Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth: Good News Translation combines these two clauses, saying “So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth,” which other languages may find helpful. Kiriath-huzoth was a place in Moab, east of the northern end of the Dead Sea, but its exact location is unknown. The Hebrew name Kiriath means “town,” so Good News Translation translates Kiriath-huzoth as “the town of Huzoth.” (The name huzoth means “streets.”) It may be helpful to do this, as long as the same is done with other place names that start with Kiriath.

And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep: We advise beginning a new sentence here. This could be done in Good News Translation by changing “where…” to “There….” This sacrificial rite here no doubt involved some pagan deity (such as Baal or Chemosh), who was now in an implicit power contest with the LORD. The Hebrew term for oxen is a generic word for cattle, and the term for sheep refers to sheep and goats (see the comments on 11.22, where the same terms are rendered “herds” and “flocks” respectively). These terms together refer to large domestic animals and small ones, so oxen and sheep is better translated “cattle and sheep” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible) or “cattle, sheep, and goats.”

And sent to Balaam and to the princes who were with him: In this context of a sacrifice, what Balak sent can be made explicit by beginning this clause with “and sent portions [of the meat] to…” (Revised English Bible) or “and gave some of the meat to…” (Good News Translation). Balak’s sacrifice was a communal event, thereby bringing Balaam into the sacral community of Moab (so Noth, page 181) in order to secure the curse against Israel on their behalf (so Budd, page 264). (See Exo 18.12 for a similar sacrifice, though in a different context.) The princes who were with him refers to the Moabite officials who summoned Balaam. For the Hebrew word rendered princes (sar), see verse 8 and 21.18. The pronoun him most likely refers to Balaam, not Balak.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .