Numbers 23:11-21

11 Balak said to Bil`am, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.

12 He answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?

13 Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.

14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar

15 He said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder.

16 The LORD met Bil`am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.

17 He came to him, and, behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Mo'av with him. Balak said to him, What has the LORD spoken?

18 He took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, you son of Tzippor:

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good

20 Behold, I have received [mitzvah] to bless: He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.

21 He has not saw iniquity in Ya`akov; Neither has he seen perverseness in Yisra'el: The LORD his God is with him, The shout of a king is among them

Numbers 23:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes, Nu 23:1-7, the substance of which are, the separate state and condition of Israel from other nations, their number, and the happiness of the righteous at death, Nu 23:8-10, which made Balak uneasy, since instead of cursing he blessed Israel, and therefore he had him to another place to take a view of the people, Nu 23:11-13 where having offered sacrifices, another word was put into the mouth of Balaam, and which he also delivered before the king and his nobles, Nu 23:14-18, in which were expressed the unchangeableness of God, the irreversibleness of the blessing of Israel, the strength, safety, happiness, and glory of that people, Nu 23:19-24 which made Balak more uneasy still; but willing to try him a third time, he carried him to another place, and there built altars, and offered sacrifices, the consequence of which is related in the next chapter, Nu 23:25-30.