Numbers 22:37

37 Balak said to him, "Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?"

Numbers 22:37 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:37

And Balak said unto Balaam
Upon their meeting together:

did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?
or "in sending send" {u}; the first messengers in a very pressing manner, with great importunity, to give thee an invitation to come to me, and those men of rank and quality, with rewards of divination in their hands, and yet the invitation was rejected; and after them other messengers, more in number and greater in dignity, with larger offers and promises; and now indeed thou art come, but with much ado, what is the meaning of all this?

wherefore camest thou not unto me?
at first, without showing so much indifference and reluctance, and which obliged me to send another message to thee:

am I not able to promote thee to honour?
to give thee wealth and riches, and put thee into high places of honour and profit? hadst thou any doubt in thy mind about it, either concerning my ability or will to do it?


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (ytxlv xlv) "mittendo misi", Pagninus, Montanus.

Numbers 22:37 In-Context

35 But the angel said, "Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with them.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab.
37 Balak said to him, "Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?"
38 Balaam answered, "I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say."
39 So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth,
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.