23:1 VA YOMER BIL'AM EL BALAK BENEH LI VA ZEH SHIVAH MIZBECHOT VA HACHEN LI BA ZEH SHIVAH PHARIM VE SHIVAH EYLIM
וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם אֶל בָּלָק בְּנֵה לִי בָזֶה שִׁבְעָה מִזְבְּחֹת וְהָכֵן לִי בָּזֶה שִׁבְעָה פָרִים וְשִׁבְעָה אֵילִים
KJ (King James translation): And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
BN (BibleNet translation): Then Bil'am said to Balak: Erect for me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
SHIVAH: That number seven yet again; however, no Beney Yisra-El shrine ever had seven altars, and seven bullocks, even if they were yearlings, would never have been sacrificed without accompanying heave, wave, sin or guilt offerings - so that we know that we are witnessing either a non Yisra-Eli, or simply a pantomime ceremony (even, possibly, a satire on religious ceremonies). This is a Mo-Avi tale against the Beney Yisra-Elim; why on earth would that be included, except as a passing reference to its failure, in a Yisra-Eli history? And at three chapters, that is one of the longest tales in the entire Torah!
23:2 VA YA'AS BALAK KA ASHER DIBER BIL'AM VA YA'AL BALAK U VIL'AM PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
וַיַּעַשׂ בָּלָק כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בִּלְעָם וַיַּעַל בָּלָק וּבִלְעָם פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
BN: And Balak did as Bil'am had told him; and Balak and Bil'am offered on each altar a bullock and a ram.
23:3 VA YOMER BIL'AM LE VALAK HIT'YATSEV AL OLATECHA VE ELCHAH ULAI YIKAREH YHVH LIKRATI U DEVAR MAH YAREYNI VE HIGADETI LACH VA YELECH SHEPHI
BN: And Balak did as Bil'am had told him; and Balak and Bil'am offered on each altar a bullock and a ram.
23:3 VA YOMER BIL'AM LE VALAK HIT'YATSEV AL OLATECHA VE ELCHAH ULAI YIKAREH YHVH LIKRATI U DEVAR MAH YAREYNI VE HIGADETI LACH VA YELECH SHEPHI
וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם לְבָלָק הִתְיַצֵּב עַל עֹלָתֶךָ וְאֵלְכָה אוּלַי יִקָּרֵה יְהוָה לִקְרָאתִי וּדְבַר מַה יַּרְאֵנִי וְהִגַּדְתִּי לָךְ וַיֵּלֶךְ שֶׁפִי
KJ: 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.
BN: Then Bil'am said to Balak: Stay here beside your burnt-offering, and I shall leave. Maybe YHVH will come to meet me. And whatever He shows me I will tell you. And he went up the hill.
SHEPHI: "Bare height" is the more modern translation, and it accords with several other uses of the word; but grammatically there is a problem. If he went "to" it, then it needs to be in the dative as "el" or "la", or with a Hey ending, and it has none of these; indeed, its presence here, adjacent to the verb, infers an adverb, which it just as clearly isn't. Textual error then?
"High place" infers a shrine, where this is simply a look-out.
23:4 VA YIKAR ELOHIM EL BIL'AM VA YOMER ELAV ET SHIVAT HA MIZBECHOT ARACHTI VA A'AL PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֶת שִׁבְעַת הַמִּזְבְּחֹת עָרַכְתִּי וָאַעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
BN: And Elohim met Bil'am; and he said to him: "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar."
ELOHIM: not YHVH, despite the last verse.
VA YIKAR: met? the root is KARAH, which certainly has that meaning; but "met"? As in "face to face"? Mosheh would be deeply envious!
ET SHIVAT HA MIZBECHOT: Are definitely "the" seven altars, with the unequivocal inference that Elohim had instructed him to build them, and to make these specific sacrifices, and he is confirming that he has done so. However, at no point of the tale have we been told this.
23:4 VA YIKAR ELOHIM EL BIL'AM VA YOMER ELAV ET SHIVAT HA MIZBECHOT ARACHTI VA A'AL PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
BN: And Elohim met Bil'am; and he said to him: "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar."
ELOHIM: not YHVH, despite the last verse.
VA YIKAR: met? the root is KARAH, which certainly has that meaning; but "met"? As in "face to face"? Mosheh would be deeply envious!
ET SHIVAT HA MIZBECHOT: Are definitely "the" seven altars, with the unequivocal inference that Elohim had instructed him to build them, and to make these specific sacrifices, and he is confirming that he has done so. However, at no point of the tale have we been told this.
23:5 VA YASEM YHVH DAVAR BE PHI VIL'AM VA YOMER SHUV EL BALAK VE CHOH TEDABER
וַיָּשֶׂם יְהוָה דָּבָר בְּפִי בִלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר שׁוּב אֶל בָּלָק וְכֹה תְדַבֵּר
KJ: And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
BN: Then YHVH put a word in Bil'am's mouth, and said: Go back to Balak, and speak to him as follows.
YHVH: And this time it is YHVH, not Elohim.
DAVAR: in the sense of an oracular pronouncement, "the word of god" so to speak; and indeed, what we have been witnessing is the customary oracular practice - much the same process and ceremonies would have taken place when Sha'ul visited the witch of Ein Dor or a person visited Delphi.
23:6 VA YASHAV ELAV VE HINEH NITSAV AL OLATO HU VE CHOL SAREY MO-AV
וַיָּשָׁב אֵלָיו וְהִנֵּה נִצָּב עַל עֹלָתוֹ הוּא וְכָל שָׂרֵי מוֹאָב
KJ: And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
BN: And he went back to him, and he found him still standing beside his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Mo-Av.
23:7 VA YISA MESHALO VA YOMER MIN ARAM YANCHENI VALAK MELECH MO-AV ME HAREREY KEDEM LECHAH ARAH LI YA'AKOV U LECHAH ZO'AMAH YISRA-EL
KJ: And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
BN: And he delivered his oracle, saying: "From Aram has Balak the king of Mo-Av led me, from the mountains of the east: 'Come, curse Ya'akov for me, and denounce Yisra-El'...
ARAM: Does that say "Aram"? Not the land of the Emori, but that of the... go back to my several previous questionings of this; it now seems even more certain that the text has a key error in it. And if not there, then here.
23:6 VA YASHAV ELAV VE HINEH NITSAV AL OLATO HU VE CHOL SAREY MO-AV
וַיָּשָׁב אֵלָיו וְהִנֵּה נִצָּב עַל עֹלָתוֹ הוּא וְכָל שָׂרֵי מוֹאָב
BN: And he went back to him, and he found him still standing beside his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Mo-Av.
23:7 VA YISA MESHALO VA YOMER MIN ARAM YANCHENI VALAK MELECH MO-AV ME HAREREY KEDEM LECHAH ARAH LI YA'AKOV U LECHAH ZO'AMAH YISRA-EL
וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר מִן אֲרָם יַנְחֵנִי בָלָק מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב מֵהַרְרֵי קֶדֶם לְכָה אָרָה לִּי יַעֲקֹב וּלְכָה זֹעֲמָה יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And he delivered his oracle, saying: "From Aram has Balak the king of Mo-Av led me, from the mountains of the east: 'Come, curse Ya'akov for me, and denounce Yisra-El'...
ARAM: Does that say "Aram"? Not the land of the Emori, but that of the... go back to my several previous questionings of this; it now seems even more certain that the text has a key error in it. And if not there, then here.
And wondering, as I always do with every tale, why this tale was included in the text, when it was written down in the time of Ezra... Aramit (Aramaic) is the language that the Shomronim brought with them, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered their land, and exiled them to Kena'an. The "mountains of the east" are the range that includes Ararat, in the region known as Padan Aram - precisely the region from which those Shomronim came. So, for Ezra, and Nechem-Yah, this war of words between the Elohim of Shomron and YHVH of Yisra-El...
23:8 MAH EKOV LO KABOH EL U MAH EZ'IM LO ZA'AM YHVH
KJ: How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
BN: "But how shall I curse, whom El has not cursed? And how shall I denounce, whom YHVH has not denounced?..
EKOV: Aurally punning on Ya'akov/Jacob, who was oddly referenced in the previous verse; here EKOV has an Aleph (א), there an Ayin (ע), but aurally they are indistinguishable, so the word "curse" and the name "Jacob" become interchangeable. Nor is it the obvious verb for "cursing"; the root is NAKAV, and is generally used for cutting things out - holes in the ground to make wells (2 Kings 18:21), or minerals from rock to make jewelery, or just plain "holes" (Chagai 1:6). Metaphorically it came to mean "curse", usually in the sense of blaspheming - see for example Leviticus 24:11 and 16. The more common verb for "cursing" is LEKALEL, for which see Genesis 8:21 and 12:3, Exodus 21:17 et al. The "cursing" of the serpent and then the man in the Creation story (see my notes at Genesis 3:14) is of a very different order, and uses ARUR - as does Bil'am, at Numbers 24:9.
Once again the translators have ducked the issue; the first "god" is in fact El; I have restored him in my translation.
23:9 KI ME ROSH TSURIM ER'ENU U MI GEVA'OT ASHURENU HEN AM LEVADAD YISHKON U VA GOYIM LO YIT'CHASHAV
KJ: For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
BN: For from the top of the rocks I could see him, and from the hills I could look down on him: and indeed, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and it shall not be reckoned among the nations.
YIT'CHASHAV: CHASHUV came to mean "important"; the root is CHASHAV, which simply means "to think". The form here is reflective, Hit'pa-el.
23:10 MI MANAH APHAR YA'AKOV U MISPAR ET ROV'A YISRA-EL TAMOT NAPHSHI MOT YESHARIM U TEHI ACHARIYTI KAMOHU
KJ: Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
BN: Who can count the dust of Ya'akov, or number the stock of Yisra-El? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!
Well actually, this very Book of Numbers just did. See chapter 1.
23:11 VA YOMER BALAK EL BIL'AM MEH ASIYTA LI LAKOV OYEVAI LEKACHTIYCHA VE HINEH BERACHTA VARECH
23:8 MAH EKOV LO KABOH EL U MAH EZ'IM LO ZA'AM YHVH
מָה אֶקֹּב לֹא קַבֹּה אֵל וּמָה אֶזְעֹם לֹא זָעַם יְהוָה
KJ: How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
BN: "But how shall I curse, whom El has not cursed? And how shall I denounce, whom YHVH has not denounced?..
EKOV: Aurally punning on Ya'akov/Jacob, who was oddly referenced in the previous verse; here EKOV has an Aleph (א), there an Ayin (ע), but aurally they are indistinguishable, so the word "curse" and the name "Jacob" become interchangeable. Nor is it the obvious verb for "cursing"; the root is NAKAV, and is generally used for cutting things out - holes in the ground to make wells (2 Kings 18:21), or minerals from rock to make jewelery, or just plain "holes" (Chagai 1:6). Metaphorically it came to mean "curse", usually in the sense of blaspheming - see for example Leviticus 24:11 and 16. The more common verb for "cursing" is LEKALEL, for which see Genesis 8:21 and 12:3, Exodus 21:17 et al. The "cursing" of the serpent and then the man in the Creation story (see my notes at Genesis 3:14) is of a very different order, and uses ARUR - as does Bil'am, at Numbers 24:9.
Once again the translators have ducked the issue; the first "god" is in fact El; I have restored him in my translation.
23:9 KI ME ROSH TSURIM ER'ENU U MI GEVA'OT ASHURENU HEN AM LEVADAD YISHKON U VA GOYIM LO YIT'CHASHAV
כִּי מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ הֶן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב
KJ: For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
BN: For from the top of the rocks I could see him, and from the hills I could look down on him: and indeed, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and it shall not be reckoned among the nations.
YIT'CHASHAV: CHASHUV came to mean "important"; the root is CHASHAV, which simply means "to think". The form here is reflective, Hit'pa-el.
23:10 MI MANAH APHAR YA'AKOV U MISPAR ET ROV'A YISRA-EL TAMOT NAPHSHI MOT YESHARIM U TEHI ACHARIYTI KAMOHU
מִי מָנָה עֲפַר יַעֲקֹב וּמִסְפָּר אֶת רֹבַע יִשְׂרָאֵל תָּמֹת נַפְשִׁי מוֹת יְשָׁרִים וּתְהִי אַחֲרִיתִי כָּמֹהוּ
BN: Who can count the dust of Ya'akov, or number the stock of Yisra-El? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!
Well actually, this very Book of Numbers just did. See chapter 1.
23:11 VA YOMER BALAK EL BIL'AM MEH ASIYTA LI LAKOV OYEVAI LEKACHTIYCHA VE HINEH BERACHTA VARECH
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּלָק אֶל בִּלְעָם מֶה עָשִׂיתָ לִי לָקֹב אֹיְבַי לְקַחְתִּיךָ וְהִנֵּה בֵּרַכְתָּ בָרֵךְ
KJ: And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
BN: Then Balak said to Bil'am: "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and, instead, you have bestowed on them a blessing."
If this was originally a political satire, then this verse just reached the nub of it. But is what Bil'am just said really a "blessing" - verse 9 especially? "VA GOYIM LO YIT'CHASHAV, and it shall not be reckoned among the nations." In those days, yes, it was a blessing, because what people thought of you was less significant than how many of you there were, so verse 10 is what counts (pun intended), because they were all fertility cults, and increasing your numbers as a tribe was proof that the gods had blessed you. Today it is the world's curse, the primary cause of global warming.
23:12 VA YA'AN VA YOMER HA LO ET ASHER YASIM YHVH BE PHI OTO ESHMOR LEDABER
23:12 VA YA'AN VA YOMER HA LO ET ASHER YASIM YHVH BE PHI OTO ESHMOR LEDABER
וַיַּעַן וַיֹּאמַר הֲלֹא אֵת אֲשֶׁר יָשִׂים יְהוָה בְּפִי אֹתוֹ אֶשְׁמֹר לְדַבֵּר
KJ: And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
BN: And he answered , saying: "Is it not my sacred duty to speak whatever YHVH puts in my mouth?"
Well, no, actually, it isn't. Your research grant is paid for by a tobacco company, so your research needs to show that nicotine is good for you and has no negative side-effects. You have been hired as a PR company by a despotic government, so your advertisements need to reflect their bounty, their concern for all humanity, and the glorious achievements of their years in power. And in your case, Bil'am...
23:13 VA YOMER ELAV BALAK LECHA NA ITI EL MAKOM ACHER ASHER TIR'ENU MI SHAM EPHES KATSEHU TIR'EH VE CHULO LO TIR'EH VE KAVNO LI MI SHAM
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו בָּלָק לְךָ נָּא אִתִּי אֶל מָקוֹם אַחֵר אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶנּוּ מִשָּׁם אֶפֶס קָצֵהוּ תִרְאֶה וְכֻלּוֹ לֹא תִרְאֶה וְקָבְנוֹ לִי מִשָּׁם
KJ: And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
BN: And Balak said to him: "Come, please, come with me to another place, from where you will be able to see them. You will only be able to see some of them, not all of them, from there; but curse them for me from there."
23:14 VA YIKACHEYHU SEDEH TSOPHIM EL ROSH HA PISGAH VA YIVEN SHIVAH MIZBECHOT VA YA'AL PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ שְׂדֵה צֹפִים אֶל רֹאשׁ הַפִּסְגָּה וַיִּבֶן שִׁבְעָה מִזְבְּחֹת וַיַּעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
BN: And he took him to Tsophim meadow, and thence to the very summit of the hill, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
TSOPHIM: People don't generally have fields on the summits of hills or mountains, especially ones that have been described as SHEPHI - bare.
EL ROSH HA PISGAH: The second time recently (Numbers 21:20 was the other) that we have been in such a place, and needed to give this explanation: that no, it isn't necessarily the very spot where Mosheh himself will later go to watch the people crossing into Kena'an, and then remain there, hospiced for his death (Deuteronomy 34:1). The summit of every hill and mountain is ROSH HA PISGAH. Pisgah is not the name of a place, but of that physical point.
23:15 VA YOMER EL BALAK HITYATSEV KOH AL OLATECHA VA ANOCHI IKAREH KOH
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל בָּלָק הִתְיַצֵּב כֹּה עַל עֹלָתֶךָ וְאָנֹכִי אִקָּרֶה כֹּה
KJ: And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.
BN: And he said to Balak: "You stay here beside your burnt-offering, and I've got a meeting up there."
My translation is absolutely, literally accurate, in words and in tone. It is phrasing like this verse that convinces me we have a pantomime script in our hands, and not a religious tract or a historical report. VE ANOCHI IKAREH KOH really does translate as I have translated it. The King James has added "the Lord" (in italics, so it is clear that it is an addition), in order to try to make seriousness and piety out of what is really a Laurel and Hardy line.
BN: And he said to Balak: "You stay here beside your burnt-offering, and I've got a meeting up there."
My translation is absolutely, literally accurate, in words and in tone. It is phrasing like this verse that convinces me we have a pantomime script in our hands, and not a religious tract or a historical report. VE ANOCHI IKAREH KOH really does translate as I have translated it. The King James has added "the Lord" (in italics, so it is clear that it is an addition), in order to try to make seriousness and piety out of what is really a Laurel and Hardy line.
And can we really imagine the deity, sitting there while Bil'am runs back and forth, getting his message, delivering it, coming back for another, and then another? Sorry God, but he's paying me a lot of money for this oracle, and the one you gave me doesn't match his aspirations; can I have a different one please. Satire. This only works as satire.
23:16 VA YIKAR YHVH EL BIL'AM VA YASEM DAVAR BE PHIV VA YOMER SHUV EL BALAK VE CHOH TEDABER
וַיִּקָּר יְהוָה אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיָּשֶׂם דָּבָר בְּפִיו וַיֹּאמֶר שׁוּב אֶל בָּלָק וְכֹה תְדַבֵּר
KJ: And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
BN: And YHVH met Bil'am, and put a new oracle in his mouth, and said: "Go back to Balak, and speak to him as follows..."
Except that the sentence is left unfinished, cliff-hangered, and we don't know what it contained until verse... and that also leaves open a question, because, when he does speak, he speaks about El (though Balak asks him about YHVH), and doesn't actually say anything that might have been the completion of this verse.
23:17 VA YAVO ELAV VE HINO NITSAV AL OLATO VE SAREY MO-AV ITO VA YOMER LO BALAK MAH DIBER YHVH
וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו וְהִנּוֹ נִצָּב עַל עֹלָתוֹ וְשָׂרֵי מוֹאָב אִתּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ בָּלָק מַה דִּבֶּר יְהוָה
KJ: And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?
BN: And he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Mo-Av with him. And Balak said to him: "What has YHVH said?"
VE YAVO...OLATO: Again my translation is literal and accurate, both in words and tone, phrased the way Bottom might, not Oberon, if this was A Midsummer's Night's Dream.
23:18 VA YISA MESHALO VA YOMER KUM BALAK U SHEMA HA'AZINAH ADAI BENO TSIPUR
KJ: And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
BN: And he delivered his oracle, saying: "Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, Tsipor's son...
MESHALO: I wonder if the Christian translators were influenced here by their equivalent mistranslation of whatever the Geeek word would have been in their Jesus tales. And from that wondering: should they then go back, and think again about Jesus' parables: was he too simply delivering oracles, in the traditional methodology of the Prophets?
וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר קוּם בָּלָק וּשְׁמָע הַאֲזִינָה עָדַי בְּנוֹ צִפֹּר
KJ: And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
BN: And he delivered his oracle, saying: "Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, Tsipor's son...
MESHALO: I wonder if the Christian translators were influenced here by their equivalent mistranslation of whatever the Geeek word would have been in their Jesus tales. And from that wondering: should they then go back, and think again about Jesus' parables: was he too simply delivering oracles, in the traditional methodology of the Prophets?
BALAK: Go back to my note at Numbers 22:2, when we first met Balak. It is quite simply impossible for the audience, hearing this opening to the orace, not to burst out laughing. We are hearing an ancient name, Balak, being invoked. To them this translates as "Arise, O empty-headed one..."
HA'AZINAH: And if Monty Python were making their satirical version of the Biblical Prophets, "Life of Balak", HA'AZINAH is precisely where you would expect them to go for an intro that everyone will recognise; the word is used frequently as the opening of Psalms (see Psalm 5:2, 39:13, 78:1, 84:9 for examples), and is intended here to mock that familiar refrain. (Having said which, this also late-dates the satire/tale, because those Psalms would not have been known to Mosheh).
HA'AZINAH: And if Monty Python were making their satirical version of the Biblical Prophets, "Life of Balak", HA'AZINAH is precisely where you would expect them to go for an intro that everyone will recognise; the word is used frequently as the opening of Psalms (see Psalm 5:2, 39:13, 78:1, 84:9 for examples), and is intended here to mock that familiar refrain. (Having said which, this also late-dates the satire/tale, because those Psalms would not have been known to Mosheh).
BENO TSIPOR: So colloquial it is almost slang, and again my translation is literally accurate in both word and tone. The "O" on the end is the personal pronoun "his"; we might expect Ben Tsipor, though actually even that is colloquial; we should expect the name Bil'am, and perhaps the addition of his patronym, but as Ben Tsipor, not Beno Tsipor. This is the equivalent of me presenting myself as "Jack Prashker's boy"; and not even that, as "Jackie Prashker's boy".
23:19 LO ISH EL VIY'CHAZEV U VEN ADAM VE YITNECHAM HA HU AMAR VE LO YA'ASEH VE DIBER VE LO YEKIMENAH
KJ: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
BN: "El is not a man, that he should lie. Nor is he a human being, who has need of repentance. When he says something, will he not do it? And when he has made a promise, will he not keep his word?..
EL: not YHVH.
23:19 LO ISH EL VIY'CHAZEV U VEN ADAM VE YITNECHAM HA HU AMAR VE LO YA'ASEH VE DIBER VE LO YEKIMENAH
לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִיכַזֵּב וּבֶן אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָם הַהוּא אָמַר וְלֹא יַעֲשֶׂה וְדִבֶּר וְלֹא יְקִימֶנָּה
KJ: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
BN: "El is not a man, that he should lie. Nor is he a human being, who has need of repentance. When he says something, will he not do it? And when he has made a promise, will he not keep his word?..
EL: not YHVH.
HA HU AMAR: These words, too, a mockery of phrases familiar to us from elsewhere in Torah - and still to this day in the liturgy.
23:20 HINEH VARECH LAKACHTI U VERECH VE LO ASHIYVENAH
הִנֵּה בָרֵךְ לָקָחְתִּי וּבֵרֵךְ וְלֹא אֲשִׁיבֶנָּה
KJ: Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
BN: "Here, I have taken a blessing from him; and when he has given a blessing, I cannot give it back...
23:21 LO HIBIT AVEN BE YA'AKOV VE LO RA'AH AMAL BE YISRA-EL YHVH ELOHAV IMO U TERU'AT MELECH BO
לֹא הִבִּיט אָוֶן בְּיַעֲקֹב וְלֹא רָאָה עָמָל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו עִמּוֹ וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ
KJ: He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
BN: "He has found no fault in Ya'akov, nor has he seen anything wicked in Yisra-El. YHVH his god is with him, and they are blowing alarums on the trumpet for their king...
Once again confirming that there is a pantheon of gods, led by El at this point of history, but including YHVH.
TERU'AH: Unclear to me why King James translates this as "shout", when we know from earlier passages that the TERU'AH is one of the trumpet-calls (see under YUVAL and Exodus 19:13, and especially Numbers 10).
23:22 EL MOTSIY'AM MI MITSRAYIM KE TO'APHOT RE'EM LO
אֵל מוֹצִיאָם מִמִּצְרָיִם כְּתוֹעֲפֹת רְאֵם לוֹ
KJ: God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
BN: "El who brought them out of Mitsrayim is for them like the raised horns of the wild-ox...
23:23 KI LO NACHASH BE YA'AKOV VE LO KESEM BE YISRA-EL KA ET YE'AMER LE YA'AKOV U LE YISRA-EL MAH PA'AL EL
כִּי לֹא נַחַשׁ בְּיַעֲקֹב וְלֹא קֶסֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כָּעֵת יֵאָמֵר לְיַעֲקֹב וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל מַה פָּעַל אֵל
KJ: Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
BN: "There's no second-guessing with Ya'akov, nor is any one in Yisra-El practising divination; but now it is being asked in Ya'akov, and of Yisra-El: What has El done?..
NACHASH: A lovely moment this for etymologists. The NACHASH is of course the snake, especially the serpent of the Garden of Eden, and we have just witnessed (Numbers 21:8) Mosheh making his tribal banner as NECHUSHTAN. And all of that is in this verse, but only as word-play. LO NACHASH here is from the same root, and the equivalent verb today would be "to guess" - back then one "divined", working out what the deity intended; today we trust our own minds, and work the matter out for ourselves, or try to, speculating, guessing, when we are uncertain. As with HA'AZINAH earlier, our satirist is having fun with many of the central terms of liturgy.
Most English translations end this verse with an exclamation mark. Why? Why not an interrogation mark? And if it is a question, then should PA'AL not be in the present tense: "what is El doing", or even "what's up?" - the point being that Bil'am is describing the response of the Beney Yisra-El to all these comings and goings on the mountains, and are aware that Balak is planning something against them.
Most English translations end this verse with an exclamation mark. Why? Why not an interrogation mark? And if it is a question, then should PA'AL not be in the present tense: "what is El doing", or even "what's up?" - the point being that Bil'am is describing the response of the Beney Yisra-El to all these comings and goings on the mountains, and are aware that Balak is planning something against them.
KESEM: The word for "false" soothsayers, where a "true" Prophet would be a Navi - cf Deuteronomy 18:10, Micah 3:6 (which has both words), 1 Samuel 6:2 et al.
23:24 HEN AM KE LAVI YAKUM VE CHA ARI YITNASA LO YISHKAV AD YOCHAL TEREPH VE DAM CHALALIM YISHTEH
הֶן עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא לֹא יִשְׁכַּב עַד יֹאכַל טֶרֶף וְדַם חֲלָלִים יִשְׁתֶּה
KJ: Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
BN: "Behold a people that rises up like a lioness, and like a lion lifts himself up; he shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."
Lion? But didn't Ya'akov in his Hikavtsu (Genesis 49:9) describe Yehudah as a lion? Gad will be described by Mosheh as a lioness in Deuteronomy 33:20, and Dan as a lion's whelp two verses after that. More playing with the famous parts of liturgy; indeed, even the way this is phrased apes the Hikavtsu - and Mosheh is consciously doing the same, but rather more seriously, in those Deuteronomy verses.
23:25 VA YOMER BALAK EL BIL'AM GAM KOV LO TIKAVENU GAM BARECH LO TEVARCHENU
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּלָק אֶל בִּלְעָם גַּם קֹב לֹא תִקֳּבֶנּוּ גַּם בָּרֵךְ לֹא תְבָרְכֶנּוּ
KJ: And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
BN: Then Balak said to Bil'am: "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."
KOV: Isn't really a "curse", though clearly that is the intention here. A KAV is a unit of measurement (2 Kings 6:25), approximately one-sixth of a Se'ah in dry measure, the equivalent of about 1.2 litres in liquid measure - click here for more on this. The root is KAVAV, and means "make hollow".
23:26 VA YA'AN BIL'AM VA YOMER EL BALAK HA LO DIBARTI ELEYCHA LEMOR KOL ASHER YEDABER YHVH OTO E'ESEH
וַיַּעַן בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל בָּלָק הֲלֹא דִּבַּרְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ לֵאמֹר כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֹתוֹ אֶעֱשֶׂה
BN: But Bil'am answered Balak saying: "Did I not tell you, saying: 'Whatever YHVH tells me, that is what I must do?"
YHVH: Not El this time.
23:27 VA YOMER BALAK EL BIL'AM LECHAH NA EKACHACHA EL MAKOM ACHER ULAI YIYSHAR BE EYNEY HA ELOHIM VE KABOTO LI MI SHAM
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּלָק אֶל בִּלְעָם לְכָה נָּא אֶקָּחֲךָ אֶל מָקוֹם אַחֵר אוּלַי יִישַׁר בְּעֵינֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וְקַבֹּתוֹ לִי מִשָּׁם
KJ: And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
BN: Then Balak said to Bil'am: "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please Elohim to have you curse them for me from there."
23:28 VA YIKACH BALAK ET BIL'AM ROSH HA PE'OR HA NISHKAPH AL PENEY HA YESHIMON
KJ: And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
BN: Then Balak took Bil'am to the top of Pe'or, which looks down upon the desert.
What is the significance of these three places? Geographically, he seems to be climbing higher each time - is that right?
PE'OR: Whose deity was Ba'al Pe'or, and who will appear again in Numbers 25:18 and 31:16, and then again in Joshua 22:17 and 24:14-23; it was the locale for some of the more licentiously orgiastic of the rites in which the Beney Yisra-El will participate. Indeed, it is generally reckoned to have been the central shrine of the Mo-Avi cult, and will be the centre of a major Yisra-Eli "heresy" when we reach Numbers 25. Worth looking at Josephus' writings about it - click here.
KJ: And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
BN: Then Balak said to Bil'am: "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please Elohim to have you curse them for me from there."
23:28 VA YIKACH BALAK ET BIL'AM ROSH HA PE'OR HA NISHKAPH AL PENEY HA YESHIMON
וַיִּקַּח בָּלָק אֶת בִּלְעָם רֹאשׁ הַפְּעוֹר הַנִּשְׁקָף עַל פְּנֵי הַיְשִׁימֹן
KJ: And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
BN: Then Balak took Bil'am to the top of Pe'or, which looks down upon the desert.
What is the significance of these three places? Geographically, he seems to be climbing higher each time - is that right?
PE'OR: Whose deity was Ba'al Pe'or, and who will appear again in Numbers 25:18 and 31:16, and then again in Joshua 22:17 and 24:14-23; it was the locale for some of the more licentiously orgiastic of the rites in which the Beney Yisra-El will participate. Indeed, it is generally reckoned to have been the central shrine of the Mo-Avi cult, and will be the centre of a major Yisra-Eli "heresy" when we reach Numbers 25. Worth looking at Josephus' writings about it - click here.
HA YESHIMON: King James and others seem to think it is a village, and name it. The root is YASHAM, which means "waste", and is simply a description of the desert, it being rather less brown sand and rather more thistles and scrub in this region. See my note at Numbers 21:20.
23:29 VA YOMER BIL'AM EL BALAK BENEH LI BA ZEH SHIVAH MIZBECHOT VE HACHEN LI BA ZEH SHIVAH PHARIM VE SHIVAH EYLIM
KJ: And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
BN: Then Bil'am said to Balak: "Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bullocks and seven rams."
23:30 VA YA'AS BALAK KA ASHER AMAR BIL'AM VA YA'AL PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
KJ: And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
BN: And Balak did as Bil'am had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.
For such a silly story to have already taken up two whole chapters is ridiculous; but we are still not finished.
23:29 VA YOMER BIL'AM EL BALAK BENEH LI BA ZEH SHIVAH MIZBECHOT VE HACHEN LI BA ZEH SHIVAH PHARIM VE SHIVAH EYLIM
וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם אֶל בָּלָק בְּנֵה לִי בָזֶה שִׁבְעָה מִזְבְּחֹת וְהָכֵן לִי בָּזֶה שִׁבְעָה פָרִים וְשִׁבְעָה אֵילִם
KJ: And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
BN: Then Bil'am said to Balak: "Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bullocks and seven rams."
23:30 VA YA'AS BALAK KA ASHER AMAR BIL'AM VA YA'AL PAR VA AYIL BA MIZBE'ACH
וַיַּעַשׂ בָּלָק כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר בִּלְעָם וַיַּעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
BN: And Balak did as Bil'am had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.
For such a silly story to have already taken up two whole chapters is ridiculous; but we are still not finished.
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