Bilangan 22:32

22:32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing ¹  is perverse before me. ² 

Bilangan 24:20

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam ³  looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: ⁴ 

“Amalek was the first ⁵  of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

¹ tn Heb “your way.”

² tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

⁵ 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.