Chapter Twenty-Three

The first parable of Balaam. – The second parable.

Numbers 23:1. And Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me. For making a sacrifice to the omnipresent God. The number seven was considered sacred among many Eastern peoples.

Numbers 23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number a quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs! “A quarter of Israel.” Perhaps from the heights where Balaam was standing, only the camp of three Hebrew tribes was visible.

Numbers 23:14. And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. “The field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah” – apparently a military observation post. According to some – a pastoral observation point over flocks.

Numbers 23:18. And he took up his discourse and said: Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: “Rise,” to listen to the word of the almighty God (cf. Judg 3:20).

Numbers 23:21. He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen perverseness in Israel; the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of the king is among them; “The shout of the king is among them,” that is: Israel possesses a dominant position among other tribes and peoples.

Numbers 23:22. God brings them out of Egypt; He has as it were the horns of the wild ox. “The wild ox,” in Hebrew Reem, – a wild bull.

Numbers 23:23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, “See what God has done! All that is mighty, great, and glorious in Israel appears not as the fruit of sorcery, but as the action of the divine goodness of Jehovah in relation to His chosen people.

Numbers 23:28. And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. Peor is a mountainous elevation not far from Pisgah.