Bilangan 23:7-8

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 

23:8 How ⁵  can I curse ⁶  one whom God has not cursed,

or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?

Bilangan 23:11-12

Balaam Relocates

23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary ⁷  you have only blessed them!” ⁸  23:12 Balaam replied, ⁹  “Must I not be careful ¹⁰  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ¹¹ 

[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.

[23:8]  ⁵ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

[23:8]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.

[23:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.

[23:11]  ⁸ tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.

[23:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

[23:12]  ¹¹ tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.