Christian Standard Bible
Numbers 23:1
1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
Numbers 23:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
- New International Version (NIV)Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
Context of Numbers 23:1
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.
Read all of Numbers 23Numbers 23:1 word by word
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר בִּלְעָם֙ אֶל־בָּלָ֔ק בְּנֵה־לִ֥י בָזֶ֖ה שִׁבְעָ֣ה מִזְבְּחֹ֑ת וְהָכֵ֥ן לִי֙ בָּזֶ֔ה שִׁבְעָ֥ה פָרִ֖ים וְשִׁבְעָ֥ה אֵילִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Balaamבִּלְעָםbil‛âm · BalaamH1109
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto Balakבָּלָקbâlâq · BalakH1111
- Buildבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- me here sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- and prepareכּוּןkûn · to establish: prepareH3559
- oxenפַּרpar pâr · bullockH6499
- ramsאַ֫יִל'ayil · ramH352
Cross-references for Numbers 23:1
- Numbers 23:29Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
- Ezekiel 33:31So my people come to you in crowds, sit in front of you, and hear your words, but they don’t obey them. Their mouths go on passionately, but their hearts pursue dishonest profit.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
- Exodus 20:24“Make an earthen altar for me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause my name to be remembered.
- Exodus 27:1“You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, 7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide; it must be 4½ feet high.
- 1 Samuel 15:22Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
- 2 Kings 18:22Suppose you say to me, “We rely on the Lord our God.” Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem”?’
- Psalms 50:8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are continually before me.
- Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Isaiah 1:11“What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.
- Numbers 29:32“On the seventh day present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old — all unblemished —
- 1 Chronicles 15:26Because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, with God’s help, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
- 2 Chronicles 29:21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he told the descendants of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
- Job 42:8Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”
- Ezekiel 45:23During the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord on each of the seven days, along with a male goat each day for a sin offering.
Commentaries on Numbers 23:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Build me here seven altars, etc. - The oxen and the rams were such as the Mosaic law had ordered to be offered to God in sacrifice; the building of seven altars was not commanded. Some think that these seven altars were built to the seven planets: this is most gratuitously said; of it there is no proof whatever; it is mere trifling, even with conjecture. As seven was a number of perfection, Balaam chose it on this occasion, because he intended to offer a…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Balaam, after the general custom of the pagan, prefaced his divinations by sacrifice. In the number of the altars regard was probably had to the number of the then known planets. Yet Balaam evidently intended his sacrifice as an offering to the true God.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Balak's sacrifice, Balaam pronounces a blessing instead of a curse. (1-10) Balak's disappointment, and second sacrifice, Balaam again blesses Israel. (11-30) Verses 1-10 With the camps of Israel full in view, Balaam ordered seven altars to be built, and a bullock and a ram to be offered on each. Oh the sottishness of superstition, to imagine that God will be at man's beck! The curse is turned into a blessing, by the overruling power of God, in love to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The number seven was a holy symbol (also 23:4, 14, 29; compare Job 42:8; see “Symbolic Numbers” Theme Note).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-301. Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars--Balak, being a heathen, would naturally suppose these altars were erected in honor of Baal, the patron deity of his country. It is evident, from Nu 23:4 that they were prepared for the worship of the true God; although in choosing the high places of Baal as their site and rearing a number of altars (2Ki 18:22; Is 17:8; Jr 11:13; Ho 8:11; 10:1), instead of one only, as God had appointed, Balaam blended…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 23:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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