Tree of Life Version
Numbers 23:1
1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here 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.”
- 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 for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering. I will go and perhaps Adonai will meet me. Whatever message He shows me, I will tell you. Then he went to a barren 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 23:29Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
- Ezekiel 33:31So they come to you, as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words—but they do not do them—for with their mouth they express doting love, but their heart goes after their own dishonest gain.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! For they went the way of Cain; they were consumed for pay in Balaam’s error; and in Korah’s rebellion they have been destroyed.
- Exodus 20:24You are to make an altar of earth for Me, and there you will sacrifice your burnt offerings, your fellowship offerings—your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you.
- Exodus 27:1“Make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar will be square and its height is to be three cubits.
- 1 Samuel 15:22Samuel said: “Does Adonai delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Adonai? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay heed than the fat of rams.
- 2 Kings 18:22“But if you say to me: ‘We trust in Adonai our God’—is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and then said to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
- Psalms 50:8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, for your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
- Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Adonai, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
- Isaiah 1:11“For what is it to Me— the multitude of your sacrifices?” says Adonai. “I am full of burnt offerings of rams and fat of fed animals. I have no delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or he-goats.
- Numbers 29:32“On the seventh day, seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs without defect a year old,
- 1 Chronicles 15:26Because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
- 2 Chronicles 29:21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven he-goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary and Judah, and he commanded the kohanim—the sons of Aaron—to offer them on the altar of Adonai.
- Job 42:8So now, take for yourselves seven young bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept Job’s prayer and not deal with you according to your folly because you have not spoken correctly about Me, like My servant Job.”
- Ezekiel 45:23He will prepare a burnt offering to Adonai for the seven days of the feast—seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily for 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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