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.”
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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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.”
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 23:16Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
- Eph 2:9not of works, that no one would boast.
- Luke 18:12I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’
- John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
- Rom 3:27Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
- Num 22:9God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
- Num 23:1Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
- Num 22:20God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”
- Isa 58:3–4‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers.
- Matt 20:12saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’
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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.