Bilangan 23:27

23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God ¹  to let you curse them for me from there.” ² 

Bilangan 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ³  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁴ 

[23:27]  ¹ tn Heb “be pleasing in the eyes of God.”

[23:27]  ² sn Balak is stubborn, as indeed Balaam is persistent. But Balak still thinks that if another location were used it just might work. Balaam had actually told Balak in the prophecy that other attempts would fail. But Balak refuses to give up so easily. So he insists they perform the ritual and try again. This time, however, Balaam will change his approach, and this will result in a dramatic outpouring of power on him.

[24:14]  ³ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.