Numbers 22 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

4. At the plains of Moab (22:1–36:13) * The Balaam story (22:1–24:25)In this chapter, the king of Moab, Balak, summons a diviner, Balaam, to curse the Israelites. Balaam seems to know Yahweh, the God of Israel. God first prohibits Balaam from going, but eventually allows him to go. However, when Balaam goes, the angel of Yahweh opposes him. Balaam cannot see the angel, but his donkey can, and his donkey eventually speaks to him. After the angel is revealed to Balaam, he warns Balaam to speak only what God wants. Then Balaam meets Balak.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Cursing

In Balak and Balaam’s culture, people believed that certain people made more effective curses than others. Balaam was a person who could make an effective curse. Balak wants Balaam to say with words bad things that would happen to the Israelites. Then, these bad things would actually happen. People in this culture believed that this kind of curse would work because one of the gods would make the bad things happen. Consider how you might refer to spoken words that cause bad things to happen to people. (See: curse)

Balaam’s profession

Numbers 22:7 indicates that Balak’s messengers brought “divinations” with them to Balaam. This indicates that Balaam’s profession was “diviner,” and Joshua 13:22 confirms this by calling Balaam a “diviner.” Divination included several different ways of receiving messages from gods. That included prophecy (speaking directly for a god or gods), receiving and interpreting dreams, and examining events (like the flight of birds) or animal entrails. Balaam encounters God in dreams, speaks for God, and participates in offering sacrifices. All these actions fit with his profession of diviner. Consider how you might refer tot this kind of person in your translation. (See: divination)

Why was God angry with Balaam?

God permits Balaam to go with the messengers from Balak. However, once Balaam leaves, God is angry with him for going (22:22). The author does not indicate why God is angry. Some have speculated that Balaam’s intentions are wrong (he only wants money, or he intends to say something contrary to what God wants). Others guess that Balaam is unable to understand what God wants, and so God has to open his eyes. It is recommended that you leave the tension in your translation without explaining it. This best represents what the author of the narrator chose to include.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Introducing Balak

The author first introduces Balak in 22:2. However, the verse does not identify him as a king of Moab. In 22:4, the author again introduces Balak. This time, the verse does identify him as king of Moab. The author probably does this to build suspense. If in your language it would be helpful to introduce more information about Balak earlier, you could include some of the information from verse 4 in verse 2, as the UST does. Alternatively, you could move the information about Balak from verse 4 to verse 2. (See: writing-participants)

Elders of Midian

In 22:4 and 22:7, the author mentions the elders of Midian, who are involved with asking Balaam to curse the Israelites. However, after verse 7, the author never mentions them again. Instead, the focus is on the leaders of Moab. The author may possibly imply that the elders of Midian are still involved. However, it is recommended that you do not include the elders of Midian as implied characters. The author of the passage clearly wanted to focus on the Moabite leaders only from verse 8 onwards.