Bilangan 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ¹  uttered ²  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ³  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁴ 

Bilangan 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ⁵  altar a bull and a ram.

1 Petrus 2:15

2:15 For God wants you ⁶  to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

[23:7]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ² tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ³ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁴ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[23:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “because thus it is God’s will.”