Bilangan 20:14

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ¹ Moses ²  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ³  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁴ 

Bilangan 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ⁵  uttered ⁶  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁷  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁸ 

[20:14]  ¹ sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.

[20:14]  ² tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

[20:14]  ³ sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.

[20:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “found.”

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁷ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁸ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.