And he returned to him, and lo, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering: The Hebrew word hinneh rendered lo introduces what is seen from Balaam’s perspective. It highlights the fact that Balaam came back to find Balak doing what he had told him to do (see verse 3). Good News Translation makes this clear by beginning this verse with “So he [Balaam] went back and found Balak still standing….” The second occurrence of the pronoun he refers to Balak, which Good News Translation makes explicit. For the princes of Moab, see 22.8; for standing beside his burnt offering, see verse 3.

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 .