Bilangan 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ¹  uttered ²  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ³  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁴ 

Bilangan 24:20

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam ⁵  looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: ⁶ 

“Amalek was the first ⁷  of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

Bilangan 30:2

30:2 If a man ⁸  makes a vow ⁹  to the Lord or takes an oath ¹⁰  of binding obligation on himself, ¹¹  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ¹² 

[23:7]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ² tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[24:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

[24:20]  ⁷ sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

[30:2]  ⁸ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

[30:2]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

[30:2]  ¹⁰ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

[30:2]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

[30:2]  ¹² tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”