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like theirs.
- Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like theirs.
Num.23.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- עשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לקב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg
- איבי: NOUN,m,sg+PRON,1,sg
- לקחתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- והנה: ADV
- ברכת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- ברך: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA,NA
Parallels
- Numbers 22:12 (quotation): God's direct command to Balaam not to curse Israel because they are blessed—explains why Balaam, despite Balak's intent, ends up blessing Israel.
- Numbers 23:8-10 (verbal): Immediate context in which Balaam pronounces a blessing over Israel ('How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?'), parallel in content and language to Balak's complaint in 23:11.
- Numbers 24:9 (verbal): A later oracle of Balaam containing the formula 'Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee,' closely matching the blessing/curse theme Balak complains about in 23:11.
- Genesis 12:3 (thematic): The covenantal theme 'I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you' underlies Israel's protected status and echoes the reason Balaam cannot curse Israel.
Alternative generated candidates
- Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them!"
- Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them."
Num.23.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הלא: PART
- את: PRT,acc
- אשר: PRON,rel
- ישים: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בפי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,construct
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- אשמר: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- לדבר: INF,qal
Parallels
- Deut.18.18-19 (verbal): God promises to 'put my words in his mouth' and warns that people must heed the prophet — closely parallels Balaam's claim to speak only what the LORD places in his mouth.
- Jer.1.9 (verbal): The LORD touches Jeremiah's mouth and says 'I have put my words in your mouth,' a near-verbatim motif of divine words given to a prophet to speak.
- 1 Kgs.22.14 (verbal): Micaiah declares, 'As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak,' echoing the commitment to speak only what God has placed in the prophet's mouth.
- Exod.4.12 (verbal): God tells Moses 'I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say,' reflecting the theme of God supplying or placing words in the speaker's mouth.
Alternative generated candidates
- He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
- He answered, "Am I not to speak only the word that the LORD puts in my mouth?"
Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam went up and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt‑offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went.
God came to Balaam and said to him, “Have you set up the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on the altar?”
The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and he said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
He returned to him, and behold, he stood on his high place—he and all the princes of Moab. And he took up his parable and said: “From Aram Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the peaks of the east; ‘Come, curse for me Jacob; come, denounce Israel.’” And Balaam answered, “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?”
For from the top of the rocks I see them, and from the hills I behold them—lo, a people that dwells apart; they shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the upright; let my end be like theirs.” And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them!” And he answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”