Numbers 23:5

5 And the Lord ¹put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. ”

Numbers 23:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:5

And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth
&c.] Not grace into his heart, nor the fear of God within him, but suggested to him what to say; impressed it strongly on him, that he could not forget it, and with such power and weight, that he was obliged to deliver it:

and said, return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak;
that is, unto him, and what is expressed in ( Numbers 22:7-10 ) .

Numbers 23:5 In-Context

3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you. ” And he went to a bare height,

4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram. ”

5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. ”

6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

7 And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel! ’

Cross References

• 1. 23:5 ver. 12, 16; ch. 22:38; Deut. 18:18; Isa. 51:16; 59:21; Jer. 1:9