Numbers 24:13

13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak?

Numbers 24:13 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:13

If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold
Which are the very words he said to the princes of Moab, ( Numbers 22:18 ) ,

I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or
bad;
for though here it is the "commandment", and there the "word" of the Lord, yet it is the same word in both places in the original text: indeed, here he omits the relation to the Lord he there claims, saying "my God"; and instead of "little or great", here it is "good or bad", but the sense is the same: and he adds, for explanation sake,

of mine own mind:
or out of my heart, which was disposed well enough to serve Balak, but was laid under a restraint by the Lord:

but what the Lord said, that will I speak;
and he had not only said this to the messengers, but to the king himself, and therefore he thought, that as he had openly and honestly told him this at first, he had no reason to be so angry with him; see ( Numbers 22:38 ) .

Numbers 24:13 In-Context

11 Therefore now flee you to your place: I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, the LORD has kept you back from honor.

12 Bil`am said to Balak, Didn't I also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying,

13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak?

14 Now, behold, I go to my people: come, [and] I will advertise you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.

15 He took up his parable, and said, Bil`am the son of Be'or says, The man whose eye was closed says;