Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.
Parallel Translations
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Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.
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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.
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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 a bare height.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Numbers 23:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 23:15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”
- Genesis 8:20 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
- Genesis 22:2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
- Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.
- Genesis 22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
- Leviticus 1:1 Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,
- Numbers 22:31-35 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.” Balaam said to Yahweh’s angel, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.” Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Numbers 24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
- Exodus 18:12 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
- Numbers 22:8-9 He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, went up higher.
Or, went up higher.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 23:3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by…
Num 23:3 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 sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
Ver. 3. Stand by thy burnt offering.] Or, Present thyself, to see if God will accept thy person.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain By thy burnt-offering; as in God’s presence, as one…
By thy burnt-offering; as in God’s presence, as one that offers thyself its well as thy sacrifices to obtain his favour. I will go to some solitary and convenient place, where I may by my enchantments prevail with God to appear to me, and to answer thy and my desires in cursing this people.
Whatsoever he showeth me, i.e. reveals to me, either by word or sign.
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To an high place; or, into the plain, as that word properly signifies, for he was now in a high place, Num 22:4. But this is not material, it was doubtless some solitary place, where he might use some gestures and ceremonies which he would not have others see, and where he might more reasonably expect to meet with God; for both good and evil spirits most commonly appeared to persons in such places.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Balaam said unto Balak, stand by thy burnt…
And Balaam said unto Balak, stand by thy burnt offering,.... By which it appears that the sacrifices offered were of this sort, and there might be one, which was more peculiarly the burnt offering of Balak; though he might be more or less with Balaam concerned in them all; at which he was directed to stand while it was burning, presenting that and himself to the Lord, that he would have respect to both:
and I will go; depart from thence, at some little distance, unto some private place:
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peradventure the Lord will come to meet me; upon the offering of these sacrifices to him, though he could not be certain of it, he having lately shown some displeasure and resentment unto him; and this was also in the daytime, when it was in the night he usually came unto him:
and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee; the whole of it, truly as it is, whether agreeable or not:
and he went to an high place; but he was in one already, and therefore if this is the sense of the word, he must go to another, into a grove in one of the high places, where he might be retired, and so fit for a divine converse; and the Targum of Onkelos renders it alone: but rather the sense is, that he went into a plain, as De Dieu has shown from the use of the word in the Syriac language; he was upon a high place, and he went down from thence into the plain, perhaps into a cave at the bottom of the hill, a retired place, where he hoped the Lord would meet him, as he did.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Stand by thy burnt-offering - As in God's presence,…
Stand by thy burnt-offering - As in God's presence, as one that offers thyself as well as thy sacrifices to obtain his favour. I will go - To some solitary and convenient place, where I may prevail with God to appear to me. Sheweth me - Reveals to me, either by word or sign. An high place - Or, into the plain, as that word properly signifies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Stand by thy burnt-offering] We have already…
Verse 3. Stand by thy burnt-offering] We have already seen that blessing and cursing in this way were considered as religious rites, and therefore must be always preceded by sacrifice. See this exemplified in the case of Isaac, before he blessed Jacob and Esau, Ge 27:19; Ge 27:28-29; Ge 27:33-40, and the notes there. The venison that was brought to Isaac, of which he did eat, was properly the preparatory sacrifice.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 23:3. Stand by thy burnt-offering — As in…
Num 23:3. Stand by thy burnt-offering — As in God’s presence; as one that offers himself, as well as his sacrifices, to obtain God’s favour. I will go — To some solitary and convenient place, where I may prevail with God to appear to me. From this passage it is inferred, that in those early times it was customary for prophets, and other pious persons, after performing the sacred rites, to retire into some solitary place, there to wait for an answer from God. Whatsoever he showeth me — Reveals to me, either by word or sign. He went to a high place — Some, considering that he was already in a high place, would render it, He went into the plain, or valley. But it must be observed the original word שׁפי, shephi, from שׁפהshephah, eminere, eminens, excelsum esse, properly means, a high and rocky place. See Hebrew, Isa 13:2; Jer 3:2. And, no doubt, Balaam ascended into a higher part of the mountain, for the greater convenience of retirement, and beholding Israel, as he says, (Num 23:9,) From the top of the rocks I see him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Balaam apparently expected to mark some phenomenon in the…
Balaam apparently expected to mark some phenomenon in the sky or in nature, which he would be able, according to the rules of his art, to interpret as a portent. It was for such “auguries” (not as the King James Version “enchantments” Num 23:23) that he now departed to watch; contrast Num 24:1.
An high place - Or, “A bare place on the hill,” as opposed to the high place with its grove of trees.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Stand by thy burnt offering--as one in expectation of…
Stand by thy burnt offering--as one in expectation of an important favor.
peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me--that is, makes known to me by word or sign.
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he went to an high place--apart by himself, where he might practise rites and ceremonies, with a view to obtain a response of the oracle.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Burnt offering — See Lev_1:3, note.
3. Burnt offering — See Lev_1:3, note.
The Lord will come to meet me — In what way he expected the manifestation of Jehovah is seen in Num_24:1 : “He went not to seek for enchantments,” which, after the manner of false prophets, he colours with the name of Jehovah. See Lev_19:26, note. We have here a further commingling of Judaism and paganism — an expectation of a revelation of Jehovah’s will, but through the significant phenomena of nature, because heathenism had no “sure word of prophecy.”
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A high place — A bald height. To such high and solitary places soothsayers were accustomed to resort for an observation of the signs.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Balaam went some distance away, in the hope…
3. Balaam went some distance away, in the hope that Jehovah would meet him. It is not necessary to suppose that he went to practise enchantments like a soothsayer, e.g. to watch the clouds or the flight of birds. Jehovah had already spoken to him when he was in his own home, and he might expect Him to do so again. In the following verse, indeed, Balaam claims that in the seven-fold sacrifice he has already taken the necessary means to obtain a message.
he went to a bare height] It is not clear why he should choose a bare height. The word is perhaps corrupt. A.V. ‘a high place,’ and marg. ‘solitary’ are wrong.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) To an high place.—Rather, to a bare or…
(3) To an high place.—Rather, to a bare or barren height The heathen augurs were accustomed to choose elevated places for their auspices with an extensive prospect, especially the barren summits of mountains.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Peradventure the Lord will come to meet me. It…
Peradventure the Lord will come to meet me. It might be concluded from Num_24:1 that Balaam went only to look for "auguries," i.e., for such natural signs in the flight of birds and the like as the heathen were wont to observe as manifestations of the favour or disfavour of God, the success or failure of enterprises. It seems clear that it was his practice to do so, either as having some faith himself in such uncertainties, or as stooping to usual heathen arts which he inwardly despised. But from the fact that God met him (we know not how), and that such supernatural communication was not unexpected, we may conclude that Balaam"s words meant more for himself than the mere observance of auguries, whatever they may have meant for Balak. To a high place. Rather, "to a bald place" (ypiv, compare the meaning of "Calvary"), from which the immediate prospect was uninterrupted.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.