And Balak said to Balaam: Since Balak was upset by Balaam’s oracle, the generic verb said may be rendered “rebuked.”

What have you done to me?: This rhetorical question is clearly expressed with some strong emotion, including anger. Balak is not referring to physical harm, but to magical (mystical) damage since Balaam blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.

I took you to curse my enemies is literally “To curse my enemies I took you,” which places emphasis on cursing Balak’s enemies. Good News Translation renders I took you as “I brought you here,” which will be a helpful model in other languages. Curse renders the same Hebrew verb as in verse 8 (see the comments there).

And behold, you have done nothing but bless them is literally “and behold you have blessed [them] to bless.” The Hebrew word for behold (hinneh) highlights the following statement. The Hebrew verb for bless is repeated for emphasis, first as a finite verb and then as an infinitive absolute. Good News Translation omits the emphatic word behold, but it is better to keep it if possible; for example, this clause may be rendered “but look at what you have done: You have blessed them instead!”

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 .