1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.
16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
1 And Balaam H1109 said H559 unto Balak, H1111 Build H1129 me here seven H7651 altars, H4196 and prepare H3559 me here seven H7651 oxen H6499 and seven H7651 rams. H352
2 And Balak H1111 did H6213 as Balaam H1109 had spoken; H1696 and Balak H1111 and Balaam H1109 offered H5927 on every altar H4196 a bullock H6499 and a ram. H352
3 And Balaam H1109 said H559 unto Balak, H1111 Stand H3320 by thy burnt offering, H5930 and I will go: H3212 peradventure the LORD H3068 will come H7136 to meet H7125 me: and whatsoever H1697 he sheweth H7200 me I will tell H5046 thee. And he went H3212 to an high place. H8205
4 And God H430 met H7136 Balaam: H1109 and he said H559 unto him, I have prepared H6186 seven H7651 altars, H4196 and I have offered H5927 upon every altar H4196 a bullock H6499 and a ram. H352
5 And the LORD H3068 put H7760 a word H1697 in Balaam's H1109 mouth, H6310 and said, H559 Return H7725 unto Balak, H1111 and thus thou shalt speak. H1696
6 And he returned H7725 unto him, and, lo, he stood H5324 by his burnt sacrifice, H5930 he, and all the princes H8269 of Moab. H4124
7 And he took up H5375 his parable, H4912 and said, H559 Balak H1111 the king H4428 of Moab H4124 hath brought H5148 me from Aram, H758 out of the mountains H2042 of the east, H6924 saying, Come, H3212 curse H779 me Jacob, H3290 and come, H3212 defy H2194 Israel. H3478
8 How H4100 shall I curse, H5344 whom God H410 hath not cursed? H6895 or how shall I defy, H2194 whom the LORD H3068 hath not defied? H2194
9 For from the top H7218 of the rocks H6697 I see H7200 him, and from the hills H1389 I behold H7789 him: lo, the people H5971 shall dwell H7931 alone, H910 and shall not be reckoned H2803 among the nations. H1471
10 Who can count H4487 the dust H6083 of Jacob, H3290 and the number H4557 of the fourth H7255 part of Israel? H3478 Let me die H4191 H5315 the death H4194 of the righteous, H3477 and let my last H319 end be like his!
11 And Balak H1111 said H559 unto Balaam, H1109 What hast thou done H6213 unto me? I took H3947 thee to curse H6895 mine enemies, H341 and, behold, thou hast blessed H1288 them altogether. H1288
12 And he answered H6030 and said, H559 Must I not take heed H8104 to speak H1696 that which the LORD H3068 hath put H7760 in my mouth? H6310
13 And Balak H1111 said H559 unto him, Come, H3212 I pray thee, with me unto another H312 place, H4725 from whence thou mayest see H7200 them: thou shalt see H7200 but H657 the utmost H7097 part of them, and shalt not see H7200 them all: and curse H6895 me them from thence.
14 And he brought H3947 him into the field H7704 of Zophim, H6839 H6822 to the top H7218 of Pisgah, H6449 and built H1129 seven H7651 altars, H4196 and offered H5927 a bullock H6499 and a ram H352 on every altar. H4196
15 And he said H559 unto Balak, H1111 Stand H3320 here H3541 by thy burnt offering, H5930 while I meet H7136 the LORD yonder. H3541
16 And the LORD H3068 met H7136 Balaam, H1109 and put H7760 a word H1697 in his mouth, H6310 and said, H559 Go again H7725 unto Balak, H1111 and say H1696 thus.
17 And when he came H935 to him, behold, he stood H5324 by his burnt offering, H5930 and the princes H8269 of Moab H4124 with him. And Balak H1111 said H559 unto him, What hath the LORD H3068 spoken? H1696
18 And he took up H5375 his parable, H4912 and said, H559 Rise up, H6965 Balak, H1111 and hear; H8085 hearken H238 unto me, thou son H1121 of Zippor: H6834
19 God H410 is not a man, H376 that he should lie; H3576 neither the son H1121 of man, H120 that he should repent: H5162 hath he said, H559 and shall he not do H6213 it? or hath he spoken, H1696 and shall he not make it good? H6965
20 Behold, I have received H3947 commandment to bless: H1288 and he hath blessed; H1288 and I cannot reverse H7725 it.
21 He hath not beheld H5027 iniquity H205 in Jacob, H3290 neither hath he seen H7200 perverseness H5999 in Israel: H3478 the LORD H3068 his God H430 is with him, and the shout H8643 of a king H4428 is among them.
22 God H410 brought them out H3318 of Egypt; H4714 he hath as it were the strength H8443 of an unicorn. H7214
23 Surely there is no enchantment H5173 against Jacob, H3290 neither is there any divination H7081 against Israel: H3478 according to this time H6256 it shall be said H559 of Jacob H3290 and of Israel, H3478 What hath God H410 wrought! H6466
24 Behold, the people H5971 shall rise up H6965 as a great lion, H3833 and lift up H5375 himself as a young lion: H738 he shall not lie down H7901 until he eat H398 of the prey, H2964 and drink H8354 the blood H1818 of the slain. H2491
25 And Balak H1111 said H559 unto Balaam, H1109 Neither curse H5344 them at all, H6895 nor bless H1288 them at all. H1288
26 But Balaam H1109 answered H6030 and said H559 unto Balak, H1111 Told H1696 not I thee, saying, H559 All that the LORD H3068 speaketh, H1696 that I must do? H6213
27 And Balak H1111 said H559 unto Balaam, H1109 Come, H3212 I pray thee, I will bring H3947 thee unto another H312 place; H4725 peradventure it will please H3474 H5869 God H430 that thou mayest curse H6895 me them from thence.
28 And Balak H1111 brought H3947 Balaam H1109 unto the top H7218 of Peor, H6465 that looketh H8259 toward H6440 Jeshimon. H3452
29 And Balaam H1109 said H559 unto Balak, H1111 Build H1129 me here seven H7651 altars, H4196 and prepare H3559 me here seven H7651 bullocks H6499 and seven H7651 rams. H352
30 And Balak H1111 did H6213 as Balaam H1109 had said, H559 and offered H5927 a bullock H6499 and a ram H352 on every altar. H4196
1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.
4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his!
11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?
13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
14 And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet `Jehovah' yonder.
16 And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
17 And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received `commandment' to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: Jehovah his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them.
22 God bringeth them forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shalt it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do?
27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
28 And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert.
29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
1 And Balaam saith unto Balak, `Build for me in this `place' seven altars, and make ready for me in this `place' seven bullocks and seven rams.'
2 And Balak doth as Balaam hath spoken, and Balak -- Balaam also -- offereth a bullock and a ram on the altar,
3 and Balaam saith to Balak, `Station thyself by thy burnt-offering and I go on, it may be Jehovah doth come to meet me, and the thing which He sheweth me -- I have declared to thee;' and he goeth `to' a high place.
4 And God cometh unto Balaam, and he saith unto Him, `The seven altars I have arranged, and I offer a bullock and a ram on the altar;'
5 and Jehovah putteth a word in the mouth of Balaam, and saith, `Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'
6 And he turneth back unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `From Aram he doth lead me -- Balak king of Moab; From mountains of the east: Come -- curse for me Jacob, And come -- be indignant `with' Israel.
8 What -- do I pierce? -- God hath not pierced! And what -- am I indignant? -- Jehovah hath not been indignant!
9 For from the top of rocks I see it, And from heights I behold it; Lo a people! alone it doth tabernacle, And among nations doth not reckon itself.
10 Who hath counted the dust of Jacob, And the number of the fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of upright ones, And let my last end be like his!'
11 And Balak saith unto Balaam, `What hast thou done to me? to pierce mine enemies I have taken thee -- and lo, thou hast certainly blessed;'
12 and he answereth and saith, `That which Jehovah doth put in my mouth -- it do I not take heed to speak?'
13 And Balak saith unto him, `Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, whence thou dost see it, only its extremity thou dost see, and all of it thou dost not see, and pierce it for me thence;'
14 and he taketh him `to' the field of Zophim, unto the top of Pisgah, and buildeth seven altars, and offereth a bullock and a ram on the altar.
15 And he saith unto Balak, `Station thyself here by thy burnt-offering, and I -- I meet `Him' there;'
16 and Jehovah cometh unto Balaam, and setteth a word in his mouth, and saith, `Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'
17 And he cometh unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him, and Balak saith to him: `What hath Jehovah spoken?'
18 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear unto me, son of Zippor!
19 God `is' not a man -- and lieth, And a son of man -- and repenteth! Hath He said -- and doth He not do `it'? And spoken -- and doth He not confirm it?
20 Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I `can'not reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor hath He seen perverseness in Israel; Jehovah his God `is' with him, And a shout of a king `is' in him.
22 God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a Reem is to him;
23 For no enchantment `is' against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Lo, the people as a lioness riseth, And as a lion he lifteth himself up, He lieth not down till he eateth prey, And blood of pierced ones doth drink.'
25 And Balak saith unto Balaam, `Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all;'
26 and Balaam answereth and saith unto Balak, `Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh -- it I do?'
27 And Balak saith unto Balaam, `Come, I pray thee, I take thee unto another place; it may be it is right in the eyes of God -- to pierce it for me from thence.'
28 And Balak taketh Balaam to the top of Peor, which is looking on the front of the wilderness,
29 and Balaam saith unto Balak, `Build for me in this `place' seven altars, and make ready for me in this `place' seven bullocks and seven rams;'
30 and Balak doth as Balaam said, and he offereth a bullock and a ram on an altar.
1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.
3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.
4 And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.
5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
6 And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!
8 How shall I curse whom ùGod hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: Lo, [it is] a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!
11 And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?
13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.
14 And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.
15 And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.
16 And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?
18 Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!
19 ùGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst.
22 ùGod brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath ùGod wrought!
24 Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?
27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence.
28 And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.
29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.
1 Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams.
2 Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3 Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you. He went to a bare height.
4 God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
5 Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.
6 He returned to him, and, behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 He took up his parable, and said, From Aram has Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, Come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy, whom Yahweh has not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, From the hills I see him: behold, it is a people that dwells alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, Let my last end be like his!
11 Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.
12 He answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?
13 Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.
14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
15 He said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet [Yahweh] yonder.
16 Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.
17 He came to him, and, behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, What has Yahweh spoken?
18 He took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, you son of Zippor:
19 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 make it good?
20 Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.
21 He has not saw iniquity in Jacob; Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel: Yahweh his God is with him, The shout of a king is among them.
22 God brings them forth out of Egypt; He has as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God done!
24 Behold, the people rises up as a lioness, As a lion does he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, Drink the blood of the slain.
25 Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered Balak, Didn't I tell you, saying, All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?
27 Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from there.
28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
29 Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams.
30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
1 And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.
4 And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.
5 And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.
6 So he went back to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with all the chiefs of Moab.
7 And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.
8 How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?
9 From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.
10 Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.
12 And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?
13 And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.
14 So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.
15 Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.
16 And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.
17 So he came to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with the chiefs of Moab by his side. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?
18 And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?
20 See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.
21 He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them.
22 It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.
23 No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what God has done!
24 See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.
26 But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.
29 And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.
30 And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 23
Commentary on Numbers 23 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Balaam's First Words. - Numbers 23:1-3. Preparations for the first act, which was performed at Bamoth-baal. At Balaam's command Balak built seven altars, and then selected seven bullocks and seven rams, which they immediately sacrificed, namely, one bullock and one ram upon each altar. The nations of antiquity generally accompanied all their more important undertakings with sacrifices, to make sure of the protection and help of the gods; but this was especially the case with their ceremonies of adjuration. According to Diod. Sic. ii. 29, the Chaldeans sought to avert calamity and secure prosperity by sacrifices and adjurations. The same thing is also related of other nations (see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 392). Accordingly, Balaam also did everything that appeared necessary, according to his own religious notions, to ensure the success of Balak's undertaking, and bring about the desired result. The erection of seven altars, and the sacrifice of seven animals of each kind, are to be explained from the sacredness acquired by this number, through the creation of the world in seven days, as being the stamp of work that was well-pleasing to God. The sacrifices were burnt-offerings, and were offered by themselves to Jehovah, whom Balaam acknowledged as his God.
After the offering of the sacrifices, Balaam directed the king to stand by his burnt-offering, i.e., by the sacrifices that had been offered for him upon the seven altars, that he might go out for auguries. The meaning of the words, “ I will go, peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me, ” is apparent from Numbers 24:1 : and “ he went no more to meet with the auguries ” ( נחשׁים , see at Leviticus 19:26). Balaam went out to look for a manifestation of Jehovah in the significant phenomena of nature. The word which Jehovah should show to him, he would report to Balak. We have here what is just as characteristic in relation to Balaam's religious stand-point, as it is significant in its bearing upon the genuine historical character of the narrative, namely, an admixture of the religious ideas of both the Israelites and the heathen, inasmuch as Balaam hoped to receive or discover, in the phenomena of nature, a revelation from Jehovah. Because heathenism had no “sure word of prophecy,” it sought to discover the will and counsel of God, which are displayed in the events of human history, through various signs that were discernible in natural phenomena, or, as Chryssipus the Stoic expresses it in Cicero de divin. ii. 63, “ Signa quae a Diis hominibus portendantur .”
(Note: See the remarks of Nägelsbach and Hartung on the nature of the heathen auspices, in Hengstenberg's Balaam and his Prophecies (pp. 396-7). Hartung observes, for example: “As the gods did not live outside the world, or separated from it, but the things of time and space were filled with their essence, it followed, as a matter of course, that the signs of their presence were sought and seen in all the visible and audible occurrences of nature, whether animate or inanimate. Hence all the phenomena which affected the senses, either in the elements or in the various creatures, whether sounds or movements, natural productions or events, of a mechanical or physical, or voluntary or involuntary kind, might serve as the media of revelation.” And again (p. 397): “The sign in itself is useless, if it be not observed. It was therefore necessary that man and God should come to meet one another, and that the sign should not merely be given, but should also be received.”)
To look for a word of Jehovah in this way, Balaam betook himself to a “ bald height.” This is the only meaning of שׁפי , from שׁפה , to rub, to scrape, to make bare, which is supported by the usage of the language; it is also in perfect harmony with the context, as the heathen augurs were always accustomed to select elevated places for their auspices, with an extensive prospect, especially the towering and barren summits of mountains that were rarely visited by men (see Hengstenberg , ut sup .). Ewald , however, proposes the meaning “alone,” or “to spy,” for which there is not the slightest grammatical foundation.
“ And God came to meet Balaam ,” who thought it necessary, as a true hariolus, to call the attention of God to the altars which had been built for Him, and the sacrifices that had been offered upon them. And God made known His will to him, though not in a natural sign of doubtful signification. He put a very distinct and unmistakeable word into his mouth, and commanded him to make it known to the king.
Balaam's first saying. - Having come back to the burnt-offering, Balaam commenced his utterance before the king and the assembled princes. משׁל , lit., a simile, then a proverb, because the latter consists of comparisons and figures, and lastly a sentence or saying. The application of this term to the announcements made by Balaam (Numbers 23:7, Numbers 23:18, Numbers 24:3, Numbers 24:15, Numbers 24:20), whereas it is never used of the prophecies of the true prophets of Jehovah, but only of certain songs and similes inserted in them (cf. Isaiah 14:4; Ezekiel 17:2; Ezekiel 24:3; Micah 2:4), is to be accounted for not merely from the poetic form of Balaam's utterances, the predominance of poetical imagery, the sustained parallelism, the construction of the whole discourse in brief pointed sentences, and other peculiarities of poetic language (e.g., בּנו , Numbers 24:3, Numbers 24:15), but it points at the same time to the difference which actually exists between these utterances and the predictions of the true prophets. The latter are orations addressed to the congregation, which deduce from the general and peculiar relation of Israel to the Lord and to His law, the conduct of the Lord towards His people either in their own or in future times, proclaiming judgment upon the ungodly and salvation to the righteous. “Balaam's mental eye,” on the contrary, as Hengstenberg correctly observes, “was simply fixed upon what he saw; and this he reproduced without any regard to the impression that it was intended to make upon those who heard it.” But the very first utterance was of such a character as to deprive Balak of all hope that his wishes would be fulfilled.
Numbers 23:7
“ Balak, the king of Moab, fetches me from Aram, from the mountains of the East, ” i.e., of Mesopotamia, which was described, as far back as Genesis 29:1, as the land of the sons of the East (cf. Numbers 22:5). Balaam mentions the mountains of his home in contradistinction to the mountains of the land of the Moabites upon which he was then standing. “ Come, curse me Jacob, and come threaten Israel .” Balak had sent for him for this purpose (see Numbers 22:11, Numbers 22:17). זעמה , for זעמה , imperative (see Ewald , §228, b .). זעם , to be angry, here to give utterance to the wrath of God, synonymous with נקב or קבב , to curse. Jacob: a poetical name for the nation, equivalent to Israel .
Numbers 23:8-10
“ How shall I curse whom God does not curse, and how threaten whom Jehovah does not threaten? ” Balak imagined, like all the heathen, that Balaam, as a goetes and magician, could distribute blessings and curses according to his own will, and put such constraint upon his God as to make Him subservient to his own will (see at Numbers 22:6). The seer opposes this delusion: The God of Israel does not curse His people, and therefore His servant cannot curse them. The following verses (Numbers 23:9 and Numbers 23:10) give the reason why: “ For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, it is a people that dwelleth apart, and is not numbered among the heathen. Who determines the dust of Jacob, and in number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and my end be like his? ” There were two reasons which rendered it impossible for Balaam to curse Israel: (1) Because they were a people both outwardly and inwardly different from other nations, and (2) because they were a people richly blessed and highly favoured by God. From the top of the mountains Balaam looked down upon the people of Israel. The outward and earthly height upon which he stood was the substratum of the spiritual height upon which the Spirit of God had placed him, and had so enlightened his mental sight, that he was able to discern all the peculiarities and the true nature of Israel. In this respect the first thing that met his view was the fact that this people dwelt alone. Dwelling alone does not denote a quiet and safe retirement, as many commentators have inferred from Deuteronomy 33:28; Jeremiah 49:31, and Micah 7:14; but, according to the parallel clause, “it is not reckoned among the nations,” it expresses the separation of Israel from the rest of the nations. This separation was manifested outwardly to the seer's eye in the fact that “ the host of Israel dwelt by itself in a separate encampment upon the plain. In this his spirit discerned the inward and essential separation of Israel from all the heathen” ( Baumgarten ). This outward “dwelling alone” was a symbol of their inward separation from the heathen world, by virtue of which Israel was not only saved from the fate of the heathen world, but could not be overcome by the heathen; of course only so long as they themselves should inwardly maintain this separation from the heathen, and faithfully continue in covenant with the Lord their God, who had separated them from among the nations to be His own possession. As soon as Israel lost itself in heathen ways, it also lost its own external independence. This rule applies to the Israel of the New Testament as well as the Israel of the Old, to the congregation or Church of God of all ages. יתחשּׁב לע , “ it does not reckon itself among the heathen nations ,” i.e., it does not share the lot of the other nations, because it has a different God and protector from the heathen (cf. Deuteronomy 4:8; Deuteronomy 33:29). The truth of this has been so marvellously realized in the history of the Israelites, notwithstanding their falling short of the idea of their divine calling, “that whereas all the mightier kingdoms of the ancient world, Egypt, Assyria, Babel, etc., have perished without a trace, Israel, after being rescued from so many dangers which threatened utter destruction under the Old Testament, still flourishes in the Church of the New Testament, and continues also to exist in that part which, though rejected now, is destined one day to be restored” (Hengstenberg).
In this state of separation from the other nations, Israel rejoiced in the blessing of its God, which was already visible in the innumerable multitude into which it had grown. “ Who has ever determined the dust of Jacob? ” As the dust cannot be numbered, so is the multitude of Israel innumerable. These words point back to the promise in Genesis 13:16, and applied quite as much to the existing state as to the future of Israel. The beginning of the miraculous fulfilment of the promise given to the patriarchs of an innumerable posterity, was already before their eyes (cf. Deuteronomy 10:22). Even now the fourth part of Israel is not to be reckoned. Balaam speaks of the fourth part with reference to the division of the nation into four camps (ch. 2), of which he could see only one from his point of view ( Numbers 22:41), and therefore only the fourth part of the nation. מספּר is an accusative of definition, and the subject and verb are to be repeated from the first clause; so that there is no necessity to alter מספּר into ספר מי . - But Israel was not only visibly blessed by God with an innumerable increase; it was also inwardly exalted into a people of ישׁרים , righteous or honourable men. The predicate ישׁרים is applied to Israel on account of its divine calling, because it had a God who was just and right, a God of truth and without iniquity (Deuteronomy 32:4), or because the God of Israel was holy, and sanctified His people (Leviticus 20:7-8; Exodus 31:13) and made them into a Jeshurun (Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 33:5, Deuteronomy 33:26). Righteousness, probity, is the idea and destination of this people, which has never entirely lost it, though it has never fully realized it. Even in times of general apostasy from the Lord, there was always an ἐκλογή in the nation, of which probity and righteousness could truly be predicated (cf. 1 Kings 19:18). The righteousness of the Israelites was “a product of the institutions which God had established among them, of the revelation of His holy will which He had given them in His law, of the forgiveness of sins which He had linked on to the offering of sacrifices, and of the communication of His Spirit, which was ever living and at work in His Church, and in it alone” (Hengstenberg). Such a people Balaam could not curse; he could only wish that the end of his own life might resemble the end of these righteous men. Death is introduced here as the end and completion of life. “Balaam desires for himself the entire, full, indestructible, and inalienable blessedness of the Israelite, of which death is both the close and completion, and also the seal and attestation” ( Kurtz ). This desire did not involve the certain hope of a blessed life beyond the grave, which the Israelites themselves did not then possess; it simply expressed the thought that the death of a pious Israelite was a desirable good. And this it was, whether viewed in the light of the past, the present, or the future. In the hour of death the pious Israelite could look back with blessed satisfaction to a long life, rich “in traces of the beneficent, forgiving, delivering, and saving grace of God;” he could comfort himself with the delightful hope of living on in his children and his children's children, and in them of participating in the future fulfilment of the divine promises of grace; and lastly, when dying in possession of the love and grace of God, he could depart hence with the joyful confidence of being gathered to his fathers in Sheol (Genesis 25:8).
Balak reproached Balaam for this utterance, which announced blessings to the Israelites instead of curses. But he met his reproaches with the remark, that he was bound by the command of Jehovah. The infinitive absolute, בּרך , after the finite verb, expresses the fact that Balaam had continued to give utterance to nothing but blessings. לדבּר שׁמר , to observe to speak; שׁמר , to notice carefully, as in Deuteronomy 5:1, Deuteronomy 5:29, etc. But Balak thought that the reason might be found in the unfavourable locality; he therefore led the seer to “ the field of the watchers, upon the top of Pisgah ,” whence he could see the whole of the people of Israel. The words וגו תּראנּוּ אשׁר (Numbers 23:13) are to be rendered, “ whence thou wilt see it (Israel); thou seest only the end of it, but not the whole of it ” (sc., here upon Bamoth-baal). This is required by a comparison of the verse before us with Numbers 22:41, where it is most unquestionably stated, that upon the top of Bamoth-baal Balaam only saw “ the end of the people.” For this reason Balak regarded that place as unfavourable, and wished to lead the seer to a place from which he could see the people, without any limitation whatever. Consequently, notwithstanding the omission of כּי (for), the words קצהוּ אפס can only be intended to assign the reason why Balak supposed the first utterances of Balaam to have been unfavourable. קצהוּ = העם קצה , the end of the people (Numbers 22:41), cannot possibly signify the whole nation, or, as Marck, de Geer, Gesenius, and Kurtz suppose, “ the people from one end to the other,” in which case העם קצה (the end of the people) would signify the very opposite of קצהוּ (the end of it); for העם קצה is not interchangeable, or to be identified, with מקּצה כּל־העם ( Genesis 19:4), “the whole people, from the end or extremity of it,” or from its last man; in other words, “to the very last man.” Still less does העם קצה אפס signify “the uttermost end of the whole people, the end of the entire people,” notwithstanding the fact that Kurtz regards the expression, “the end of the end of the people,” as an intolerable tautology. קבנו , imperative with nun epenth ., from קבב . The “field of the watchers,” or “spies ( zophim ), upon the top of Pisgah ,” corresponds, no doubt, to “the field of Moab, upon the top of Pisgah ,” on the west of Heshbon (see at Numbers 21:20). Mount Nebo , from which Moses surveyed the land of Canaan in all its length and breadth, was one summit, and possibly the summit of Pisgah (see Deuteronomy 3:27; Deuteronomy 34:1). The field of the spies was very probably a tract of table-land upon Nebo; and so called either because watchers were stationed there in times of disturbance, to keep a look-out all round, or possibly because it was a place where augurs made their observations of the heavens and of birds ( Knobel ). The locality has not been thoroughly explored by travellers; but from the spot alluded to, it must have been possible to overlook a very large portion of the Arboth Moab . Still farther to the north, and nearer to the camp of the Israelites in these Arboth, was the summit of Peor , to which Balak afterwards conducted Balaam (Numbers 23:28), and where he not only saw the whole of the people, but could see distinctly the camps of the different tribes ( Numbers 24:2).
Numbers 23:14-17
Upon Pisgah, Balak and Balaam made the same preparations for a fresh revelation from God as upon Bamoth-baal (Numbers 23:1-6). כּה in Numbers 23:15 does not mean “here” or “yonder,” but “so” or “thus,” as in every other case. The thought is this: “Do thou stay (sc., as thou art), and I will go and meet thus” (sc., in the manner required). אקּרה (I will go and meet) is a technical term here for going out for auguries (Numbers 24:1), or for a divine revelation.
The second saying. - “ Up, Balak, and hear! Hearken to me, son of Zippor! ” קוּם , “stand up,” is a call to mental elevation, to the perception of the word of God; for Balak was standing by his sacrifice (Numbers 23:17). האזין with עד , as in Job 32:11, signifies a hearing which presses forward to the speaker, i.e., in keen and minute attention (Hengstenberg). בּנו , with the antiquated union vowel for בּן ; see at Genesis 1:24.
Numbers 23:19
“ God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and should He not do it? and spoken, and should not carry it out? ”
Numbers 23:20
“ Behold, I have received to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot turn it .” Balaam meets Balak's expectation that he will take back the blessing that he has uttered, with the declaration, that God does not alter His purposes like changeable and fickle men, but keeps His word unalterably, and carries it into execution. The unchangeableness of the divine purposes is a necessary consequence of the unchangeableness of the divine nature. With regard to His own counsels, God repents of nothing; but this does not prevent the repentance of God, understood as an anthropopathic expression, denoting the pain experienced by the love of God, on account of the destruction of its creatures (see at Genesis 6:6, and Exodus 32:14). The ה before הוּא Numbers 23:19) is the interrogative ה (see Ges. §100, 4). The two clauses of Numbers 23:19 , “Hath He spoken,” etc., taken by themselves, are no doubt of universal application; but taken in connection with the context, they relate specially to what God had spoken through Balaam, in his first utterance with reference to Israel, as we may see from the more precise explanation in Numbers 23:20, “Behold, I have received to bless' ( לקח , taken, accepted), etc. השׁיב , to lead back, to make a thing retrograde (Isaiah 43:13). Samuel afterwards refused Saul's request in these words of Balaam ( Numbers 23:19 ), when he entreated him to revoke his rejection on the part of God (1 Samuel 15:29).
Numbers 23:21
After this decided reversal of Balak's expectations, Balaam carried out still more fully the blessing which had been only briefly indicated in his first utterance. “ He beholds not wickedness in Jacob, and sees not suffering in Israel: Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout (jubilation) of a king in the midst of him .” The subject in the first sentence is God (see Habakkuk 1:3, Habakkuk 1:13). God sees not און , worthlessness, wickedness, and עמל , tribulation, misery, as the consequence of sin, and therefore discovers no reason for cursing the nation. That this applied to the people solely by virtue of their calling as the holy nation of Jehovah, and consequently that there is no denial of the sin of individuals, is evident from the second hemistich, which expresses the thought of the first in a positive form: so that the words, “Jehovah his God is with him,” correspond to the words, “He beholds not wickedness;” and “the shout of a king in the midst of it,” to His not seeing suffering. Israel therefore rejoiced in the blessing of God only so long as it remained faithful to the idea of its divine calling, and continued in covenant fellowship with the Lord. So long the power of the world could do it no harm. The “shout of a king” in Israel is the rejoicing of Israel at the fact that Jehovah dwells and rules as King in the midst of it (cf. Exodus 15:18; Deuteronomy 33:5). Jehovah had manifested Himself as King, by leading them out of Egypt.
Numbers 23:22
“ God brings them out of Egypt; his strength is like that of a buffalo .” אל is God as the strong, or mighty one. The participle מוציאם is not used for the preterite, but designates the leading out as still going on, and lasting till the introduction into Canaan. The plural suffix, ם -, is used ad sensum , with reference to Israel as a people. Because God leads them, they go forward with the strength of a buffalo. תּועפות , from יעף , to weary, signifies that which causes weariness, exertion, the putting forth of power; hence the fulness of strength, ability to make or bear exertions. ראם is the buffalo or wild ox, an indomitable animal, which is especially fearful on account of its horns (Job 39:9-11; Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 22:22).
Numbers 23:23
The fellowship of its God, in which Israel rejoiced, and to which it owed its strength, was an actual truth. “ For there is no augury in Jacob, and no divination in Israel. At the time it is spoken to Jacob, and to Israel what God doeth .” כּי does not mean, “so that, as an introduction to the sequel,” as Knobel supposes, but “ for ,” as a causal particle. The fact that Israel was not directed, like other nations, to the uncertain and deceitful instrumentality of augury and divination, but enjoyed in all its concerns the immediate revelation of its God, furnished the proof that it had its God in the midst of it, and was guided and endowed with power by God Himself. נחשׁ and קסם , οἰωνισμός and μαντεία , augurium et divinatio (lxx, Vulg .), were the two means employed by the heathen for looking into futurity. The former (see at Leviticus 19:26) was the unfolding of the future from signs in the phenomena of nature, and inexplicable occurrences in animal and human life; the latter, prophesying from a pretended or supposed revelation of the Deity within the human mind. כּעת , “according to the time,” i.e., at the right time, God revealed His acts, His counsel, and His will to Israel in His word, which He had spoken at first to the patriarchs, and afterwards through Moses and the prophets. In this He revealed to His people in truth, and in a way that could not deceive, what the heathen attempted in vain to discover through augury and divination (cf. Deuteronomy 18:14-19).
(Note: “What is here affirmed of Israel, applies to the Church of all ages, and also to every individual believer. The Church of God knows from His word what God does, and what it has to do in consequence. The wisdom of this world resembles augury and divination. The Church of God, which is in possession of His word, has no need of it, and it only leads its followers to destruction, from inability to discern the will of God. To discover this with certainty, is the great privilege of the Church of God” (Hengstenberg).)
Numbers 23:24
Through the power of its God, Israel was invincible, and would crush all its foes. “ Behold, it rises up, a people like the lioness, and lifts itself up like the lion. It lies not down till it eats dust, and drinks the blood of the slain .” What the patriarch Jacob prophesied of Judah, the ruler among his brethren, in Genesis 49:9, Balaam here transfers to the whole nation, to put to shame all the hopes indulged by the Moabitish king of the conquest and destruction of Israel.
Balaam's Last Words. - Numbers 23:25-30. Balak was not deterred, however, from making another attempt. At first, indeed, he exclaimed in indignation at these second sayings of Balaam: “ Thou shalt neither curse it, nor even bless .” The double גּם with לא signifies “neither - nor;” and the rendering, “if thou do not curse it, thou shalt not bless it,” must be rejected as untenable. In his vexation at the second failure, he did not want to hear anything more from Balaam. But when he replied again, that he had told him at the very outset that he could do nothing but what God should say to him (cf. Numbers 22:38), he altered his mind, and resolved to conduct Balaam to another place with this hope: “ peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence .” Clericus observes upon this passage, “It was the opinion of the heathen, that what was not obtained through the first, second, or third victim, might nevertheless be secured through a fourth;” and he adduces proofs from Suetonius, Curtius, Gellius, and others.
He takes the seer “ to the top of Peor, which looks over the face of the desert ” ( Jeshimon: see at Numbers 21:20), and therefore was nearer to the camp of the Israelites. Mount Peor was one peak of the northern part of the mountains of Abarim by the town of Beth-peor, which afterwards belonged to the Reubenites (Joshua 13:20), and opposite to which the Israelites were encamped in the steppes of Moab (Deuteronomy 3:29; Deuteronomy 4:46). According to Eusebius ( Onom. s. v . Φογώρ ), Peor was above Libias (i.e., Bethharam ),
(Note: Ὑυπέρκειται δὲ τῆς νῦν Λιβαίδος καλουμένης . Jerome has “ in supercilio Libiados .”)
which was situated in the valley of the Jordan; and according to the account given under Araboth Moab ,
(Note: Καὶ ἔστι τόπος εἰς δεῦρο δεικνύμενος παρὰ τῷ ὄρει Φογώρ ὁ παράκειται ἀνιόντων ἀπὸ Λιβίαδος ἐπὶ Ἐσσεβοὺς (i.e., Heshbon ) τῆς Ἀραβίας ἀντικρὺ Ἰεριχώ .)
it was close by the Arboth Moab, opposite to Jericho, on the way from Libias to Heshbon. Peor was about seven Roman miles from Heshbon, according to the account given s. v. Danaba; and Beth-peor ( s. v. Bethphozor ) was near Mount Peor , opposite to Jericho, six Roman miles higher than Libias, i.e., to the east of it (see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 538).
Numbers 23:29-30
The sacrifices offered in preparation for this fresh transaction were the same as in the former cases (Numbers 23:14, and Numbers 23:1, Numbers 23:2).