Numbers 23
1Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3Balaam 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.” He went to a bare height.
4God 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.”
5The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
6He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
8How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?
9For 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 listed among the nations.
10Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
11Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”
12He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”
13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”
14He 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.
15He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”
16The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
17He 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 the LORD spoken?”
18He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?
20Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
21He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
22God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
24Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
26But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”
27Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
28Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
Balaam attempts to curse Israel at King Balak's request but finds himself compelled by God to bless them instead. Through two elaborate ritual attempts involving sacrifices on seven altars, Balaam delivers prophetic oracles that proclaim Israel's unique status as God's chosen people and their inevitable triumph. Despite Balak's frustration and attempts to change locations, Balaam emphasizes that he can only speak what the LORD puts in his mouth, declaring God's faithfulness and Israel's blessed destiny.
Context
This chapter continues the Balaam narrative from chapter 22, where the prophet was summoned by Balak to curse Israel, and leads to additional oracles in chapter 24.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-6First Ritual and Divine EncounterBalaam instructs Balak to build seven altars with sacrifices, then seeks God's word on a high place.
- 7-12First Oracle of BlessingBalaam delivers his first prophetic speech, blessing Israel as a unique nation that cannot be cursed, frustrating Balak.
- 13-17Second Ritual AttemptBalak takes Balaam to a different location (Pisgah) and repeats the seven-altar ritual, hoping for a different outcome.
- 18-24Second Oracle of BlessingBalaam proclaims God's unchanging nature and Israel's blessed status, describing them as a powerful lion-like people.
Balaam and the Oracles
22:1–24:25Balak king of Moab hires the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, but God intervenes to prevent the cursing. The account demonstrates God's protection of His chosen people against spiritual warfare.
person_contrast
Balak's name, typically associated with covenant faithfulness in biblical genealogies, ironically becomes the instrument through which God demonstrates His sovereign protection over Israel against foreign curses.
Numbers 23:1
Job 42:8lexicalNow therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a bu…
2 Chronicles 29:21lexicalThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the san…
Numbers 7:88lexicaland all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male…
Numbers 28:11lexical“‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male l…
Numbers 28:27lexicalbut you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year…
Numbers 23:2
2 Chronicles 29:21lexicalThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the san…
Numbers 7:88lexicaland all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male…
Numbers 23:3
Numbers 22:36lexicalWhen Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon,…
2 Samuel 1:6lexicalThe young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance on Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning on his spear; and be…
Numbers 23:4
2 Chronicles 29:21lexicalThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the san…
Numbers 7:88lexicaland all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male…
Numbers 29:32lexical“‘On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
Leviticus 23:18lexicalYou shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a bu…
Numbers 28:19lexicalbut you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lam…
Numbers 23:10
Proverbs 14:12lexicalThere is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 16:25lexicalThere is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Numbers 23:14
2 Chronicles 29:21lexicalThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the san…
Numbers 7:88lexicaland all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male…
Numbers 28:11lexical“‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male l…
Numbers 29:2lexicalYou shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old…
Leviticus 23:18lexicalYou shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a bu…
Numbers 23:17
Numbers 22:14lexicalThe princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
Numbers 23:24
Genesis 49:9lexicalJudah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Wh…
Numbers 24:9lexicalHe couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone w…
Job 38:39lexical“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Job 4:11lexicalThe old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
Isaiah 5:29lexicalTheir roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and ca…
Numbers 23:26
Micah 6:5lexicalMy people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gi…
Numbers 22:18lexicalBalaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the…
Numbers 23:27
Numbers 24:10lexicalBalak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my e…
Numbers 24:25lexicalBalaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
Numbers 22:16lexicalThey came to Balaam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
Micah 6:5lexicalMy people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gi…
Ezekiel 12:3lexical“Therefore, you son of man, prepare your baggage for moving, and move by day in their sight. You shall move from your pl…
Numbers 23:28
Numbers 31:16lexicalBehold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the m…
Numbers 21:20lexicaland from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.
Numbers 23:29
Job 42:8lexicalNow therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a bu…
2 Chronicles 29:21lexicalThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the san…
Numbers 7:88lexicaland all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male…
Numbers 28:27lexicalbut you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year…
Numbers 29:2lexicalYou shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old…
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Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter