Numbers 22:12

12 God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them; ¹you shall not curse the people, for they ²are blessed."

Numbers 22:12 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:12

And God said unto Balaam, thou shalt not go with them
Which is a denial of the first thing Balak requested, "come now, therefore" ( Numbers 22:6 )

thou shall not curse the people;
which was the principal thing desired, and in order to which he was solicited to go with the messengers; but this is absolutely forbidden:

for they are blessed;
by the Lord himself, with an irrevocable blessing, and therefore it would be vain and fruitless, as well as dangerous for him to attempt to curse them, ( Genesis 12:3 ) this may have a special respect to the blessing of Jacob by Isaac, which could not be reversed by the solicitations of Esau, and which descended to Jacob's posterity, the Israelites, ( Genesis 27:33 ) .

Numbers 22:12 In-Context

10 Balaam said to God, "Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me,

11 'Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.' "

12 God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."

13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

14 The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 23:8; Numbers 24:9
• 2. Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17