Numbers 23:1-2
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Balaam requests seven altars, a number deeply significant in ancient cultures and often associated with completeness or perfection, rather than a specific deity. While the animals sacrificed were common Mosaic offerings, the multiple altars suggest Balaam was mixing traditional Israelite practice with pagan customs to manipulate divine favor, a practice God would ultimately expose.
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Having failed to curse Israel from a high vantage point, Balak brings Balaam to a new location and instructs him to build seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice, hoping a change of scene will yield a different result. Balaam complies, preparing for a grand sacrificial offering in his attempt to divine God's will and curse the Israelites. This setup is the prelude to God intervening and speaking through Balaam, causing him to bless Israel instead.
Why seven altars and seven animals? Was this a divine prescription, or something else entirely?
Balaam instructs Balak to build seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams. The number seven held significance in ancient cultures, often associated with perfection, completion, or even the known celestial bodies (planets). While some commentators suggest Balaam was drawing on pagan superstitions, others note that seven was indeed a significant number in Israelite worship, used for solemn sacrifices. However, the Old Testament consistently points to one altar as the appointed place for sacrifice to the Lord, whether before or after the Law was given. The plurality of altars here, especially in the high places associated with Baal worship, strongly suggests that Balaam was blending pagan ritualistic practices with an attempt to approach the true God, perhaps to manipulate Him.
Balaam is a fascinating character – a prophet, a diviner, and a pawn in God's plan. What was he really trying to achieve?
Balaam's request for elaborate sacrifices wasn't necessarily about pure worship. The historical context reveals him as a diviner who operated outside the direct revelation of God. While he instructs Balak to use sacrifices that resemble those prescribed by the Law (bulls and rams), the method – multiple altars, likely in high places – points to his background in pagan arts and magical incantations. He wasn't seeking God in the way Moses or the patriarchs did. Instead, he was attempting to manipulate divine power through ritual. Yet, remarkably, God him here. This isn't an endorsement of Balaam's methods, but God’s sovereign act to use even a flawed, self-serving (and perhaps deceptive) approach to communicate His unchangeable will.
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Understand the original words
mizbeach · Hebrew Noun
A structure built of earth, stones, or metal upon which sacrifices were offered to God or idols, serving as a place of meeting between the human and the divine and a symbol of worship and covenant.
par · Hebrew Noun
Large, domesticated bovine animals often used in Old Testament sacrificial rituals, representing strength, labor, and a costly offering to the Lord.
ayil · Hebrew Noun
Male sheep used in sacrificial offerings, often associated with the burnt offering or sin offering, symbolizing substitutionary atonement and dedication.
Balaam's insistence on building seven altars and offering seven bulls and seven rams was a blend of pagan ritual and an attempt to manipulate the God of Israel. This was not the standard Israelite worship, which typically involved a single altar, but rather a reflection of the sorcerer's superstitious practices and desire for a grander, more potent ceremony.
c. 1440 BC
Israelites in the Wilderness
After their exodus from Egypt and forty years of wandering, the Israelites arrive at the plains of Moab, poised to enter the Promised Land. This strategic location prompts fear and action from their neighbors.
c. 1440 BC— this verse
Balak Hires Balaam
King Balak of Moab, terrified by the approaching Israelite nation, hires the foreign seer Balaam to curse them, believing this will ensure Moab's victory and safety.
c. 1440 BC
First Attempt to Curse Israel
Balaam, after performing rituals on seven altars with seven bulls and seven rams, is compelled by God to bless Israel instead of cursing them. Balak is dismayed by this outcome.
c. 1440 BC
Second Attempt to Curse Israel
Moved to another location, Balaam again offers sacrifices. God intervenes, and Balaam blesses Israel a second time, further frustrating Balak's plans.
c. 1440 BC
Third Attempt and Prophecy
Balaam makes a third attempt, this time offering no sacrifice but simply looking toward Israel. He delivers a prophecy about Israel's future dominance and the eventual downfall of Moab and other enemies.
c. 1440 BC
Balaam's Downfall
Although Balaam blessed Israel, he later devised a plan that led many Israelites into sin, resulting in divine judgment. He was eventually killed by the Israelites during a subsequent conflict with the Midianites.
This passage shows a similar sacrificial practice with seven bulls and seven rams being offered, highlighting a pattern of seeking divine favor through specific, often numerous, sacrifices in ancient Israel, even if the context and purpose differ.
Genesis 8:20This verse depicts Noah building an altar and offering burnt offerings to the Lord after the flood, establishing an early biblical precedent for sacrifice as a means of communing with and appeasing God.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12This passage warns against divination and sorcery, directly contrasting with Balaam's practices, reminding us that his methods, even when seemingly involving sacrifice, were outside of God's approved ways.
Numbers 25:1-3This later event in Israel's journey shows the consequences of succumbing to the seductive practices of Moab and Baal worship, directly linked to the influence and schemes that began with Balaam's attempts.
clarkeNumbers 23:1: "And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams."
Build me here seven altars, etc. - The oxen and the rams were such as the Mosaic law had ordered to be offered to God in sacrifice; the building of seven altars was not commanded. Some think that these seven altars were built to the seven planets: this is most gratuitously said; of it there is no proof whatever; it is mere trifling, even with conjecture. As seven was a number o…
calvinNumbers 23:1-30: "And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams."
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.
Tunc dixit ad cum Balac: Veni obsecro mecum ad alterum locum, unde videas illum (tantummodo extremum ejus vidisti, et totum ipsum non vidisti) et ei maledic mi…
Balaam requests seven altars, a number deeply significant in ancient cultures and often associated with completeness or perfection, rather than a specific deity. While the animals sacrificed were common Mosaic offerings, the multiple altars suggest Balaam was mixing traditional Israelite practice with pagan customs to manipulate divine favor, a practice God would ultimately expose.
Having failed to curse Israel from a high vantage point, Balak brings Balaam to a new location and instructs him to build seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice, hoping a change of scene will yield a different result. Balaam complies, preparing for a grand sacrificial offering in his attempt to divine God's will and curse the Israelites. This setup is the prelude to God intervening and speaking through Balaam, causing him to bless Israel instead.
Having failed to curse Israel from a high vantage point, Balak brings Balaam to a new location and instructs him to build seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice, hoping a change of scene will yield a different result. Balaam complies, preparing for a grand sacrificial offering in his attempt to divine God's will and curse the Israelites. This setup is the prelude to God intervening and speaking through Balaam, causing him to bless Israel instead.
"And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram." — Balaam requests seven altars, a number deeply significant in ancient cultures and often associated with completeness or perfection, rather than a specific deity. While the animals sacrificed were com…
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Last reviewed October 2026
