New American Standard Bible 1995
Numbers 23:1
1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
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 seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3Then 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.” So he went to a bare 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
- Then Balaamבִּלְעָםbil‛âm · BalaamH1109
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- to Balakבָּלָקbâlâq · BalakH1111
- Buildבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- for me hereזֶהzeh · thisH2088
- and prepareכּוּןkûn · to establish: prepareH3559
- bullsפַּרpar pâr · bullockH6499
- ramsאַ֫יִל'ayil · ramH352
Cross-references for Numbers 23:1
- Numbers 23:29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
- Ezekiel 33:31They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
- Exodus 20:24You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall 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“And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
- 1 Samuel 15:22Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed 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 whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
- Psalms 50:8I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And 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 His delight.
- Isaiah 1:11“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.
- Matthew 23:14[Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
- Numbers 29:32‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;
- 1 Chronicles 15:26Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
- 2 Chronicles 29:21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
- Job 42:8Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
- Ezekiel 45:23During the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day 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
New American Standard Bible 1995 — © 1960–1995 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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