Numbers 23:27
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּלָק אֶל־בִּלְעָם לְכָה־נָּא אֶקָּחֲךָ אֶל־מָקוֹם אַחֵר אוּלַי יִישַׁר בְּעֵינֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וְקַבֹּתוֹ לִי מִשָּֽׁם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר בָּלָק֙ אֶל־בִּלְעָ֔ם לְכָה־נָּא֙ אֶקָּ֣חֲךָ֔ אֶל־מָק֖וֹם אַחֵ֑ר אוּלַ֤י יִישַׁר֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְקַבֹּ֥תוֹ לִ֖י מִשָּֽׁם׃
καὶ εἶπεν Βαλὰκ πρὸς Βαλαάμ Δεῦρο παραλάβω σε εἰς τόπον ἄλλον, εἰ ἀρέσει τῷ θεῷ, καὶ κατάρασαί μοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Et ait Balac ad eum: Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum: si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.
Balac insistió: “Ven, vamos a intentar en otro lugar. A lo mejor a Dios le parece bien que los maldigas desde allí”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y dijo Balac á Balaam: Ruégote que vengas, te llevaré á otro lugar; por ventura parecerá bien á Dios que desde allí me lo maldigas.
“ Please come,” said Balak, “ I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
Balak proposes moving Balaam to a different location, expressing hope that this new vantage point will please God (or "the gods/God") and enable Balaam to curse Israel from there. This is Balak's third attempt to relocate the seer after two failed curse attempts.
Key words
le.kha ("come", H1980K) — imperative with paragogic he (rule 7), giving the command added emphasis or urgency, reinforced by the following interjection na ("please", H4994). 'e.Kachakha ("let me take you", H3947G) — imperfect form expressing Balak's proposed future action, carrying a cohortative/purposive sense ("let me..."). yi.Shar ("it will be pleasing", H3474) — imperfect verb describing a hoped-for future outcome, syntactically dependent on 'u.Lai ("perhaps", H0194). 'ei.Nei ("eyes of", H5869I) — feminine dual construct form, part of the idiom "in the eyes of," meaning "in the estimation/opinion of." ka.Bo.to ("you will curse", H6895) — sequential (waw-consecutive) perfect, continuing the logical sequence begun by the imperfect yishar; it carries a 3ms pronominal suffix meaning "him/it," referring back to the object of the curse.
What the text says
The verse opens with the standard narrative formula va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) introducing direct speech from Balak to Balaam. The speech itself has two parts. First, an imperative clause: lekha-na ("come, please") followed by 'eqqachakha ("let me take you") — a cohortative-style imperfect indicating Balak's proposed action of relocating Balaam to maqom 'acher ("another place", H4725/H0312).
The second part is a purpose/hope clause introduced by 'ulai ("perhaps"), which governs the imperfect yishar ("it will be pleasing") — this construction expresses uncertainty about the outcome rather than a stated intention. The phrase be-'einei ha-'Elohim ("in the eyes of God/the gods", H0430G) uses the plural noun 'Elohim, which functions here with a singular verb (yishar is 3ms), a common grammatical pattern in Biblical Hebrew for the divine name.
The final clause, ve-qabboto li mi-sham ("and you will curse him for me from there"), uses a sequential perfect continuing the syntactic chain from the imperfect yishar: grammatically, "perhaps it will be pleasing... and [then] you will curse." The suffix on qabboto is singular ("him/it"), referring to a singular object of cursing.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew 'ulai ("perhaps") expresses simple uncertainty, while the LXX renders this with ei ("if"), constructing a conditional clause (ei aresei tō theō, "if it will please God"). The Vulgate combines both nuances with si forte placeat Deo ("if perhaps it pleases God").
The Hebrew suffix on qabboto is singular ("him/it"), matched by the LXX auton ("him," singular). The Vulgate instead reads eis ("them," plural), diverging from the singular object marked in the Hebrew text.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.