Good News Translation has the following section heading for verses 36-40: “Balak Welcomes Balaam.” See the introductory comments on verses 22-40.
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab …: Normally, an honorable person would wait for his guest to arrive to receive him, but Balak was so anxious to curse Israel that he could not wait to get started, so he met Balaam at the northern boundary of his country. When Balak heard is literally “And Balak heard.” Translators should use the appropriate connector for this next event in the story. That Balaam had come is better rendered “that Balaam was coming” (Good News Translation), since he had not arrived yet. Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text reads by translating the city of Moab (ʿir moʾab). Since this reading does not quite make sense in the context, some translations have simply transliterated the Hebrew here, saying “Ir-moab” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Swedish Bible, Contemporary Russian Version). Others have understood this phrase as a reference to an unspecified Moabite city, so they say “a city of Moab” (King James Version) or “a Moabite town” (New Living Translation, New International Readers Version). Still other translations change the Hebrew text to read ʿar moʾab, which they render “Ar of Moab” (Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Luther, Hebrew Old Testament Text) or “Ar-Moab” (New Jerusalem Bible), taking it as a reference to the Moabite border city of Ar (so also Good News Translation; see 21.15, 28). We prefer Revised Standard Version‘s rendering of the Hebrew text here, following Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch‘s understanding of it (see the model below).
On the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the boundary: This phrase refers to the extreme northern border of Moab. King Balak met Balaam at the furthest point to which his power extended, as a sign of his great respect for the diviner (so Noth, page 180). For the Arnon River, which formed the northern boundary of Moab, see the comments on 21.13. At the extremity of the boundary emphasizes the distance involved here. Good News Translation omits the emphasis here, but it should be kept by saying “at the farthest border of his land” (New Living Translation) or “to the very furthest limit” (Chewa).
Our recommended model for this verse, based on Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, is:
• When Balak heard that Balaam was on the way to him, he went out to meet him at the border town of Moab on the Arnon River, which was at the farthest [northern] border of his land.
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 .