Mazmur 109:17

109:17 He loved to curse ¹  others, so those curses have come upon him. ² 

He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. ³ 

Bilangan 22:12

22:12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, ⁴  for they are blessed.” ⁵ 

Bilangan 23:20

23:20 Indeed, I have received a command ⁶  to bless;

he has blessed, ⁷  and I cannot reverse it. ⁸ 

Bilangan 23:23

23:23 For there is no spell against ⁹  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ¹⁰  it must be said ¹¹  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ¹²  what God has done!’

Bilangan 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ¹³  altar a bull and a ram.

1 Samuel 16:10-13

16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. ¹⁴  But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 16:11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse ¹⁵  replied, “There is still the youngest one, but he’s taking care of the flock.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we cannot turn our attention to other things until he comes here.”

16:12 So Jesse had him brought in. ¹⁶  Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!” 16:13 So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

[109:17]  ¹ sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.

[109:17]  ² tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.

[109:17]  ³ tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”

[22:12]  ⁴ tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[23:20]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.

[23:20]  ⁷ sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the Lord blessed Israel. Balaam knows that there is nothing he can do to reverse what God has said.

[23:20]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.

[23:23]  ⁹ tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

[23:23]  ¹⁰ tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

[23:23]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

[23:23]  ¹² tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[23:2]  ¹³ 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.

[16:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.

[16:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jesse) has been specified in the translation both here and in v. 12 for clarity.

[16:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he sent and brought him.”