Numbers 23:3

Then Balaam said to Balak, “You stand here close to your burned offerings, and I will go and ask Yahweh if he has something else to tell me. Then I will tell you what he says to me.” Then Balaam went by himself to the top of a hill,

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

In Context

2So Balak did that. And then he and Balaam each burned a young bull and a ram as a sacrifice on each altar.

4and God appeared to him there. Balaam said to him, “We have built seven altars, and I have killed and burned a young bull and a ram as a sacrifice to you on each altar.”

Read all of Numbers 23

Cross References

Genesis 22:2God said, “Your son, Isaac, whom you love very much, is the only son who is still here with you. But take him and go together to the Moriah region. Offer him as a sacrifice like a burnt offering, on a hill that I will show you.”

Genesis 22:13Then Abraham looked up and saw that a ram was nearby, whose horns had been caught in a ◄thicket/clump of bushes►. So Abraham went over and grabbed the ram and killed it, and sacrificed it on the altar as a burnt offering, instead of his son.

Leviticus 1:1While Moses/I was standing near the entrance to the Sacred Tent, Yahweh called to him/me from inside the tent. He said to Moses/me,

Numbers 22:31Then Yahweh enabled Balaam to see the angel standing on the road, holding a sword in his hand. Balaam realized that it was an angel and prostrated himself on the ground in front of the angel.

Numbers 23:15Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here close to your burned offerings, while I go and talk with Yahweh.”

Numbers 24:1Balaam now realized that Yahweh wanted to bless the Israeli people, not curse them. So he did not use magic/divination like a shaman would do to find out what Yahweh wanted, as he often did. Instead, he turned toward the desert.

Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:2-13

Balaam Constrained to Bless Israel; The Blessing Pronounced on Israel. ( b. c. 1452.) 1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. 2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. 3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. 4 And God met Balaam: and he… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Numbers 23:3