Numbers 23:11

11 Balak said to Bil'am, "What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!"

Numbers 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:11

And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?
&c.] Or "for me" ^F6; nothing at all, to answer his purpose, or his end in sending for him;

I took thee to curse mine enemies:
so he calls the Israelites, though they had never done him any wrong; nor committed any acts of hostility against him, nor showed any intention to commit any; nay, were forbidden by the Lord their God to contend in battle with him and his people;

and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether;
or, "in blessing blessed" ^F7, done nothing but bless them, and that with many blessings, or pronounced them blessed, and prophesied of their blessedness, for their number, their safety, and of their happiness, not only in life, but at and after death.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (yl) "pro me".
F7 (Krb tkrb) "benedixisti benedicendo", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.

Numbers 23:11 In-Context

9 "From the top of the rocks I see them, from the hills I behold them yes, a people that will dwell alone and not think itself one of the nations.

10 "Who has counted the dust of Ya'akov or numbered the ashes of Isra'el? May I die as the righteous die! May my end be like theirs!"

11 Balak said to Bil'am, "What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!"

12 He answered, "Mustn't I take care to say just what ADONAI puts in my mouth?"

13 Balak said to him, "All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there."