Bilangan 23:22

23:22 God brought them ¹  out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. ² 

Bilangan 24:8

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ³ 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

Bilangan 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ⁴ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ⁵  he did not go as at the other times ⁶  to seek for omens, ⁷  but he set his face ⁸  toward the wilderness.

Yohanes 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ⁹  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ¹⁰  for forty-six years, ¹¹  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

[23:22]  ¹ tn The form is the Hiphil participle from יָצַא (yatsa’) with the object suffix. He is the one who brought them out.

[23:22]  ² sn The expression is “the horns of the wild ox” (KJV “unicorn”). The point of the image is strength or power. Horns are also used in the Bible to represent kingship (see Pss 89 and 132).

[24:8]  ³ tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[24:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[2:20]  ⁹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ¹¹ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.