Numbers 22:12

12 God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others - they are a blessed people."

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 Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message:

11 'Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'"

12 God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others - they are a blessed people."

13 The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you."

14 So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us."