Numbers 23:26

26 Balaam answered Balak, "I told you before that I can only do what the Lord tells me."

Numbers 23:26 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:26

But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, told not I thee
He appeals to him for his honesty and faithfulness, for honest and faithful he would be thought to be, both to God and man; that when he first met him, he plainly told him what he must expect: from him:

saying, all that the Lord speaketh, that I must do;
which was very true, he was obliged to do as he had bid him, and speak what he had said unto him, though it was sore against his will; he would fain both have spoken and done otherwise, if he might have been permitted.

Numbers 23:26 In-Context

24 The people rise up like a lioness; they get up like a lion. Lions don't rest until they have eaten, until they have drunk their enemies' blood."

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "You haven't cursed these people, so at least, don't bless them!"

26 Balaam answered Balak, "I told you before that I can only do what the Lord tells me."

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, I will take you to another place. Maybe God will be pleased to let you curse them from there."

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, the mountain that looks over the desert.