Numbers 23:18

18 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:

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 Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say."

17 When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, "What has the Lord said?"

18 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:

19 God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it

20 See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.