Numbers 22:38

38 Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I came to you now. Am I really able to speak anything at all? I speak the word that God puts in my mouth."

Numbers 22:38 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:38

And Balaam said unto Balak, lo, I am come unto thee
And therefore let nothing more be said of what is past: and as for future things,

have I now any power at all to say anything?
that would be agreeable to the king, and answer his purpose in sending for him, namely, to curse the people of Israel; he suggests that he had not, he was under the powerful restraint of God; he could not say what he himself was inclined to say, and what the king would have him say, and he expected he should; he could not say as some in ( Psalms 12:4 ) : the word

that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak;
whether agreeable to Balak's will and design or not, and whether for or against Israel: however, it being expressed in such indefinite terms might leave room for Balak to hope it might answer his expectations and wishes.

Numbers 22:38 In-Context

36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him by the city of Moab, which [was] on the boundary of Aaron at the end of the territory.

37 And Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not urgently send to meet with you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to honor you?"

38 Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I came to you now. Am I really able to speak anything at all? I speak the word that God puts in my mouth."

39 Balaam went with Balak, and they came [to] Kiriath-Huzoth.

40 And Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he sent [them] to Balaam and to the princes who [were] with him.