English Standard Version
Numbers 23:1
1And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
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.”
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”
Context of Numbers 23:1
And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you." And he went to a bare height,
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 23:29And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
- Ezekiel 33:31And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.
- Exodus 20:24An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.
- Exodus 27:1"You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
- 1 Samuel 15:22And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
- 2 Kings 18:22But if you say to me, "We trust in the Lord our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem"?
- Psalms 50:8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.
- Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
- Isaiah 1:11"What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
- Numbers 29:32"On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish,
- 1 Chronicles 15:26And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
- 2 Chronicles 29:21And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
- Job 42:8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."
- Ezekiel 45:23And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily 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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