Numbers 22:12

12 God said to Bil`am, You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.

Numbers 22:12 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:12

And God said unto Balaam, thou shalt not go with them
Which is a denial of the first thing Balak requested, "come now, therefore" ( Numbers 22:6 )

thou shall not curse the people;
which was the principal thing desired, and in order to which he was solicited to go with the messengers; but this is absolutely forbidden:

for they are blessed;
by the Lord himself, with an irrevocable blessing, and therefore it would be vain and fruitless, as well as dangerous for him to attempt to curse them, ( Genesis 12:3 ) this may have a special respect to the blessing of Jacob by Isaac, which could not be reversed by the solicitations of Esau, and which descended to Jacob's posterity, the Israelites, ( Genesis 27:33 ) .

Numbers 22:12 In-Context

10 Bil`am said to God, Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, has sent to me, [saying],
11 Behold, the people that is come out of Mitzrayim, it covers the surface of the eretz: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.
12 God said to Bil`am, You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.
13 Bil`am rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for the LORD refuses to give me leave to go with you.
14 The princes of Mo'av rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, Bil`am refuses to come with us.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.