What Does Numbers 23:15 Mean in the King James?
And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The offering is an ascent, but standing beside it is not the same as meeting the LORD.
THE MEANING
You can stand beside what is offered without being the one who meets the LORD. The verse separates the visible place of giving from the place of encounter: Balak stands here while Balaam goes yonder. What rises from the altar and what is encountered are related, but they are not the same act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the idea that standing beside an offering is already the same as encountering God: Balak stays by the altar while Balaam goes to meet the LORD.
THE ROOT
עֹלָה
ʿōlāh
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
To go up, ascend, or rise.
“burnt offering” in this verse is ʿōlāh. Olah names the offering by its movement: what goes up. English foregrounds what is burned, while the Hebrew word also carries the sense of ascent; here the offering rises as Balaam goes to meet the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: To go up, ascend.
עָלָה
This verb is the seed of olah, making ascent part of the offering’s name.
ʿăliyyāh: Ascent, going up.
עֲלִיָּה
This noun keeps the same upward movement audible in the word for the offering.
maʿălāh: A step, degree, or elevation.
מַעֲלָה
A step raises someone or something, extending the root’s sense of upward movement.
אִקָּרֶה
ʾiqqāreh
GROWS FROM
קרה
q-r-h
To happen, befall, or encounter.
“meet” in this verse is ʾiqqāreh. The verb for meeting shares its root with words for what happens or occurs. The encounter is something that takes place, distinct from the offering that ascends beside Balak.
ALSO GROWS
qārāh: To happen, befall, or encounter.
קָרָה
This verb holds meeting and happening together in the root behind Balaam’s words.
miqreh: An occurrence, event, or chance.
מִקְרֶה
This noun shows the root’s connection to what comes to pass.
THE PATTERN
An offering rises from the giver, while its receiving and answer remain God’s movement.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.THE THREAD
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.The same root, קָרָה (qārāh, to happen or encounter), appears in both verses: there Balaam waits to see whether the LORD will come to meet him; here he says he will meet the LORD. In both, Balak remains beside the offering while the encounter happens elsewhere.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us