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Numbers 22:38-40
New English Translation
Numbers 22:38-40
New English Translation
38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able[a] to speak[b] just anything? I must speak[c] only the word that God puts in my mouth.” 39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some[d] to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 22:38 tn The verb is אוּכַל (ʾukhal) in a question—“am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”
- Numbers 22:38 tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical—he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.
- Numbers 22:38 tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.
- Numbers 22:40 sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.
New English Translation (NET)
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