參考版本 AFV  A  Faithful Version 的希臘文 2009版本   

耶和華的事，不謀利沒有版權

1. And Balaam said to Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare here seven oxen and seven rams for me.”

2. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken. And Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

3. And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. And whatever He reveals to me I will tell you.” And he went to a high place.

4. And God met Balaam. And he said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bull and a ram.”

5. And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

6. And he returned to him. And lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of Moab.

7. And he took up his parable, and said, “Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.’

8. How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?

9. For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I see him. Behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be counted among the nations.

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”

11. And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have kept on blessing them!”

12. And he answered and said, “Must I not be careful to speak that which the LORD has put in my mouth?”

13. And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them. You shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all. And curse them from there for me.”

(A Faithful Version)

1. 巴蘭對巴勒說出要求：我須要有七座祭壇，及七頭公牛和七隻公羊。

2. 巴勒就照著囑咐辦妥，於是每座壇各置一頭公牛和一隻公羊。

3. 巴蘭對巴勒說：請你站到祭壇的台階上，我去求告耶和華，若有說話會將之轉告，言罷，就獨自往高處行。

4. 巴蘭對相信的那位說：祭壇築了七座，各自備有一頭公牛和一隻公羊。

5. 耶和華將話啟迪巴蘭，說：回巴勒的時候，要這樣說…。

6. 巴蘭回去，看見巴勒與一眾摩押的領袖，都站到祭壇的台階上。

7. 巴蘭以比喻的方式宣告：摩押王巴勒，要我從亞拉姆的山峰，向東方說出咒詛雅各的後代，就日今日的以色列。

8. 我相信的那位並沒有讓我說出咒詛的話，就不能去咒詛！耶和華既沒有吩咐，就不會出言。

9. 從現在所立岩之頂放眼四周，俯視群山處處，山下這些眾民，都不能稱之為國。

10. 天下有誰能數算雅各，那多如塵土的後代？他們佔雅各子孫當中的四分之一。若因此而死，那是因為公義，我願為此而亡。

11. 巴勒對巴蘭說：你做什麼？請你來是咒詛我的仇敵，你倒去祝福！

12. 巴蘭回說：這些是耶和華吩咐我說的話，我是謹慎地照原話說出來。

13. 巴勒回應：那我帶你從另一角度去看。從這角度，你只看到一小部份，不是全貌。就向這小部份人作出咒詛，應該可以。

v.7 . And he took up his parable, and said, “Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram. 巴蘭以比喻的方式宣告：摩押王巴勒，要我從亞拉姆的山峰。(中文譯亞蘭因為較容易與巴蘭混淆，改之為亞拉姆)

Aram is the ancient Hebrew name for the region and people group located in what is now modern-day Syria, while Syria is the Greek and Roman designation for the same territory. In the Bible, the terms are often used interchangeably, with Aram appearing in the Old Testament and Syria in the New Testament and later Greek translations (the Septuagint).

The Arameans were a Semitic people who established various city-states in this region, with the most prominent being the kingdom of Aram-Damascus. The name Syria was adopted by Greek writers to refer to the Arameans and their lands, a usage that persisted through the Roman period and into modern times, though the ancient inhabitants referred to themselves as Arameans and their land as Aram.

• Geography: The region covered central and northern Syria, extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, with Damascus as its primary capital.
• Etymology: Aram means “highlands” in Hebrew, while Syria is believed to be a Greek corruption of Assyria or a distinct Hellenistic label for the Aramean population.
• Biblical Usage: Old Testament translations vary, with some using Aram and others using Syria (e.g., KJV, ESV), but both refer to the same geopolitical entity and people.

為何巴蘭要建七壇？沒能找到一處公認的解釋。若按第七節的原意，耶和華應是給巴勒有七次的機會，意思是每一次信息傳遞都會以獻祭的方式求告，有了明確的說法，便以此轉告。

而巴蘭只用了三次。他沒有用盡耶和華給人回轉的期限：七次。

若能理解並接受這解釋，它確實反映出一個人性的通用方式，最多給人三次機會反省而不是七次。