Numbers 23:11-30

11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them."

12 He answered, "Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?"

13 So Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."

14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar

15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there."

16 The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say."

17 When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, "What has the Lord said?"

18 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:

19 God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it

20 See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a king among them

22 God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them.

23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, "See what God has done!'

24 Look, a people rising up like a lioness, and rousing itself like a lion! It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."

26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, "Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do'?"

27 So Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

29 Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:11-30 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes, Nu 23:1-7, the substance of which are, the separate state and condition of Israel from other nations, their number, and the happiness of the righteous at death, Nu 23:8-10, which made Balak uneasy, since instead of cursing he blessed Israel, and therefore he had him to another place to take a view of the people, Nu 23:11-13 where having offered sacrifices, another word was put into the mouth of Balaam, and which he also delivered before the king and his nobles, Nu 23:14-18, in which were expressed the unchangeableness of God, the irreversibleness of the blessing of Israel, the strength, safety, happiness, and glory of that people, Nu 23:19-24 which made Balak more uneasy still; but willing to try him a third time, he carried him to another place, and there built altars, and offered sacrifices, the consequence of which is related in the next chapter, Nu 23:25-30.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [overlooks Jeshimon]