Numbers 23:18

18 Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

Numbers 23:18 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:18

And he took up his parable
Pronounced the word put into his mouth,

and said, rise up Balak, and hear;
not from his seat, as Eglon a successor of his did, ( Judges 3:20 ) for he was now standing by his burnt offering; but the sense is, that he would raise his attention, and stir up himself with all diligence to hear what he was about to say:

hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor;
or to his word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, which follow.

Numbers 23:18 In-Context

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."

17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"

18 Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

19 God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?

20 I have indeed received [a command] to bless; since He has blessed, I cannot change it.