2 Raja-raja 8:8-9

8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ¹  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ²  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ³  He took along a gift, ⁴  as well as ⁵  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ⁶  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ⁷  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

Bilangan 22:7

22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ⁸  to him the words of Balak.

Bilangan 22:17-18

22:17 For I will honor you greatly, ⁹  and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.’”

22:18 Balaam replied ¹⁰  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ¹¹  of the Lord my God ¹²  to do less or more.

Bilangan 24:11-13

24:11 So now, go back where you came from! ¹³  I said that I would greatly honor you; but now the Lord has stood in the way of your honor.”

24:12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹⁴  the commandment ¹⁵  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ¹⁶  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Bilangan 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ¹⁷ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ¹⁸  he did not go as at the other times ¹⁹  to seek for omens, ²⁰  but he set his face ²¹  toward the wilderness.

1 Samuel 9:8

9:8 The servant went on to answer Saul, “Look, I happen to have in my hand a quarter shekel ²²  of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us where we should go.” ²³ 

1 Samuel 9:1

Samuel Meets with Saul

9:1 There was a Benjaminite man named Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. He was a prominent person.

Kisah Para Rasul 13:7

13:7 who was with the proconsul ²⁴  Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul ²⁵  summoned ²⁶  Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear ²⁷  the word of God.

Kisah Para Rasul 22:3

22:3 “I am a Jew, ²⁸  born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up ²⁹  in this city, educated with strictness ³⁰  under ³¹  Gamaliel ³²  according to the law of our ancestors, ³³  and was ³⁴  zealous ³⁵  for God just as all of you are today.

Kisah Para Rasul 8:18-20

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit ³⁶  was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power ³⁷  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, ³⁸  because you thought you could acquire ³⁹  God’s gift with money!

[8:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”

[8:8]  ² tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”

[8:9]  ⁶ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[22:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “spoke.”

[22:17]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive כַּבֵּד (kabbed) to intensify the verb, which is the Piel imperfect/cohortative אֲכַבֶּדְךָ (’akhabbedkha). The great honor could have been wealth, prestige, or position.

[22:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ¹² sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[24:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “flee to your place.”

[24:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from my heart.”

[24:1]  ¹⁷ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ²⁰ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ²¹ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[9:8]  ²² sn A quarter shekel of silver would weigh about a tenth of an ounce (about 3 grams).

[9:8]  ²³ tn Heb “our way.”

[13:7]  ²⁴ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[13:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (the proconsul) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “summoning Barnabas and Saul, wanted to hear.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:7]  ²⁷ sn The proconsul…wanted to hear the word of God. This description of Sergius Paulus portrays him as a sensitive, secular Gentile leader.

[22:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

[22:3]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, train…ἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”

[22:3]  ³⁰ tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”

[22:3]  ³¹ tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).

[22:3]  ³² tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tou" poda" Gamalihl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tauth), has been followed in the translation.

[22:3]  sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here and in Acts 5:34. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.

[22:3]  ³³ tn Or “our forefathers.”

[22:3]  ³⁴ tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:3]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers. …ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”

[8:18]  ³⁶ tc Most witnesses (Ì^45,74 A* C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï latt sy bo) here read “the Holy Spirit” (τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, to pneuma to {agion), while a few key mss have simply τὸ πνεῦμα (א A^c B sa mae). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted τὸ ἅγιον because of its perceived superfluity (note vv. 15, 17, 19), it is far more likely that others added the adjective out of pious motives.

[8:19]  ³⁷ tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

[8:20]  ³⁸ tn Grk “May your silver together with you be sent into destruction.” This is a strong curse. The gifts of God are sovereignly bestowed and cannot be purchased.

[8:20]  ³⁹ tn Or “obtain.”