Numbers 23:4 (LSB)

Passage

Now God met 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.”

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

Numbers 23:4 Now God met 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.”

Numbers 23:5 Then Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”

Numbers 23:6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "balaam", "said", "seven", "altars", "offered", "bull", and "each". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "balaam" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Then Balaam said to Balak Stand beside..." into verse 5's "Then Yahweh put a word in Balaam...", so "balaam" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "balaam" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.