Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Numbers 23:29

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר בִּלְעָם֙ אֶל־בָּלָ֔ק בְּנֵה־לִ֥י בָזֶ֖ה שִׁבְעָ֣ה מִזְבְּחֹ֑ת וְהָכֵ֥ן לִי֙ בָּזֶ֔ה שִׁבְעָ֥ה פָרִ֖ים וְשִׁבְעָ֥ה אֵילִֽים׃

And Balaam said unto Balak: ‘Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.’

Tur HaArokh

ויאמר בלעם אל בלק בנה לי בזה, “Bileam said to Balak: ‘build for me in this spot, etc.’” On the previous occasion the Torah reports Balak personally as building the altar (verse 14). Perhaps the reason was that at that time Balak still entertained some hope that Bileam would get around to cursing the people. Now, after Bileam had blessed the Israelites twice, he considered the situation as beyond repair and he was in no hurry to build more altars but took his time before following Bileam’s instructions.
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