Balaam’s Second Oracle
Numbers 23:13-26
Num.23.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- לכה: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- נא: PART
- אתי: PRON,1,sg
- אל: NEG
- מקום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחר: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תראנו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- משם: PREP
- אפס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קצהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+suff:3,m,sg
- תראה: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- וכלו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תראה: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- וקבנו: CONJ+VERB,piel,imperfect,3,m,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- משם: PREP
Parallels
- Numbers 22:41 (structural): Earlier in the same episode Balak leads Balaam to a high place (Peor) to view Israel — same pattern of moving Balaam to different vantage points before he speaks.
- Numbers 23:14 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: Balak actually takes Balaam to another specific site (the field of Zophim/Pisgah) to attempt the curse from a different location.
- Deuteronomy 23:4-5 (allusion): Retells the outcome of the Balaam episodes: attempts to curse Israel are frustrated and God turns intended curses into blessings — a direct theological reference to Balak’s efforts.
- 2 Peter 2:15-16 (allusion): New Testament allusion to Balaam’s story (his greed and the episode with the dumb animal), invoking the Balaam tradition that underlies the narrative in Numbers.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Balak said to him, "Come now, with me to another place from which you may see them; from there you shall see the end of him, but you shall not see all of him — then curse them for me from there."
Num.23.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקחהו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צפים: NOUN,m,pl,const
- אל: NEG
- ראש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הפסגה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ויבן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שבעה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מזבחת: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- פר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואיל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במזבח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 22:41 (verbal): Earlier scene in the Balaam narrative where Balak brings Balaam up to the heights (Bamoth‑Baal/Pisgah) and makes offerings—same setting and ritual intent as 23:14.
- Numbers 23:15 (verbal): Immediate continuation/recapitulation of the same episode: Balaam stands on the height, builds seven altars and offers a bull and a ram (versification varies between traditions).
- Genesis 22:9 (thematic): Abraham ascends to a high place, builds an altar and is prepared to offer Isaac before a ram is provided—shared motifs of ascent to a mount, altar construction and offering of a ram/bull.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-5 (thematic): Instructions about ‘high places’ and the prohibition/limitation of local altars contrast with Balak’s building of multiple altars on a peak to secure a divine oracle.
- 1 Kings 18:30-32 (thematic): Elijah repairs/builds an altar on Mount Carmel and arranges a sacrificial offering to elicit God’s response—parallels the prophetic/ritual use of an altar on a height to summon divine action.
Alternative generated candidates
- So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num.23.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- התיצב: VERB,hitpael,perf,3,m,sg
- כה: ADV
- על: PREP
- עלתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
- ואנכי: PRON,1,sg
- אקרה: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- כה: ADV
Parallels
- Genesis 22:5 (verbal): Abraham tells his servants to 'stay here' while he and the boy go to worship/offer — a similar imperative to 'stand here' as the speaker goes to meet/perform a cultic action.
- 1 Kings 18:36-38 (thematic): Elijah stands by his sacrifice/altar and prays; God answers by sending fire — parallels the scene of a prophet positioned at a burnt offering to receive or elicit a divine response.
- Deuteronomy 18:18-19 (thematic): God promises to raise a prophet who will receive and speak God’s words to the people — thematically related to Balaam’s function as recipient and mouthpiece of divine oracles.
- Numbers 23:1 (structural): Immediate narrative context: Balak builds altars and prepares offerings 'here' for Balaam — the instruction to 'stand here by thy burnt offering' connects directly to this preparatory action.
- Numbers 23:20 (structural): Balaam’s subsequent declaration ('Behold, I have received commandment to bless...') is the direct verbal outcome of the scene in which he was told to stand by the offering — continuation of the same prophetic encounter.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said to Balak, "Stand here on your offering, while I meet (the LORD) here."
Num.23.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בפיו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m
- 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
- Jeremiah 1:9 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel—YHWH touches Jeremiah's mouth and says He has put His words in Jeremiah's mouth, same imagery of God placing speech into a prophet's mouth.
- Ezekiel 3:4 (verbal): God commissions Ezekiel to ‘speak my words’ to Israel; similar formula of the prophet speaking words given directly by the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 10:6 (thematic): The Spirit of the LORD comes upon Saul and he prophesies—another instance of divine enabling of speech/prophesy rather than speaker-originated utterance.
- Matthew 10:20 (thematic): Jesus teaches that the Spirit will speak through the disciples (‘not ye that speak, but the Spirit’), New Testament parallel to God putting words into a mouth in moments of proclamation.
- 1 Kings 22:21–23 (thematic): In the Micaiah/Ahab episode God permits a spirit to put deceptive words in the mouths of prophets—a related motif of divine agency determining prophetic speech (contrastive example).
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD met Balaam and put words in his mouth, and he said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."
Num.23.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויבא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- והנו: CONJ+PART
- נצב: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- עלתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,m
- ושרי: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- מואב: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 22:41 (structural): Same episode — Balak goes out to meet Balaam and brings him to an elevated place, setting the scene for the question about ‘what the LORD has said.’
- Numbers 23:7-10 (verbal): Immediate verbal parallel within the chapter: Balaam’s first oracle answers Balak’s question by explicitly declaring what the LORD has spoken about Israel.
- Numbers 24:2-4 (thematic): Later in the Balaam sequence the Spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he delivers further oracles — parallels the motif of prophetic inspiration and speaking ‘what the LORD says.’
- 1 Kings 22:13-28 (see 2 Chronicles 18:18-27) (thematic): A king consults multiple seers/prophets seeking divine word; one true prophet (Micaiah) eventually gives the LORD’s message — structural/thematic parallel to Balak seeking Balaam’s pronouncement.
- 1 Samuel 10:10-11 (thematic): The sudden coming of God’s spirit on an individual causing prophetic speech (Saul among the prophets) parallels the dynamic by which Balaam utters words that he attributes to the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- So he came to him; there he stood on his offering, with the princes of Moab standing by him, and Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"
Num.23.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משלו: NOUN,m,sg,suff_3ms
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- קום: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- ושמע: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- האזינה: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- עדי: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- בנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- צפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 23:7 (verbal): Opening line of the first of Balaam’s oracles; shares the same oracle-introduction formula addressing Balak and calling for attention (similar imperative to 'rise'/'hear').
- Numbers 24:3 (verbal): Opening of a subsequent Balaam oracle with a comparable superscription ('Balaam took up his parable' / 'Balaam stood and said'), showing the repeated prophetic formula within the Balaam poems.
- Deuteronomy 32:1 (thematic): Moses summons heaven and earth to 'hear' his words before a divine oracle ('Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak'), paralleling the call for attentive listeners before an authoritative pronouncement.
- Isaiah 1:2 (thematic): Prophetic summons ('Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth')—a similar vocative appeal used to introduce a weighty prophetic message and demand attention from the audience.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he took up his parable and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor."
Num.23.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- ויכזב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ובן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויתנחם: VERB,hitp,impf,3,m,sg
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יעשה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ודבר: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יקימנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 1 Samuel 15:29 (verbal): Near-verbatim echo of the same assurance: God (the Strength/Glory of Israel) does not lie or 'repent' like a human — used to stress divine immutability and reliability.
- Psalm 89:34 (thematic): Affirms God's unchanging faithfulness: 'My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips,' parallel to God not lying or failing to fulfill his word.
- Isaiah 55:11 (thematic): Emphasizes the efficacy and certainty of God's word — 'my word... shall not return unto me void' — corresponding to 'He has said, and will He not do it?'
- Titus 1:2 (verbal): New Testament affirmation: God 'cannot lie' (used to ground the trustworthiness of God's promise), echoing the same assertion found in Numbers 23:19.
- Hebrews 6:18 (allusion): Uses the impossibility of God lying as the basis for strong consolation and the certainty of God's promises — an NT theological application of the OT claim about God's unchangeableness.
Alternative generated candidates
- God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Num.23.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנה: PART
- ברך: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA,NA
- לקחתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- וברך: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- אשיבנה: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 23:19 (verbal): Affirms God's faithfulness and immutability—'hath he said, and shall he not do it?'—which undergirds Balaam's claim that the blessing cannot be revoked.
- Numbers 23:21 (structural): Immediate context explaining why the blessing stands: God 'has not beheld iniquity in Jacob,' supporting the irrevocability of the blessing in 23:20.
- Romans 11:29 (thematic): Paul's statement that 'the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable' echoes the theme that God's bestowals and promises are not withdrawn.
- Psalm 89:34 (verbal): Declares God's promise not to break or alter what he has spoken—paralleling the idea that a divine blessing cannot be rescinded.
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (thematic): God's promise to establish David's house 'forever' reflects the principle of enduring divine commitments like the irrevocable blessing in Num 23:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I have received a blessing, and he has blessed; I cannot revoke it.
Num.23.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לא: PART_NEG
- הביט: VERB,qal,perf,3,ms
- און: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביעקב: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- ראה: VERB,qal,imperat,2,m,sg
- עמל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- עמו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ותרועת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 33:29 (thematic): Both verses celebrate Israel's unique status under Yahweh’s protection and blessing — 'Who is like thee, O Israel' echoes the idea that God does not count their iniquity but is with them.
- Joshua 1:5-9 (thematic): God's abiding presence with Israel/its leader ('I will not leave thee nor forsake thee') parallels 'the LORD his God is with him' and the assurance that accompanies that presence.
- Zephaniah 3:14-17 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD dwelling among Israel, saving them and rejoicing over them with singing — closely mirrors 'the LORD his God is with him' and the imagery of divine/kingly rejoicing ('the shout of a king').
- Numbers 24:8 (structural): A neighboring oracle of Balaam continuing the same program: God’s favor and presence give Israel strength and victory. As part of the same prophetic speech, it structurally reinforces the claim that God is with Israel.
- Psalm 47:6-8 (thematic): Calls to shout and sing because 'God is King over all the earth' — the motif of kingly shouting/celebration parallels 'the shout of a king is among them,' linking divine kingship and public rejoicing.
Alternative generated candidates
- He has not looked upon iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel; the LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
Num.23.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אל: NEG
- מוציאם: VERB,hiph,part,3,m,sg
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כתועפת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ראם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Num.24.8 (verbal): Near-identical wording in Balaam's later oracle: repeats 'God brought him out of Egypt' and the simile of the re'em/unicorn (strength) about Israel/Jacob.
- Deut.33.17 (verbal): Moses' blessing of Joseph uses the same re'em/unicorn-horns imagery ('horns like the horns of unicorns'), associating national strength and victory with that beastly metaphor.
- Ps.92.10 (allusion): Uses the horn-of-the-unicorn image ('my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn') as a metaphor of strength and exaltation—echoing the re'em motif of power.
- Job 39.9-12 (thematic): Description of the re'em/wild-ox as untamable and powerful provides the cultural background for the 'strength of a re'em/unicorn' image applied to Israel.
- Exod.20.2 (thematic): The declaration 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt' supplies the foundational covenantal motif echoed in 'God brought them out of Egypt' in Num 23:22.
Alternative generated candidates
- God brings them out of Egypt; he has the strength of the wild-ox for them.
Num.23.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- נחש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביעקב: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- קסם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כעת: ADV
- יאמר: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ליעקב: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg
- ולישראל: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- פעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
Parallels
- Numbers 23:8-10 (structural): Immediate context of Balaam's oracle: he refuses to curse Israel because God has blessed them. Both verses insist that divine blessing/protection nullifies attempts to curse or enchant Israel.
- Numbers 24:8-9 (structural): A subsequent Balaam oracle that likewise affirms Israel's deliverance and invincibility ('God brought him forth out of Egypt'); continues the theme that enemies' schemes and magical arts cannot prevail against Israel.
- Isaiah 54:17 (thematic): 'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper'—a prophetic promise that hostile plots and occult attacks will fail against God's people, paralleling 'no enchantment ... against Jacob.'
- Psalm 121:3-4 (thematic): Affirms God's vigilant protection over Israel ('He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep'), echoing the idea that hostile powers (including divination) cannot harm Israel under God's guardianship.
- Isaiah 43:11-13 (thematic): Declares Yahweh's exclusive sovereignty and that none can deliver out of his hand—supporting the claim that what God has wrought for Jacob/Israel cannot be overturned by diviners or sorcery.
Alternative generated candidates
- There is no divination against Jacob, nor any augury against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, "What has God wrought!"
Num.23.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- עם: PREP
- כלביא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יקום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- וכארי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יתנשא: VERB,hitp,impf,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- ישכב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- יאכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- טרף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ודם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חללים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ישתה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 31:4 (verbal): Uses nearly parallel lion imagery (“as a lion or young lion growls over its prey”) to portray fierce, devouring action—close verbal/thematic echo of rising as a lion and consuming prey.
- Ezekiel 19:2-4 (thematic): Judah’s leaders are pictured with lion/lioness imagery (a lioness raising cubs); echoes the motif of a lioness rising up and the royal/tribal power of a predatory lion.
- Judges 14:5-6 (thematic): Samson encounters and rends a lion when the Spirit of the LORD comes upon him—an instance of the motif of rising like a lion and tearing prey, applied to Israelite strength.
- Psalm 17:12 (verbal): Enemies are described “as a ravening and roaring lion,” echoing the language of a devouring lion and the threatening, predatory image in Num 23:24.
- 2 Samuel 23:20 (thematic): A warrior (Benaiah) is praised for killing a lion—another instance of lion-as-warrior/vanquisher imagery that parallels Israel’s depiction as a lion that will not rest until it has its prey.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, a people shall rise like a lion, and lift itself like a young lion; it shall not lie down until it has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.
Num.23.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- קב: VERB,qal,inf
- לא: PART_NEG
- תקבנו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- גם: ADV
- ברך: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA,NA
- לא: PART_NEG
- תברכנו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 22:12 (verbal): God's prior injunction to Balaam: 'You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed' — same prohibition against cursing Israel.
- Numbers 24:10-13 (thematic): Balak's rebuke after Balaam blesses Israel — shows the immediate aftermath of Balak's desire that Balaam would curse rather than bless.
- Deuteronomy 23:5 (allusion): Retells the episode: the LORD would not heed Balaam and turned the intended curse into a blessing — interprets Balaam's failure to curse Israel.
- 2 Peter 2:15-16 (allusion): New Testament reference to Balaam's story (his error and the rebuke he received), invoking the broader tradition about Balaam's attempted curses and moral failing.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
Num.23.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בלק: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- הלא: PART
- דברתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- אליך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- כל: DET
- אשר: PRON,rel
- ידבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- אעשה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Num.22:18 (verbal): Balaam earlier makes the same claim — he will only speak the word that God puts in his mouth (near-identical wording and context).
- Num.24:13 (verbal): Balaam again insists he cannot go beyond the LORD’s command to do good or evil of his own mind — reiteration of the same constraint on his speech/action.
- Deut.18:18-19 (allusion): Background legal/prophetic principle: God puts his words in a prophet’s mouth and people must heed them — provides the theological basis for Balaam’s claim.
- Jer.1:9 (verbal): God’s commissioning of Jeremiah includes the phrase ‘I have put my words in thy mouth,’ a closely parallel motif about speaking only what God gives.
- John 12:49 (thematic): Jesus asserts he does not speak on his own but says what the Father commands — a New Testament parallel to the motif of speaking only God’s word.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the LORD speaks, that I will do'?"
And Balak said to him, "Come now, let me bring you to another place; perhaps you will see them from there—only the outskirts—and you will not see them whole; then curse them for me from there." So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah; and he built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your offering, while I go over there to meet."
Then the LORD came to Balaam and put a word in his mouth; and he said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." So he came to him; and behold, he stood by his altar, with the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?" And he took up his parable and said, "Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, son of Zippor.
God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. What he says, will he not do? What he declares, will he not fulfill?
Behold, he has received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
He has not seen iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen perversity in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
God brought them out of Egypt; his strength is like that of a wild ox for them.
There is no divination against Jacob, nor any soothsaying against Israel; now it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'What has God wrought!'
Behold, a people shall rise like a lion; they shall lift themselves like a young lion. They will not lie down until they have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all." And Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you—'Whatever the LORD speaks, that I will do'?"