and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
Parallel translations
- WEB God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
- NASB Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”
- NLT and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God meets Balaam, who reports the seven altars and offerings he has prepared. Balaam presents his ritual as if to secure God's cooperation.
Overview
That God meets Balaam shows the Lord's initiative and control over the encounter. Balaam's recitation of his sacrifices reveals his hope that the ritual will sway God. But God's response will be entirely His own word, not a reward for Balaam's offerings.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 23:16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”
- Eph 2:9not by works, so that no one can boast.
- Luke 18:12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’
- John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
- Rom 3:27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.
- Num 22:9Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
- Num 23:1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
- Num 22:20That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
- Isa 58:3–4“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
- Matt 20:12‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 23:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.