Translation commentary on Numbers 23:13

And Balak said to him: Some languages may have an introductory word or phrase to indicate that a new episode begins here, for example, “Then” (Good News Bible) or “After that” (Chewa). The pronoun him refers to Balaam, which Good News Bible makes explicit.

Come with me to another place: The Hebrew text includes the word naʾ here, thus making Balak’s request more urgent and compelling. Models that express it are “Please come with me…” (New American Bible) or “Do come with me….” To another place may be rendered “to a different place.” By changing location Balak hopes to achieve his desired outcome.

From which you may see them: The pronoun them (literally “him/it”) occurs four times in this verse. Each time it refers to the Israelites. The first time it may be necessary to render this pronoun as “the people of Israel” for clarity.

You shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all: As in 22.41 (see the comments there), the Hebrew phrase for the nearest of them (literally “the end/outskirts of him/it”) is ambiguous. With this phrase the text aims to dramatize again the great number of Israelites, this time through the mouth of King Balak, who is speaking. Good News Bible combines these two clauses with the previous one for natural English, saying “from which you can see only some of the Israelites.” PV attempts to make these words of Balak sound more logical in their context by saying “There, you will see all the Israelites. From here, you only saw part of them” (similarly Bible en français courant), and so does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch with “from where you can see the whole people. From here you only see the end of their camp.” These renderings imply that Balak wants Balaam to have a better view from the new place. However, these renderings are quite speculative when compared with the Hebrew text. Contemporary English Version expresses a somewhat different implication by rendering these clauses and the final one as “Maybe if you see a smaller part of the Israelites, you will be able to curse them for me.” The chiastic structure of this verse seems to support this interpretation. Balak fears that seeing all the Israelites will overwhelm Balaam and make him pronounce another blessing, which he does not want to happen.

Then curse them for me from there: Curse renders the same Hebrew verb as in verse 8 (see the comments there).

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 .

self-referencing pronoun for king or queen

In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)

complete verse (Numbers 23:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 23:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “After that, Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come let us go to another side where you can see those people. You will see a portion, and you will not see them all. Curse for me those.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place. From there only some of them will be seen. Even if only that many [them], please curse [them] for me."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then Balak said to him, ‘You (sing.) come with me to another place still where you (sing.) can-see the other people-groups of Israel, but not really all. And there you (sing.) will-curse them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then King Balak told Balaam, ‘Come with me to another place. There you will see only part of the Israeli people, and you will be able to curse those people for me.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (kakete)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, kakete (かけて) or “cast upon” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Japanese benefactives (itte)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, itte (行って) or “go” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )